Kameo: Elements of Power

Kameo: Elements of Power was one of the Xbox 360's launch titles and a showcase of Rare's long-standing effort to create a fairy-tale action adventure with a unique transformation system for its main heroine. The titular elf Kameo can take on the form of ten different elemental creatures during combat and exploration, from fiery gorillas to water beings, with each form offering different abilities for combat and puzzle-solving in the environment, creating a refreshing blend of platformer and action RPG.

Switching between the three currently selected transformations is mapped directly to the controller triggers, so the player changes shape literally in the middle of a fight – using one form to smash a stone obstacle, another to swim through a flooded corridor, and a third to freeze an enemy before shattering it. Individual forms can also be upgraded using collected materials, giving the game a light character-building dimension. The story of the fight against Kameo's evil sister, who has allied with the dark troll king Thorn to seize the kingdom, served primarily as a framework for exploring the colorful fantasy world. The game was in development for many years, originally for the previous console generation, before being reworked as a launch showcase of the new generation's graphical capabilities, boasting an impressive number of units on screen during massive battle sequences reminiscent of small-scale wars.

The graphical rendering of environments and lighting effects ranked among the best on the market in 2005 and demonstrated a genuine technological leap over the previous generation, especially in views of sprawling landscapes swarming with trolls. Critics praised the creative transformation system and visual presentation, although the story and mission structure felt somewhat conventional and the overall campaign length was relatively short. Kameo remains an important record of the transitional era between console generations and a demonstration of the Xbox 360's technical potential at launch; it is also one of the last great fantasy adventures of Rare's classic era.