Coded Arms

"One of the best PSP games yet....."

Let me start by saying that I waited for this game for almost a year. The day I started saving for my PSP, I started saving for Coded Arms. I had very high hopes for this game. Before getting it, Electronics Gaming Monthly gave it a 7 out of 10. I was a bit frightened by this. After playing it, I would say it is a little better than the magazines make it out to be. It's not the next GoldenEye or Battlefield, but it's a decent game.

------------
Gameplay
------------
The main idea of the game is shoot the enemy. It is a First Person Shooter. So, if you have ever played an FPS before you should know how that works. You start in a room and must find your way to the portal to the next level. Along the way you shoot enemies, get health, pickup ammo, etc. When you find a new gun, it's like a program you download. Then, from the menu you can select which 'plugin' files to use. These are basically the programs of your guns and armor.

------------
Controls
------------
The controls are the main weakness of this game. I think I can safely say this game would be 75% better if Sony had included a second analog stick on the PSP. The game has 3 basic control sets or you can make your own. So, you have options in how you want to do things. However, no matter what you choose, aiming will still feel a bit choppy. Often you will find yourself turning and having to move your character before lining up with an enemy. To make up for this, the game has a limited auto-lock-on feature. This helps, but the feel of it just gets annoying.

------------
Story
------------
It's not the best in the world, but on the other hand, it's not a full epic RPG. Thus, a full epic story should not be expected. The idea is a government program that is used to train military soldiers has pretty much gone out of control. The program is put out of use but can not be shut down. So, your character is a hacker who, like other hackers, tries to hack in to this program to see how far he can get, etc. The further you get, the more data you download and your character can sell this data to get rich. It somewhat resembles the Matrix's story.

------------
Graphics
------------
The graphics of this game are amazing. The models for the enemies are console-quality. I don't think I can ever play the Metroid Hunters Demo for DS ever again after playing with the enemy models of Coded Arms. The level designs are pretty good. They are not the best, but they look excellent for a hand-held. The weapons all look excellent as well.

------------
Sounds
------------
You probably won't be rushing to import the soundtrack to this game. The background music is not like a full Final Fantasy score, but it fits the game's theme well. The gun sounds, enemy sounds, walking sounds, etc. all are good. Where the music is lacking, the sound effects make up for it.

-------------
Replayability
-------------
The game is very long. So, as someone who has not yet beaten it, I can not comment on this. I doubt the game is that high of a replayability because you probably will not beat it any time soon after starting it.
--------------
Rent? or buy?
--------------
Definitely buy this game. It is definitely one of the best PSP games out right now despite its minor problems.

--------------------------
Overall Score: 8 out of 10
--------------------------

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/05