Developer : Microsoft Game Studios
Release date : November, 2005
Synopsis :
Kameo: Elements of Power is an action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360 as a launch title. The player controls the title character, an elf, who journeys to recover her elemental powers and captive family from her evil sister and the troll king. Kameo’s ten elemental powers let her transform into creatures and use their varied abilities to solve combat-oriented puzzles and progress through the game’s levels.
Kameo is known for its prolonged development cycle, which spanned four Nintendo and Microsoft consoles. It was conceived as a Pokémon-style game of capturing and nurturing monsters, but traded its lighthearted Nintendo overtones for darker themes more befitting of Xbox audiences when Microsoft acquired the developer. In this process, Kameo was repurposed from a fairy to an elf—a transition the game’s director later concluded was unsuccessful. While nearly finished for the original Xbox console, the title was delayed to become an exclusive launch title for the upcoming Xbox 360. Rare used the extra time to improve the game’s audiovisuals, including Rare’s first orchestral soundtrack, and add a local cooperative multiplayer mode. Kameo released alongside the Xbox 360 launches: November 2005 in North America and several weeks later in Europe.
The game received generally favorable reviews and sales estimates ranged from subpar to par. Reviewers praised Kameo’s graphics as setting standards for the new console, and noted its vivid color palette. Their criticism focused on the gameplay, in particular its repetition, awkward controls, easy combat, disorganized introduction, and overbearing tutorial. Reviewers found the story and Kameo’s character lackluster, but largely liked the other characters and the core morphing concept. They had high praise for the orchestral score and other technical features, apart from the game’s camera. Rare released several cosmetic downloadable content packs, and a free online cooperative mode upgrade.
Retrospective reviews remembered the game for its bright and impressive graphics. Kameo was included in Rare Replay, an August 2015 compilation of 30 Rare titles for the Xbox One, alongside documentary-style videos about the game’s development and its planned sequel. The latter was canceled after a few months of production due to both poor sales of the original and Microsoft’s new focus on games for its Kinect peripheral.
The team distilled the original concept into the core gameplay mechanics that players preferred, namely the abilities to morph into characters and to fight. In what became the core gameplay, the player would use a combination of Kameo’s elemental warriors to progress through levels. Rare later expanded the conceit to that of an adventure game, though its story was secondary to the gameplay. Kameo was designed for fluidity—the team tried to minimize player chores and player waiting times. The team simplified the set of characters from a hundred to a dozen, and expanded the skill sets of those remaining. Tossell designed these characters, and started with a boulder-like animal. These creature designs later became Kameo’s morphing forms. As the game transitioned and Rare attempted to distance itself from its mawkish reputation for “cute characters with big eyes”, the team struggled to repurpose Kameo into an elf from the fairy of the original concept. Tossell felt that this task was impossible, as Microsoft simultaneously wanted to widen its base while it did not give Rare the room to grow out of its cutesy design.
Source : Wikipedia
