Kameo: Elements of Power is day six of our series on 15 Xbox classics you can still play on Xbox Series X|S, and the first from the Xbox 360 era. Rare’s shape-shifting adventure launched alongside the Xbox 360, and today it’s in Game Pass with FPS Boost on current consoles.
Kameo: Elements of Power at a glance
- Developer: Rare
- Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
- Original release: 22 November 2005 (North America), 2 December 2005 (Europe)
- Original console: Xbox 360
- Xbox Store price: £8.99 / $9.99 (listed as Kameo)
- Game Pass: Essential, Premium and Ultimate
- Backward compatible since: 12 November 2015
- Enhancements: Xbox One X Enhanced, FPS Boost
What is Kameo: Elements of Power?
Kameo is a third-person action-adventure game. You play Kameo, a 16-year-old elf princess whose jealous older sister, Kalus, frees the troll king Thorn and kidnaps their family. To rescue them, Kameo has to collect elemental warriors, creatures she can turn into at any moment.
There are ten warriors, two for each of five elements: fire, ice, plant, rock and water. They include a fire-breathing creature that lights torches, a gorilla that climbs walls and throws enemies, and a plant that punches. New forms unlock just as you need them for a puzzle, and some enemies can only be hurt by certain elements.
After a castle prologue, Kameo loses her powers and travels through four themed worlds connected by an overworld called the Badlands. More than half the game is action, with rooms of enemies to clear and boss fights at the end of each area. You can replay levels for a higher score, and there’s two-player split-screen co-op.
Kameo’s history on Xbox
Kameo had a long development that started before Rare joined Microsoft. It began as a game about catching and raising creatures, with Kameo as a fairy. After Microsoft bought Rare in September 2002 for a record $377 million, the project moved to Xbox and lost many of those creature-raising ideas. The team cut the cast from around a hundred characters to a dozen and turned Kameo from a fairy into an elf.
The game was about 80% finished for the original Xbox when it was moved to the Xbox 360 as a launch game. Rare used the extra time to add more attacks, day and night changes, scores and leaderboards, and split-screen co-op. It also swapped synthesised music and a text-based story for voice acting and an orchestral score by Steve Burke, Rare’s first orchestral soundtrack. Levels on Xbox 360 could hold thousands of characters at once.
Kameo launched with the Xbox 360 on 22 November 2005, alongside Rare’s Perfect Dark Zero, and at a lower price than other Xbox 360 games. A free update in April 2006 added online co-op over Xbox Live or System Link, plus new achievements. Paid costume packs followed, and in September 2006 the Power Pack added leaderboards, new achievements and three new modes: Expert, Time Attack and Rune Battle.
A sequel was started but cancelled after a few months. Kameo was included in Rare Replay on Xbox One in August 2015, along with videos about its development and the cancelled sequel.
Why it matters
Kameo is one of two Rare games that launched the Xbox 360, and it was built to show off what the new console could do. It’s also a record of how much changed at Rare after the Microsoft deal, from the game’s tone to its main character.
Today, it’s one of the best-supported Xbox 360 games on current consoles, with a resolution upgrade, FPS Boost and a place in Game Pass.
How to play Kameo on Xbox Series X|S today
Kameo has been backward compatible on Xbox One since the programme launched on 12 November 2015, and it runs on Xbox Series X|S too. It’s listed on the Xbox Store as Kameo, for £8.99 or $9.99.
It’s included with Game Pass Essential, Premium and Ultimate. Our Game Pass tiers guide explains what each plan includes.
Kameo is Xbox One X Enhanced, with a higher resolution on Xbox One X and Xbox Series X. It also got FPS Boost on Xbox Series X|S on 15 November 2021, which raises its frame rate above the original.
If you own the Xbox 360 disc, an Xbox One or Xbox Series X will recognise it and download the backward-compatible version.
More on Kameo
Our Kameo: Elements of Power hub has the essentials and will collect future coverage. Tomorrow, the series moves on to Rare’s other Xbox 360 launch game, Perfect Dark Zero.
