Kameo 2 artwork leaks

By Fred Dutton Published 6 April, 2011

Get a glimpse of cancelled Rare sequel.

Concept art for a planned sequel to Rare's Xbox 360 action adventure Kameo: Elements of Power has found its way onto the web, offering a tantalising glimpse at what might have been.

The visuals, which you can see below, showed up on the CV of former Rare artist Sergey Rakhmanov (as spotted on NeoGAF).

Dated 2008, the images suggest that Rare was planning a more realistic approach for the sequel than the bright, cartoony original.

Kameo came out back in 2005 as an Xbox 360 launch title. It's not clear when or why the sequel was cancelled, but speculation says it was shelved in 2009 so the developer could focus on developing for Kinect.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (37) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Ninja_Tino #1 1 year ago

    Although it could have been so much more, I really enjoyed Kameo, and would have welcomed a sequel with open arms.

  • L0cky #2 1 year ago

    Does look interesting, and Kameo was an almost great game.

    Kinect strikes again :(

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #3 1 year ago

    I guess they were big fans of the promo material for Heavenly Sword.

    What happened to the cartoon platform adventure genre? It's not like there were a large number of high-profile flops apart from maybe the original Kameo.

    But this generation suddenly Naughty Dog are making Tomb Raider knockoffs (admittedly, very good ones), Insomniac military/alien invasion FPSs, Sucker Punch superpower-GTA-clones and Rare strategy games aimed at kids and casual motion games.

  • bf #4 1 year ago

    As nice as they look I'm not sure a more realistic design would have served the Kameo universe well.

  • customfirmware #5 1 year ago

    \o/. Yesss love the first one. Pummelweed to the rescue.

  • SimonM7 #6 1 year ago

    To be honest, between this and Perfect Dark Core, it seems like their games were all headed for heartbreak/disaster central anyway.

    Chilla was easily the best thing about Kameo, and this sorta suggests waterfall shower scene with breathdrying toplessness.

  • man.the.king #7 1 year ago

    For a moment there, I thought the headline meant they were going ahead with the Kameo sequel and I was excited as I really loved the first one.

    Then I read the article.

  • Sharzam #8 1 year ago

    I really liked Kameo, was a 'proper' game from the once great masters at rare but i really couldnt see them making it now sure Kinect Sports works and is fun its just not like the Banjo Kazooie developer.

    To put simply the 3 games i got with my 360 were Gears of War, Crackdown and Kameo was my favorite.

  • Stomp224 #9 1 year ago

    ... Really? A game about an elf-girl who turned into magical animales goes all gritty and realistic?

    Thank fudge it WAS cancelled.

  • metalangel #10 1 year ago

    Yeah, she'd turn into a slavering wolf, an eagle that tears your eyes out, a rabid bear and an elephant that never forgets... to kill!

    Plus she'd be all skimpily clad with lots of side boob and innuendo.

  • RodHull #11 1 year ago

    Grrrr. Bloody Kinect ruining the Rare I used to love. Don't get me wrong, Kinect Sports is a great game with some Rare momenets hidden away in there, but the likes of Kameo, BK:Nuts and Botls and Viva Pinata were far more enjoyable games that really added something unique to the 360 catalogue.

  • evild_edd #12 1 year ago

    Mixed feeling for this.

    On one hand, I thought the original was a really under-rated gem so am therefore disappointed that the sequel got cancelled.

    On the other, Kameo + realistic/gritty.....er, no thanks.

    I do wish we got to see a little more from Rare than just Kinect stuff. I know the 'focus' is Kinect, but surely there's some room at the studio for something non-kinect related.

    I would, of course, welcome a Kinect Viva Pinata, which would make me extremely tempted to pick up the sensor!!!

  • woodnotes #13 1 year ago

    I absolutely loved Kameo. Probably the most under-rated game this generation. It's one of few games I've played this generation that's actually stuck with me. I remember it so well and for all the right reasons.
    Edited by woodnotes at 06/04/11 @ 17:58

  • uzivatel #14 1 year ago

    Canceled sequel to a 5/10 game? Why does Eurogamer even care?
    I mean, you guys would scrap even the first one, given the choice.

  • evild_edd #15 1 year ago

    @uzivatel

    You've got to remember that back then Eurogamer was anti-Microsoft. Where as now they've clearly in Microsoft's pocket and always picking on poor defenseless Sony....

    .....or was it the other way round? I can never remember

    ;0)

  • Subdominator #16 1 year ago

    I'm in love with her. ;) I loved Kameo when it came out but I tried the game again some years later and found it pretty diisappointing. It hasn't aged well - I don't mean the graphics, those are still top notch today, but the controls and camera suck.

