Kameo: Elements of Power

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Kameo: Elements of Power
Kameo.jpg
Developer(s) Rare
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Designer(s) George Andreas
Artist(s) Mark Stevenson
Composer(s) Steve Burke
Platforms Xbox 360
Release date(s) NA November 7, 2005
EU December 2, 2005
JP February 2, 2006
Genre(s) Action-adventure, platformer
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Kameo: Elements of Power is an action-adventure beat 'em up video game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It was exclusively released as a launch title for the Xbox 360 video game console on November 9, 2005. The game was under development for four years and generally received positive reviews from video game publications. It follows the elf princess Kameo as she attempts to thwart the evil machinations of her sister Kalus and the troll king Thorn. A planned sequel for the game was ultimately canceled.[1][2][3][4] The game is also included in the Rare Replay video game compilation, released for the Xbox One in 2015.

Gameplay

Kameo is an action-adventure game in which the player assumes the role of the titular heroine Kameo.[5] The gameplay revolves around defeating enemies in combat, utilizing the ten different creature-like warriors that Kameo can transform into.[6] These creatures, known as the Elemental Warriors,[7] possess unique attacks and abilities that center around the classical elements, such as fire and earth.[8] As certain enemies can only be damaged by specific attacks, the player is required to often switch between the Elemental Warriors during combat.[9] The game also features environmental puzzles that require the use of the Elemental Warriors abilities, and the player may occasionally forced to combine the abilities to traverse the levels.[10]

Kameo uses a scoring system for each action level, in which the player can amass points based on their performance during combat. Scores can be significantly increased through the use of multipliers.[11] By killing enough enemies in rapid succession, the player can enter Warrior Focus mode. This mode temporarily slows enemy movement, while granting an additional multiplier.[11] While in Warrior Focus, special enemies may appear that are not affected by the slow down, and provide an additional challenge for the player.[11] At the end of each level, the total score is calculated, and a letter grade is assigned based on the amount of points earned, with A being the highest, and G being the lowest.[8] Achieving higher scores can unlock new character skins, cheat codes, and making-of videos.[12]

In addition to the main campaign, a cooperative multiplayer mode is also available, in which two players can work together to earn a high score for each action level.[13] The cooperative mode is presented in split screen format.

Plot

In the game's prologue, the Elf Queen passes down the mystical Wotnot Book and the ability to become all of the Elemental Warriors to her younger daughter Kameo, but this causes Kalus, the first daughter, to grow jealous. In an act of revenge, she releases the ancient curse which held the evil troll king Thorn captive in stone by kissing him on the lower lip, allowing him to unleash his troll army upon the world once again. Working with Thorn and his army, Kalus kidnaps her mother, her two uncles and her aunt, then proceeds to torture them. The game begins with Kameo dashing to their rescue, only to be knocked unconscious by Thorn and left on The Mystic's doorstep. The Mystic informs her that the Elemental Warriors are now Elemental Sprites who have been captured by the Shadow Trolls. She now has to rescue and absorb the Elemental Sprites, save her family and defeat Kalus and Thorn.

After getting all of the sprites, freeing three of her family members (who also tell her more about her past, such as her really being an orphan that Solon, the Elf king found and brought back to his kingdom and his wife Theena as well as Solon being murdered by Thorn) and making her way to Thorn's Airship to save her stepmother, Kameo confronts the two villains and wins after knocking Kalus out with Chilla's ice spikes. Whilst unconscious, some flashbacks occur through Kalus' mind which reveals that The Mystic caused the death of Solon and Kalus' betrayal by tricking them into getting involved with Thorn in whatever possible way she could think of, revealing her as the true villain behind everything that has transpired. Kalus then regains her composure and attempts to avenge her father (as well as make up to everybody else) by attacking Thorn, but is no match for a simple punch thrown by the troll. Kameo quickly catches her stepsister and then the two of them combine their powers by hugging each other. They then charge straight towards Thorn and when Kalus gets a chance, she grabs hold of his head and once again kisses the king (this time on the nose) which turns the two of them into a stone statue. Before completely turning to stone, Kalus asks Kameo to apologize to the rest of the family for what she did. Then the statue slides off of the airship.

