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Coded Arms is not only the first First-Person-Shooter
to launch on the PSP, but also Konami’s first attempt at
developing a First-Person-Shooter title. Having received mixed
opinions  throughout development and fighting with the lack of
interest in the genre in Japan, Coded Arms was a “must-play” title for Electronic
Theatre at E3 2005 where, surprisingly, the title received
mixed opinions from the writing team. Having now received a rather
uninspiring, under-the-table release, Coded Arms has aroused
much interest and speculation.
The basic premise of the title bears more than a resemblance
of the earliest of First-Person-Shooters - such as Castle
Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM and Serious Sam - whereas
rather than having specific objectives or a mission to complete,
the order of the day is simply to progress from the beginning to
the end of each Level, obliterating anything that either breathes
or looks at you a little funny. The game’s HUB divides the play
into Sectors, with each Sector containing a handful of Levels.
However, each of these Levels then contains a further division
(usually consisting of between three and fifteen floors) to
complete before returning to the HUB.
The Level design is certainly a revered aspect of game
developm ent according to the team responsible for the title. Coded
Arms features a Random-Level-Generator which is used to its
fullest possible effect. Each and every Level is randomly generated
upon entrance – and then re-generated should you die or wish to
replay an earlier Level. The replay value is, of course, enhanced
greatly by the feature, however it does cause a degree of
stagnation for some of the areas as many environments are limited
and reflect those already played. Although latter Levels are
distinctly reminiscent of the opening sections, the difficulty
curve is swung out suddenly creating a harsh realisation of your
progression through the game. Much like hitting a brick wall at
over 100mph, the game gently eases you in until half-way through a
floor, within a Level, within Sector 2 – when things get
ridiculously aggressive and will send many players reeling back to
the HUB in order to replay earlier Levels and nab some bonus
upgrades.
The title also features a small amount of intelligent
variations from the more traditional First-Person-Shooter titles,
some of which have just been brought into play out of necessity due
to not having a pre-determined Level structure, whereas others are
indeed clever tweaks to the formula. Pick-ups, on the whole, will
not litter the environment until specific enemies have been taken
down. Ammo is always on the far-from-plentiful side of things,
forcing you to vary your tactics through the 30 strong weapons
list, while each weapon is upgradeable. Removing the arbitrary need
developers have for secondary functions, collecting a specified
amount of Upgrade Data Units will add to your tally for the
specific weapon you are carrying and upgrading the strength of the
weapon considerably. Health and armour upgrades and items are done
similarly, but to less of an extent.
As the title features the Random-Level-Generator rather
prominently, multi-player Deathmatches are always eye-opening, as
neither player has had to option to build knowledge of the
environment played prior to the match. Incredibly limited, the
multiplayer remains fun throughout its shortcomings.
Graphically, Coded Arms is very hard to place. Whilst
sporting some fantastic animation and lighting effects, the title
is plagued with an inexcusable amount of polygon pop-up. Presumably
the result of having the Random-Level-Generator running full-swing,
practically every textured surface creates a break in the
suspension-of-disbelief by showing the player that, in fact, you are
actually playing a game. The PSP has highlighted many developers’
sloppy attitudes towards such glaring errors and, for once, Konami
have fallen foul to the rushed polishing-up stage that many
developers deem adequate. Every texture in the title has been given
a blur-effect and, whilst whether or not this was actually
intentional for the style of the game remains unclear, it certainly
highlights some of the PSPs shortcoming when slowly moving through
an arena.
The aural presentati on reflects that of practically every
title developed for the PSP. When played through the speakers, is
easily ignorable, but when adding the benefit of headphones, the
music may get irritating quickly, but the sound effects are spot-on
and only help to reinforce the feeling of being inside a
computerised network.
Coded Arms can be relied upon for a solid play
experience, but more than this; Coded Arms can perfectly be
used as a reflection of the industry today. Ranging from seamless
to bug-ridden, astounding to sloppy, the title highlights many of
the errors made by major games developers today whilst proving
that, maybe, it’s important for developers to make these
mistakes. Flitting between truly astounding and thoroughly
contrived seems to be Coded Arms mantra, and while many
First-Person-Shooter fans may feel a little under-whelmed, anyone
with an interest in the industry must pick-up a copy for the
revelations it holds. Konami haven’t done bad, they’re just yet
to make us proud.
 
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