Reviews// Kameo (Xbox 360)

Without question, Kameo is astonishingly good looking. The word lush is up there with the most annoying videogame review clichés [in fact, it's not a word at all in the sense you mean, just a poor abbreviation of luscious - ed] though in the case of Kameo, its use is totally apt. The game really does belie its humble origin and tortuous multi-port back-story, with Rare signing off some of the most breathtaking game code seen to date, able to stand next to the highest-spec PC.

Over the last half decade as you’ve patiently awaited Kameo’s release, you’ll no doubt have picked up on how the game operates and of course, its all important USP. The 'Elements of Power' subtitle refers to Kameo’s ability to harness worldly (and otherwise) elements to help her rescue her kidnapped elf family from her rogue twin Kalus. You begin the game powered up to some degree – you can jump, fight, climb and throw. Though more impressive elements are up for grabs. The game’s intro sees Kameo stripped bare of her abilities, leaving her to regain them from the demons that dwell beneath her village. So the more abilities you gain, the more things you can do and so the game progresses. Not revolutionary by any means but, had Kameo seen light back in 2001, it undoubtedly would be considered a classic. Five years is a long, long time in gaming.

Rare has delivered a solid third-person action game in Kameo. It has a twist, the camera is acceptable, as it the control schematic. It’s nothing new, though would have been when originally conceived. The only question remaining is whether you should buy it for your lovely new Xbox 360. If you want a showpiece game to show off the 360’s graphical might then it’s ideal. If your expectations are to play a really great-looking game with outdated (or should that be traditional) gameplay, then again, Kameo is perfect. If you’re expecting something revolutionary, something that will test you as a game-player in new ways, keep you up all night because you know something spectacular is just around the corner, it isn’t for you.

SPOnG rating: B

Kameo serves its purpose, justifying in a small way the acquisition of Rare and ticking one of the genre boxes in Microsoft’s all-inclusive launch line-up. It is a great shame it didn’t hit GameCube, though it's a better game for it – It is our expectations which have shifted, rather than the quality of Rare’s developments. Blighted in parts, blessed in others, Kameo is if nothing else the perfect way to justify to your girlfriend your spending of £400 on another games machine which are all the same to her. “Look dear, I got this game for you!”