Kameo is a great game for the right person. Is that You? Read on.
Set in a magical fantastical world reminiscent of the likes of Banjo-Kazooie I will first state that if you liked the cross form abilities seen in the aforesaid game, then you will perhaps enjoy Kameo, because its entire concept is on using the right forms in combination to progress onwards.
Even the music is jaunty and magical with a bit of children's fairytale about it that sets off nostalgic memories of Banjo-Kazooie – then later in the game it still doesn't fail to impress.
The acting is of a mostly high standard, with the exception of a couple of characters and the character you yourself play…funnily enough. At least much of the game is fully voiced though, thus pushing away from the aforementioned more retro of games – a step in the right direction.
You play as a fairy (or was it an elf) character who can do very little on her own. A hover and a jump from the LT and RT respectively and holding both together makes her perform a spin kick. She instead relies on her other forms, those which she transforms into for more pressing combat and movement orientated tasks. It's good that the game throws you in with three additional forms to change into so you can get a feel for Kameo's "gimmick" quite early. I'm sure you could have guessed that it will then revert to the standard game practice of taking all of those powers away from you, leaving you as a bare minimum self. I'm sure you're also used to the tried and tested regaining of those powers slowly through the game. Nearly every game does this, so Kameo is simply following the standard.
The reason I don't take the race of your character very serious is because the game has already been driving me bonkers with its comments about "trolls" being the creatures, the troops sent in to combat the kingdom and consequently you. That's wrong! They are clearly orcs - the skinny leg variety that remind me of the early 90's Games Workshop style, with a mix of 'Warcraft' orc thrown in for good measure.
While I might be having a bit of a geek moan at that, the voices and animations on them are really quite fun.
As a first game for the 360, the visuals are not the most powerful every seen on the console, but they're by far not the worst! Everything is looking really good actually. There's a nice cartoony effect that runs consistently and sharp through the levels. The textures are well blended and nicely designed. The colours feel varied and correct. The lighting is really nice. As old a game as this is, it really surprised me!
Character design is hot and cold for me. The way that human types (albeit fairy/elfin) have been animated is not pleasant, but the many non human-like races you'll meet in 'Kameo' are superb to look at and interact with - again with some smooth textural/lighting effects playing off of surfaces like fur. The package is endearing, visually.
It's easy to see why combat for your natural form is LT+RT to deliver a flip kick. They obviously wanted to keep the other buttons free for ease of those all important form changes on the fly. Think of the convenience required for buttons in the game 'Goblin Commander'. It's the same need to keep it running simple on a console, as you'll discover. I will say though, I wasn't satisfied with the natural form's flip kick. I found that it often decided not to work properly, instead one of the triggers registering before the other and you doing a hover instead. Such things are only frustrating though if you're dying because of it, right? Here you're fed a pretty decent stream of health ups through the more pressing encounters of the game (and I use that term lightly).
On that front, there's every reason why kids will enjoy this game, as it's not particularly difficult to play, yet it's stimulating enough in gameplay requirements to keep anyone interested, including adults, for at least a while. Perhaps not all the way to the end…I'll pick that up again a few lines down.
I will also say that this is a game that many girls or women might find themselves enjoying. I'm not trying to generalise women here; what I am saying is that those women who don't enjoy first person shooters or hack and slash 'em ups will find something of merit here instead. Those that do enjoy a bloody violent kill fest along with the boys, respect to you too. I just felt it noteworthy to say, for any females reading.
I truly feel that a normal adult gamer, a player who would class themselves as "hardcore" will struggle to remain interested. There's just not quite enough of the dynamic in your face gameplay that you're probably used to. Those who don't play game much or quite young kids, well this could be something special for them.
Pros: Smooth and colourful visuals, endearing NPC character designs, amazing music that will entertain you, a nice selection of ability forms to choose from giving tactical variety in many combats.
Cons: The flip kick doesn't always work, they're not Trolls – they're Orcs! Gameplay doesn't quite satisfy in variety over the long term (especially if you're a mature gamer), a little repetitive in formula to play that will make older hardcore gamers feel increasingly detached from the experience, yucky voice acting and design on your character.
Total Score: 7.0*
*Please note, this is a conditional score. If you are a very much younger gamer or inexperienced with games, you should raise the score by 1.6 giving the game a total of 8.6 in those circumstances.