    But I don't get why it was cancelled. Considering that Rare made exactly three games since Kameo/PD0 with such a huge team (Viva Pinata 2 was nothing but a mission pack) - wouldn't it have been better to release a bunch of mediocre games like Kameo 2 instead of wasting creative talent on Avatars? It's like Microsoft never even bothered to get those 200 million pounds they paid for Rare back by selling games. They have no interest in building IPs, they are too scared to try anything that doesn't work with a market analysis. It's sad but they are successful, so who can blame them?

  • man.the.king #17 1 year ago

    @evild_edd

    "You've got to remember that back then Eurogamer was anti-Microsoft. Where as now they've clearly in Microsoft's pocket and always picking on poor defenseless Sony.... "

    Not sure if you were dabbling in sarcasm or were serious. My money is on "sarcasm" because of the ;0) at the end :).

    However, I'll respond to you as if you were serious and give you my take on it.

    From what I see, outside of the individual "EG journalists", there isn't much pro-MS/anti-Sony or vice-versa going on.

    What EG does do, however, is check which way the wind is blowing and fly along with it.

  • NewbieZilla #18 1 year ago

    Rare and "what might have been" in one sentence. How apropos.

  • evild_edd #19 1 year ago

    @man.the.king

    Rest assured, twas mere sarcasm dabblement. Of sorts, anyway.

    Sort of know what you mean on going with the flow. Don't think EG have ever really shown bias to consoles or manufacturers, but there's definitely been some running with the anit-Activision brigade of late. Which I'm not uncomfortable with to degrees.

  • uzivatel #20 1 year ago

    @evild_edd: Heh ;-)

    Either way, they have been pretty anti-Rare for some time now...

  • Mister-Wario #21 1 year ago

    That artwork looks really good. It's a shame the sequel was cancelled. That said, I played Kameo and I wasn't hugely impressed.

  • menage #22 1 year ago

    Kinda sad Rare are now basically making shovelware and avatar crap. With all their flaws Kameo, VP (2 especially) and Banjo were fun.

  • Jamieb87 #23 1 year ago

    Oh Rare I used to love you so much, terrible to see what microsoft have done to you, little more than a shell now.

    Slightly off topic,

    I fear that the golden age of British devs during the 90's/ early 00's is long, long dead. I'm struggling to think of a single big, British made game (other than Arkham City) that's even on my radar at the moment. This saddens me.

    Maybe if this pitiful excuse for a government takes some inspiration from the Canadians and grants some proper tax breaks there will be some light at the end of the tunnel. But i can't see that happening.

    It hurts to see an industry that has so much potential in this country left to rot.

  • peterfll #24 1 year ago

    Jesus, it must have been depressing working at Rare for the past few years. You make some great games that do ok-ish but not stellar business. Then you work on the sequels which then get canned. You end up making avatars and an ok-ish but relatively generic unoriginal sports title.

  • Phantom_Dynamite #25 1 year ago

    I enjoyed Kameo, but Major Ruin would look fucked up in a realistic style, rather than the cartoon style they had before. Either way dissapointed this won't see the light of day hell I'd kill for a new VP(non-kinect).

  • Dreddnaught #26 1 year ago

    WOULD !

  • jonsaan #27 1 year ago

    Kamel was a great game. Loved it.

  • jonsaan #28 1 year ago

    Kameo even. Dropout iPod.

  • Hindle #29 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 23:04:43 04-04-2012

  • EMarkM #30 1 year ago

    I too thought that the headline meant a sequel was really on its way: I even shouted the wife up to show her the article. Very disappointed. Kameo was one of the games I got with my 360 (RIP) and it remains one of the most memorable highlights of over thirty years of video-gaming. Remembering the end scene still brings a lump to my throat...

  • MegaCadet #31 1 year ago

    I'm more upset on how fucking misleading the title is. Jesus I thought they were gonna make a new one!!!

  • Quixz #32 1 year ago

    I really enjoyed Kameo, hopefully Microsoft can give RARE the OK and complete sequel.

  • Gambit1977 #33 1 year ago

    Is it just me or were Rare so disappointed in everything they did, they had to 'reinvent' it?

  • slickster #34 1 year ago

    i'll smash her backdoors in. :-)

  • superflyninja #35 1 year ago

    such a pity. Kameo was the first game I bought for 360.and while not perfect there were some moments in it that made me go "ooooohhh you couldnt do THAT on a ps2" the game was quite playable actually. It is a shame the sequel was cancelled. RARE are shite these days...but I appear to be very much in the minority for loving PD0. The multiplayer had some choice moments...

  • SandyMcD #36 1 year ago

    You're a bunch of parasites, Eurogamer!

  • MasterNameless #37 1 year ago

    "Kamel was a great game. Loved it."

    Kameo Toe?!? :o