Sunday, September 25, 2005

Game Review: Coded Arms (PSP)


I recently rented coded arms for my PSP. I didn't finish the game 100% but I did get very close to the end. This game actually surprised me. It's the first FPS that's actually been pretty difficult for me, but not because of the story, because the PSP just wasn't designed for shooters.

Sure racing games are easy for the PSP to handle, all you need is a D-pad and the X button. FPS you need two analog sticks and almost all the buttons on the controller. A main problem coded arms faced is that the PSP doesn't have 2 analog sticks, which makes it very difficult to maneuver. I had the controls set so that the D-pad moved me and the X/O/Square/Triangle buttons had me look around. I Flick the analog stick down to reload and sideways to switch weapons, which makes it very difficult when you're trying to kill and you keep having to flick the stick.

There were a few ups to the game. The graphics and sound were very impressive for the first FPS to come out on the PSP. The story wasn't as great as Red Faction or Halo, but heck I'll take it. It's less about the story and more about the killing after all, right? The weapons system was pretty original. You have three different sets, Normal, Light, Fire, and Electric. Each class has a pistol, and is more effective against a certain type of enemy. You collect crystals to make you're weapons stronger, and throughout the game you pick up a pretty heavy arsenal. My top 5 favorites were Shotgun, Assault Riffle, Bolt Pistol, Rocket Launcher, and Fire Grenade Launcher. Now those sound like some average weapons almost every shooter has, but there are other cooler guns like the Electricity Ray. It shoots a large bolt of lightning at you enemy and zaps them until they're down.

I've played many shooters and know where this is on the scale. My all-time favorites are Red Faction, Halo, Killzone, and Project Snowblind. Let's just say if I were you, I'd go buy those instead of this one. If you are looking for a shooter for the PSP this game isn't terrible, but I'd wait to see what Stand Alone Complex has to offer. I give this game a 6/10. This game did set a standard for future FPS games on the PSP though, and if they can get the controls down you bet we'll see some good shooters coming soon.

Rod's score - 6.5/10
Jake's score - 6/10
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