Kameo: Elements of Power (Gametrailers Review) (Xbox 360)
0Original Description: One of the most developed and fulfilling games for the 360.
Original Upload Date: December 20th, 2005
Score: 8.9
Game Description: Kameo: Elements of Power is a 2005 action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. The player controls Kameo, a 16-year-old elf, who must travel across the land, rescuing her family while collecting Elemental Sprites and Warriors in a Beat 'Em Up style combat against the trolls that stand in her way. 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 was released alongside the Xbox 360 launches: in November 2005 in North America and several weeks later in Europe.