Coded Arms (PSP) Review

Coded Arms (PSP) Review

Year of release: 2005

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Genre: First Person Shooter

Coded Arm is a First Person Shooter that was published and developed by Konami for the PSP in 2005.

When I saw preview videos of it, I was pretty impressed. It looked great, so bought it when it was released (before I got the PSP for Christmas in 2005). Upon playing it for the first time, I thought it was pretty good. There's a fair bit of input lag, but it doesn't seem to hinder the controls or the gameplay in any way. AI isn't excellent, especially when you trying to kill a few enemies with a sniper rifle. Pretty impressive for a PSP launch title. 

In the late 21st century, upgrades in medical and computer technology allow connectivity of human minds to computer networks. It all takes plays inside AIDA, a virtual reality military training simulator that has been abandoned for quite some time. Despite that, the program continues to run, and enemies and levels are still being generated, You play as a hacker who attempts to break the code for AIDA to extract as much valuable data as possible for fame and riches. This is where the player explores sectors (more on that later) that are riddled with enemies including soldiers, security bots, giant bugs just to name a few. Eventually, the player will have to destroy the boss at the end of the sector. 

The game is split into multiple sectors: 

Sector 00 is basically a training level. Sector 01 is split into 3 battlefields: City, Base and Ruin. Each battlefield consists of 6 levels. No boss. Sector 02 is technically an extended version of Sector 01 with 13 levels in each battlefield ending with a boss and Sector 03 is Infinity, which goes on indefinitely (unlimited levels), but the player must defeat all 3 bosses to unlock it. 

The levels are randomly generated, which somewhat increases the replay value and there are plugins to collect throughout the game. The plugins consist of new weapons, armour and grenades.  The player also collects "Opt_Keys" that upgrades your weapons and health (orange for weapons, yellow for health). There are weapons that the player collects throughout the game which are divided into 5 attributes: Physical, Heat, Electric, Viral and Light. Certain attributes take advantage of certain enemies i.e. mechanical enemies are weak against electric weapons. The player can only carry 5 weapons at a time but can be arranged at any point.

Another feature in the games is a 4-player multiplayer mode which consists of three modes: Deathmatch, which is basically free-for-all, Keep The Mark, where the player must obtain said mark to score points and Last Man Standing is similar to Deathmatch, but players get eliminated and the remaining one wins. 

The default controls;

Analog stick - Move/Strafe

D-Pad Left/Right - Switch weapons

D-Pad Up - Zoom in

Square and Circle - Turn left/right

Cross(X) and Triangle - Aim up/down

L - Jump

R - Shoot

Final thoughts: It's a great launch title for the PSP and the randomly generated levels increase replay value (for me, at least). There's a little bit of input lag in the controls, but that doesn't affect the gameplay at all. It has very few RPG elements, but then again, it wasn't marketed as an RPG, it's mainly an FPS. AI isn't the best, but the whole game is enjoyable. I definitely had fun playing it. 

MY RATING: 8/10

Backtrack (Gameboy Advance) Review

 Backtrack (Gameboy Advance) Review
Year of release: 2001
Publisher: Telegames
Developer: JV Games
Genre: First Person Shooter

Backtrack is a First Person Shooter that was published by Telegames, developed by JV Games and released for the Gameboy Advance in 2001. 

The first impressions about the game: I wasn't really expecting much as it was more of a budget game than anything. There's limited draw distance and the framerate which didn't worsen the experience. Also, It takes half a second to fire your gun upon firing it. The enemies aren't too difficult to kill, which is good. and there are also the captured humans that you have to rescue, which is great and all. Level wise, it's more like Wolfenstein 3D than Doom which was also released on the GBA the same year.

You play as Jim Track, a special agent whose mission is to infiltrate the moon base, rescue the 110  aforementioned captured humans, defeat Domingoaniax's army and trigger the self destruct sequence to destroy the moon base. After that, you have to go all the way to the first level and go through the teleport where you (presumably) came from at the start of your mission. Somewhat reminiscent of Metroid where you destroy the mother brain and escape within a time limit, though this is no Metroidvania by any means. There are also dying soldier that gives you key cards or information on your mission. You also collect an unusual arsenal of weapons along the way, including a vacuum cleaner and aerosol (acting as a flamethrower of some sort).

The controls work like this;

A - Shoot, open doors, rescue humans, talk to dying soldiers

B - Shoot

L - Strafe left

R - Strafe right

Select - Pause Menu

Start - Map

The controls are basic, sure but they are fairly easy to learn. 

Final thoughts: Despite mediocre draw distance and framerate, neither of them don't hinder the gameplay while they're nothing to write home about. I found the enemies easy to handle once I got used to the weapon delay. I like the Wolfenstein-3D style layout of the level and rescuing the dying soldiers is an interesting concept for any first-person shooter. The information from the dying soldiers is useful indeed. All in all, it's an alright game. Though it's not brilliant or terrible It's just okay but enjoyable enough for me, at least.

MY RATING: 7/10