Coded Arms

"Get this if you're a FPS fan. Mediocre if you're not a fan."

Prologue

Coded Arms is about you, as a hacker, part of the "Coded Ones" to risk risk his or her life in search of files in a out of control military training program called A.I.D.A. Not as in code hacking but as in the hackers will actually will be within the A.I.D.A system. However, your progress is hindered by the program itself. Without mercy, the system will keep on trying to kill you. If one "dies" in virtual reality in the AIDA system, one dies in real-life. Quite similar to the world of "Ghost in a Shell" series.

Graphics - 8/10
Not a mindblowing experience but pleasant enough to look at and is playable. It has all the effects that you would normally expect with a game full of merciless robots and aliens.

Gameplay - 7/10

Coded Arms is a FPS shooter with a random level generator. Like any FPS, it has the basic fundamentals like strafing, accuracy, running, recoil etc. There are around 30 weapons to use from and the weapons are based on what you would found in real life and also unique futuristic weapons are featured as well. AI is not you would expect like in Halo or CS:CZ. You will usually find most enemies standing and doing nothing and hardly walking around. Still, the AI has accurate shooting to prove a challenge to you and will require you to play effectively. Loading times are short though.

Controls - 8/10

As you would notice, no FPS would have any absolute perfect control on a handhold or nor a home console either. The lack of a second analog nub that instead of using a secondary nub for example, the right hand side buttons would be used in where to turn etc and the analog nub for walking. Of course, there is an autoaim system incase of difficulty of controls and the controls can be changed in Options and there are many control types which you can choose to suit to your style of gaming. You can also set if you want autoaim on or adjust your sensitivity to help keep the control user friendly.

Sound - 8/10

In my opinion, the sounds were quite good. You could hear the incoherent language of the aggressive aliens or the lasers being shot from your weapon or the exciting battle theme that comes up after an encounter of a enemy. This, of course, gives excitement in the game and should be noted.

Replayability - 5/10

This, however, is lacking for me. I found the game itself quite short after finding out that I finished it in one week for the first time and the levels were repetitive. Once you have finished the game, there are no actual bonuses except able to play infinite times (which is repetitive again!). If you are able to play this game with friends, this will allow you to experience fully and it may be a good investment to buy this game.

Overall - 7/10

It was a mediocre FPS PSP game made by Konami where you play as a role of yourself, as one of the Coded One who hack into systems, to get wealthy by playing dangerous and explore the vast databases through the AIDA system, which went out of control. It's not the best game on PSP nor it has anything special. Considering all these facts, it would be a game to try out if you see it on bargain price or a fan of the genre or maybe just a rent.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/06