After that happens, the ship starts to explode and fall apart and Kameo is seen falling to her doom whilst unconscious. She eventually lands on something, which (by the time that the clouds have gone by) is revealed to be the top of a small blimp that her friends stole from the trolls which is heading straight for the Enchanted Kingdom. On top of that, Theena also survived the explosion and landed next to the now awake Kameo. With Thorn gone, the troll army is stopped, and once the camera is done focusing on everybody cheering down below as well as the blimp, the player then sees what happened to Kalus and Thorn. It's revealed that the two fell to the bottom of the sea, never to be seen or heard from again. After the credits, The Mystic's shadowy silhouette is seen as she laughs to herself.

Development

Kameo was originally slated for the Nintendo GameCube, and was set to be one of Rare's flagship titles for the system, along with Star Fox Adventures and Donkey Kong Racing. However, in September 2002, at an X0 event, Microsoft announced that they had purchased Rare for $375 million, and had acquired all the intellectual properties previously owned by Rare, including Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, and Kameo.[14] Kameo's future was put in question. It was decided that work would continue on the Xbox, and a planned release date of 2003 was given. After several revamps, causing repeated delays, Kameo was put on indefinite hold in late 2004. According to the Official Kameo Strategy Guide, approximately 20 copies of the first level of Kameo were printed on retail discs for future inclusion in the Official Xbox magazine, but these discs were then recovered and given to team members at Rare and Microsoft. Following this, rumours began that the game was once again undergoing a platform change, this time from the Xbox to the Xbox 360, where it was the first announced game for the system.[15][5] According to lead game tester Chris Chamberlain, the Xbox version was 80% complete before being moved to an Xbox 360 release. Since many of the development tools were not available on the new console, the team was forced to rebuild the game from the ground up, and either re-learn or create new tools entirely. The scope of the game had also increased, forcing the company to hire new employees.[16]

Release

The downloadable content (DLC) is not available in all Xbox Live Marketplace regions.

  • Rare released a skin set for Kameo and her Elemental Warriors shortly after the game's release called the Winter Warrior Pack. This dressed each character in festive, holiday-themed skins. It is currently available from Xbox Live Marketplace. Later three more skin packs were released: the Fright Warrior Pack, the Masquerade Pack and the Design-A-Skin Pack.
  • Rare has also released a free download to enable cooperative play over Xbox Live and System Link. Previously, the feature was split-screen only.
  • In September 2006, Rare released a new download on Xbox Live Marketplace, called the Power Pack. This download adds three new modes to the game with the emphasis on multiplayer content. The first mode is Expert Mode, which can be played in both single-player and multiplayer. In this mode, the levels are mirrored and enemy placement is a lot tougher. Many things also happen which never happened the first time through. In multiplayer mode, players share continues. The second mode is Rune Battle. This is purely a versus mode with each player trying to have the most runes by the end of the level. Runes can be earned by defeating enemies, smashing open objects and attacking the other player. Many new powerups exist to further enhance this mode. The final mode is Time Attack, which is multiplayer only. Players must get to the end of the level before time runs out. Each checkpoint passed adds a little more time to the clock. Working closely with your partner is essential for this mode.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 80.85[17]
Metacritic 79/100[18]
Review scores
Publication Score
Eurogamer 5/10[10]
Game Revolution B-[19]
GameSpot 8.7 out of 10[5]
GameSpy 4/5 stars[20]
IGN 8.4 out of 10[21]
TeamXbox 8.8 out of 10[22]

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Critical reception was generally positive, receiving an aggregate score of 80.85% at GameRankings.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pavlacka 2005, p. 10.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Pavlacka 2005, p. 12.
  12. ↑ Pavlacka 2005, p. 107.
  13. ↑ Pavlacka 2005, p. 100.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Bibliography

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=Kameo:_Elements_of_Power&oldid=726061734"