The market place is teeming with vibrancy and life to a point where you actually feel you’re in 11th century Jerusalem. However being an assassin in such troubled times means only one thing, you’re in the city on business. Your target, a town preacher with a hidden agenda.

You wait, watching from the roof tops as he makes his way to a secluded spot after spewing his half-baked propaganda. As soon as he’s alone, you descend from the sky, his back facing you as you hurl a few punches at him, beating him into submission. No one said this would be non-violent, or so god damned involving.

While he puts up a feeble resistance to your super-human combat skills, the trees sway, creating shadows that dance across the stone buildings in the mid-day sun, you can almost feel the breeze. The city crier concedes and vital information changes hands. You draw your sword to reschedule his appointment with god.

All seems well, until, from absolutely nowhere, a burly man decked in 11th century couture decides to amble down this lonely spot and manages to miraculously walk in between your blade and the victim. And come out unscathed. David Copperfield’s ancestor perhaps?

It’s amazing how an anomaly can reduce an experience like this to the rank of a mere video game with flaws et al.

(more…)

Another year, another Comic-Con I get to miss. Pleasant things we still get, like some out-of-nowhere announcements related to video-gaming. I raised not one, but two eyebrows at the announcement of Viva Piñata for the Nintendo DS. Of course, Shane Kim from Microsoft did hint a few months prior that having games based on not just Viva Piñata, but also Kameo appearing on the portable system wouldn’t sound entirely rubbish. Well, now we know! And knowing is half the battle.

Why get excited? Considering the overall reception the original game received from critics but also the lack of any real sales impact because of the “childish”-perceived subject matter, Viva Piñata more than ever deserves a second shot. And I can’t think of any better widely-owned platform for Rare to put it on.

Cheers to Nintendic for the news and Kotaku for the accompanying image. Should be seeing proper screens momentarily, so check back here later.

Sure it isn’t exactly “hot-off-the-press”, but this place just absolutely MUST have something about Kameo: Elements of Power. It isn’t the next greatest thing in terms of engine technology, nor is it the killer app for the Xbox 360 – but what Kameo really is, is one of the most underrated games today. With everyone going on and on about Gears of War and G.R.A.W, it’s easy to miss a title like Kameo that looks kiddy, colorful and easy. But give me 5 minutes and read on – and I’ll tell you just WHY Kameo is a genre defining moment in video game history.
Developed by Rare (who are best known for coming up with some of the most beautiful game characters and ‘different’ gameplay styles), Kameo is the story about a young elf princess who, in the process of saving her kidnapped family, learns more about her world and herself.
A young, hot-blooded but cool-headed elf, Kameo must pass through various realms and face terrible enemies (well – some are too amusing to be terrible), to save her family from the clutches of her envious sister – Kalus. Kalus and Kameo are both after 1 thing really – to get what’s rightfully theirs. But the envy and jealousy, makes Kalus turn against her own family and this envy clouds her love for all things dear to her. She eventually unleashes a terrible evil that has resulted in an all-out war between the elves and the Trolls. By bringing back the Troll king – Thorn, to life, an ancient pact is broken and the lands are plunged into battle. It’s now up to Kameo to save the land, her family and restore balance before all is lost. However, she’s not alone in this quest (God knows she’d be torn to bits!). Aiding her in her quest are what the game calls “Elemental Sprites”. The sprites are elemental warriors that Kameo can call upon to aid her in defeating enemies, crossing hurdles or solving puzzles. THIS – is what defines the whole game.
Your elemental sprites, when separated from you are weak and in a child-like state – however, once they become part of you, they become these terrifying warriors that can make the biggest Troll wet its pants! You also get the choice to upgrade each warrior’s abilities by feeding them “Elemental Fruit”. This fruit can be found across the land on Elemental Fruit plants, secret locations or even helping out people, who will gladly reward you for your kindness.
The gameplay is simple but challenging – you’re required to use your Elemental Warriors to beat up different enemy types. Each sprite has its own set of strengths and weaknesses and each is best suited for combat – however knowing what element controls your sprite, and what element your enemy is allergic to, makes the game different and fun to play. For example – Pummelweed, who’s like Tyson in the game, is a plant-element that punches enemies and literally finishes off with a nice upper-cut. Superb for quickly eliminating most enemies – however, if you’re up against an enemy whose primary element is fire, then guess what – Pummelweed is toast! Similarly, you use Torch (your Fire elemental) against a Lava Troll, and you won’t even scratch him! But use DeepBlue (water elemental) and watch the Troll’s lights go out! It’s this mix-and-match that makes the game so much fun. Sometimes, you’ll need to weaken an enemy with one sprite, and then defeat it using another! Now this mix-and-match doesn’t just apply to combat – it also applies to puzzle solving and moving from one section to another. Consider this – you’ve got a ramp you can jump off, but on the other side, there’s nothing but a wall of ice, leading to the next section - 50 feet above you!!! Big problem? Not really – if you do the following – change into Major Ruin (think Elephant meets Armadillo). Make him shoot off the ramp (since he turns into a ball, he’ll get some height and the speed will cover you some distance. Just when you’re close to the ice wall, quickly change to Chilla (Ice elemental) and he’ll grab the wall and scale up in seconds!!! Inventive and genius! It’s as simple as that (until you get to some later levels!).
It’s this unique gameplay that really appealed to me the most and had me hooked to the game up until 4 AM - EVERYDAY!
Graphically, the game just looks gorgeous! With dynamic day-night cycles and superbly detailed characters, what’ll WOW you the most, is when you hover over fields. I shit you not – EVERY BLADE of grass is alive in this game. You hover over it and the grass actually sways under you! You quickly hang a left or a right – and the grass responds! If a developer decides to put that much attention into a game – trust me – they LOVE the game and they have loved making it. The day night cycles make the game a lot of fun too. While not new, it still adds to the feeling of actually being IN the game and feeling time pass by.
The game also packs in quite a few minigames which you can play to earn rewards to learn more things about your world. But believe me – I spent most of my time just flying around marveling at the game and its scale – the world looks breathtakingly beautiful.

Boss fights are challenging – but never to the point of abject frustration. The bosses look convincingly evil and dastardly, and VERY amazing! My personal favorite is the tree boss. You need to beat this guy in the most unbelievable way! I’ll just leave it at that for now!!! The game is also forgiving in that it’ll never really need you to run to a PC to get a boss strategy guide. If the game notices you struggling, it’ll give you hints and advice on what to do next. While this is pretty cool for people new to the genre, it can however, get a little too annoying at times. You really don’t want a game to hold your hand through it, all the way.
In terms of multiplayer, the game features a co-op mode – however, co-op levels need to be unlocked when playing in single player mode. The co-op modes, while fun, are just a little lack-lustre, really. This could have been executed better. There is absolutely no challenge in playing co-op and unlike a game like GeOW – which had some of the most amazing co-op I’ve ever played, Kameo’s co-op doesn’t quite cut it.
On the whole, I think this is easily one of the best action-adventure games out there and while it isn’t exactly “launch-title” material anymore, I’d highly recommend this game to anyone who’s out to make a worthy investment. While it’s not as kick-ass as other titles, it still manages to deliver what every game should – FUN for the whole family!
Buy it.