the grunter

A blast from the past! Sorry to disappoint if you think I only write reviews for new games because I’m planning to write a review on each of the games I own. And if you’ve been following this blog you’d know that I have cut back on buying new games for the past months now. Oh and I lied, if you think Kameo is “a blast from the past” as far as my reviews go, you’re in for a surprise (Hint: Check out my updated games list, new lists include Sega MD/NES).

Anyway, let’s look at this 2005 game that may be found in the $5 bin in your local Thrift store.

Kameo is part of the launch lineup for the Xbox 360, indicating the collaboration between developer Rare and Microsoft. Time for development was 4 years due to the fact that it got between Microsoft’s 2002 inquisition of Rare i.e. snatched it from Nintendo with cash. In fact this game was originally developed for Gamecube, and later on ported and improved on the then-next gen console.

From a preview event before the launch of Xbox 360 I was able to spend a few minutes on this game, and was actually interested in getting it during launch. But then I also tried Call of Duty 2, and only had money to buy one game on the day I lined up for the console, so a short 5 years later, I finally got around to playing it.

I always have extra love for launch titles, for many reasons. Having them in my library reminds me of the excitement of the console’s launch, because no matter how big of a turd a console ends up being *cough 3DO cough*, the launch will always be the best-looking show for it; Launch titles are never bounded by budget or time because the console maker completely replies on them to sell more systems (even more so back in the day, because slogans like “it only does everything” does not mean crap to gamers – they bought systems solely because they wanted to play games.), as a result they have to be polished.

The Good

• For a launch title, the graphics quality and the amount of graphic technologies that involved (like bump-mapping) were explosive. Some of the scenes in the game still look stunning at 720p today
• Great attempt at breaking the mold of traditional platform/action genre. You get to transform into creatures that represent various “elements” and use their unique skills e.g. fire, ice, ..plant? Regardless, the ability to switch between elements on the fly and interesting level design makes pretty good and non-cookie cutter gameplay
• Collecting bananas in Donkey Kong Country was mind-numbing. But in Kameo when I figured out how to beat a boss or solve a puzzle with the use of the right elements, it felt satisfying
• Some role-playing game elements in the game as well, you get to talk to NPCs and collect experience points to upgrade each of the element creatures’ skills
• Having co-op multiplayer is a nice touch, although the game is still primarily designed to be enjoyed as a single player experience

The Bad

• Sunday morning cartoon level of quality and depth as far as the plot and dialogue writing in the game go. Seriously Cailou would scoff at this sad excuse for a script
• NPCs serve more of a purpose to populate the game world than to bridge the plotlines by providing crucial information or reward player in any way for that matter. After the same one-liner repeatedly with any NPC, I usually give up in rage and proceed to beat the God-forsaken crap out of the creature which eventually became the only fun part about seeing NPCs in my adventure
• The controls are generally good, but clunky when player needs to go into 1st person view for aiming or other purposes. Especially seen when playing as the “ice” element creature
• The so-called “online mode” is actually a leaderboard tracking high scores from time attack runs i.e. only for the hardcores

The ???

• Gotta love the full color printed game manual, when nowadays we are lucky to even find a manual in the game box. Thanks, tree-huggers at Ubisoft!
• It’s cool to have a girl as the hero in a game, but can Kameo look more stereotypically western-designed with the huge bug eyes, thick lips,  pencil waist and the hot pants with army boots? “How is that stereotypical” you ask? “Beyond Good and Evil”, the original “Tomb Raider”, “Sudeki”.. I can go on with my list. Just be a little bit more original and creative, it’s all we ask for

Lastly

You can call Kameo a lot of things: Poor plot, bad character design, fugly-looking main girl etc., but “lazy” is not one of them. Kameo fully reaffirms my special love for launch titles – The game feels polished, full of content and constantly tries to wow the audience. It also distincts itself very strongly from anything from the past gen, be it in graphics, audio or other departments. Coming from the generation of Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube, Kameo is able to make you feel that you need to bring home the Xbox 360 right this moment within the first 5 minutes of play. If I reviewed this game back at its launch, I would be calling it a must-buy. Today, after being spoiled by quality stuff like Gears of War, Bioshock, Mass Effect etc I will still recommend this game to new Xbox 360 owners, it will at least make you feel that your new purchase was a good call.

(Review 3 of 52, 2011)