Coded Arms
comes at a wonderful time. Up until now the PSP was without a first-person
shooter. It had every genre covered except the most common. By being the first
game to fill the FPS void, Coded Arms will impress* gamers with soft (almost
glowing) light effects, large monsters, and the sheer joy of running and
shooting in a first-person world.
*For the
first 20 minutes.
Set in a
futuristic world where hackers can find their way into the minds of the
computers (and tap their own minds into the database for a wealth of
information), Coded Arms warps players into a technical world. As doors slide
open the area unravels with a cool effect that draws a pixelated wall back
from the entrance to the end of the room.
Bright neon
signs are everywhere in sight; their glow is slightly blurred, leaving a
colored tail that gets smaller and lighter as you move and as you scan the
area. Weapon usage creates another computer effect, as does the elimination of
enemies.
Fire any
gun, even old-school weapons like a pistol or a sniper rifle, and you’ll see
more than a spark and a bullet being shot out. Unload a few rounds on the
nearest wall for a better understanding. Instead of leaving a hole and a smoky
mark behind, the bullets disappear, creating a tiny electrical pulse that
flows through the wall for a approximately one second.
In this
world, the computer world that you’re apparently jacked into, everything is
artificial. Your life in the game – that’s real. But the walls, the signs, the
monsters – they’re all fake. Blast a few monsters and they’ll disappear,
leaving behind a faint pixelated image, which disappears a second later. It’s
like having a visual of computer data as it’s being deleted within a software
program. You’re the cursor. Your guns are your buttons. The enemies are files
that you click on. Aesthetically this is a great concept.
Coded Arms
assumes that the majority of its buyers will be gamers who have never played a
first-person shooter before. Thus the first level is a tutorial that barely
explains what needs to be done. It can’t be skipped. That’s only half as
absurd as the gameplay explanation, which wasn’t even necessary. They tell you
that the analog stick is for strafing; the face buttons change the view; and
the shoulder buttons cause your character to jump and to fire his weapon.
Tell me
gamers: when’s the last time you’ve played a first-person shooter that didn’t
use this control scheme? The only ones that don’t are the ones that have two
analog sticks to work with. This style was a no-brainer for PSP, a console
that doesn’t have two sticks.
The meat of
Coded Arms is not a tutorial but an arcade-style first-person shooter. Most
people consider shooters to be arcade games, but there is a significant
difference. Home games have a path; a sequence of levels that must be passed,
and a series of objectives that must be completed in order to finish the game.
Arcade shooters have multiple missions that may be selected the minute you
insert your quarters. Complete three missions and another will appear. This
goes on until you beat the game or run out of change, whichever happens first.
Codes Arms
follows the trend of those arcade games. It also follows the old assumption
that, if players enjoy Level 1, they’d probably enjoy Level 1 Version 2. In
other words, Coded Arms is more of a corridor shooter than a first-person
shooter. Square rooms, long hallways, and brief elevator rides are the order
of the day. Enemies pop out less frequently than desired. They grow in size
with the progression of the game, but not in skill or in intelligence. They’re
not the strongest bunch either.
There’s a
weird misperception that occurs with the sniper rifle. Shoot an enemy from
afar and it’ll go down. Shoot it up close (without the scope) and it’ll
magically withstand the first shot. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way
around? Don’t weapons increase in power as you decrease the distance between
you and your target?
Mission
objectives include shoot the monster. They also include shoot the
monster over there, and the one down the hall. Oh no, the exit portal is
locked? I’ll just shoot the monster at the top of the elevator. If
necessary I’ll shoot the monster hiding in Large Room #1, and blast the
exit blocker that’s sitting right in the middle of Large Room #2.
These "large
rooms" are big, empty spaces that may or may not be occupied by a few
monsters. Ammo and health replenishment items may or may not be scattered
throughout the room. Otherwise it’s just a big square with halls that lead to
other big squares.
Levels are
rehashed throughout the game, differing in theme (do you want your walls to be
painted with industrial colors or something more homey, like the insides of
ancient ruins?) but not much else.
Coded Arms
earns its medal of disappointment by having the same level (and the same
sections within that level) rehashed in every mission. The only thing that
could have made them worse is if there were no squares to walk around in –
just long corridors to run through.
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Gameplay: 5.0
"Give us large
worlds and wide-open spaces!" That was the request from gamers at the start of
the 32-bit era. Coded Arms listened to this request, implementing several
wide-open spaces a whole decade later. After that the game says, "Okay, time
for lunch," and never returns. Searching the game’s large spaces reveals
nothing. A few enemies maybe. A couple of items. That’s it. Does that even
constitute gameplay? When you have something to shoot the lousy controls
prevent any fun from getting in.
Graphics: 6.9
PSP-rific…for
the first 20 minutes. After that it’s like, "Where’d all the pretty colors
go?" They’re still there, but your eyes become blind to their appearance when
they’re forced to look at the same thing for more than a minute. That’s one of
the reasons we buy old consoles – our eyes get bored easily.
Sound: 6.0
Sound is an area
where PSP games excel. Coded Arms’s techno mumbo jumbo puts an end to that.
Difficulty: Easy
Concept: 5.0
The
inside-the-computer effects are cool, but the gameplay is anything but
original.
Multiplayer: 5.0
Unnecessary,
poorly controlled multiplayer adds to the repetition.
Overall: 5.0
Coded Arms’s
clunky controls that are anything but inviting. I had no desire to return to
this game after playing it for a measly 60 minutes. None! Even mediocre games
like Batman Begins have something that makes you want to return. The monsters
are big but boring; the graphics are only eye-catching at first; and the
camera movement is downright awful. It can be tweaked, but not to the point
where you’ll be happy with it. Save your money for the next shooter. I’d
rather play nothing than play this.
