Not that bad...

Reviewed by i_love_games11 on October 30, 2006  |  report this review

When I first picked up Coded Arms I decided to ignore all the professional reviews (something I never do) because I just thought it looked like it had so much potential. By the end of the day, most of what this game amounted to was not much more than potential but at least that means it wasn't a waste.
Don't let anyone tell you that Coded Arms is a bad game. It is not. I think one thing about the reviews you'll find on the internet that knock the game so hard is that the were expecting some sort of pocket Killzone or Red Faction, you know, a fantastic shooter that is an all-around well-done game. This was an early PSP title and the first FPS to hit the console so I think we can cut them a little slack if it feels as new as it actually was.

The first problem is with the story. It's not repulsively bad, but it's not exactly good either. Somewhere dead in the middle. If I were to tell you even one sentence of the plot I'd basically be giving you a spoiler because that's really the entire plot. Basically, in the future, people can jack themselves into computers, Matrix-style. A lot of hackers like to go into this program called A.I.D.A., a military training simulator gone berserk. The ones who go in for this are called "Coded Ones". The weapons you use are called "Arms" which is where the latter half of the moderately creative title comes from. And once you're in A.I.D.A. you run around blasting little digital things because...well...I guess there is no real proactive reason, it's just because.
That's why the plot is basically useless. Konami never takes it and does anything with it. The setting is great, the weapons are really verey cool, but it doesn't really go anywhere. In a sense it feels like a very old game, from the days when it was a matter of "here you are, here's your goal, don't ask questions, go!" Unfortunately we now demand more of certain types of games. Shooters are among those. The set-up here though was so cool that I was really hoping eventually they would pick it up as a running series. Thankfully, at E3 2006 we were informed that we'll get to see this bad boy is getting a PS3 edition, so hopefully we'll see what they can really do with the franchise.
No, the control here is not perfect. It can't be. SONY chose not to incorporate a second analog stick onto the face of the PSP and that is something we have to accept. Gamespot's house review calls the default layout for control complete trash, which I could not disagree with more. It just means that, with turning placed on the four face buttons, you will be strafing more than pin-point aiming to line up your shots. They did the best they could with what SONY provided them and I commend them for it. It works well and after a while you forget about the control scheme and are just playing the game. If the control is what's holding anyone back from getting this game, you have my assurance that control isn't really an issue here.
The sound here is good, for what is actually presen

cool

Reviewed by ben14kansas on December 15, 2007  |  report this review

When I first picked up Coded Arms I decided to ignore all the professional reviews (something I never do) because I just thought it looked like it had so much potential. By the end of the day, most of what this game amounted to was not much more than potential but at least that means it wasn't a waste.
Don't let anyone tell you that Coded Arms is a bad game. It is not. I think one thing about the reviews you'll find on the internet that knock the game so hard is that the were expecting some sort of pocket Killzone or Red Faction, you know, a fantastic shooter that is an all-around well-done game. This was an early PSP title and the first FPS to hit the console so I think we can cut them a little slack if it feels as new as it actually was.
The first problem is with the story. It's not repulsively bad, but it's not exactly good either. Somewhere dead in the middle. If I were to tell you even one sentence of the plot I'd basically be giving you a spoiler because that's really the entire plot. Basically, in the future, people can jack themselves into computers, Matrix-style. A lot of hackers like to go into this program called A.I.D.A., a military training simulator gone berserk. The ones who go in for this are called "Coded Ones". The weapons you use are called "Arms" which is where the latter half of the moderately creative title comes from. And once you're in A.I.D.A. you run around blasting little digital things because...well...I guess there is no real proactive reason, it's just because.
That's why the plot is basically useless. Konami never takes it and does anything with it. The setting is great, the weapons are really verey cool, but it doesn't really go anywhere. In a sense it feels like a very old game, from the days when it was a matter of "here you are, here's your goal, don't ask questions, go!" Unfortunately we now demand more of certain types of games.

sweet

Reviewed by ben14kansas on December 22, 2007  |  report this review

When I first picked up Coded Arms I decided to ignore all the professional reviews (something I never do) because I just thought it looked like it had so much potential. By the end of the day, most of what this game amounted to was not much more than potential but at least that means it wasn't a waste.
Don't let anyone tell you that Coded Arms is a bad game. It is not. I think one thing about the reviews you'll find on the internet that knock the game so hard is that the were expecting some sort of pocket Killzone or Red Faction, you know, a fantastic shooter that is an all-around well-done game. This was an early PSP title and the first FPS to hit the console so I think we can cut them a little slack if it feels as new as it actually was.
The first problem is with the story. It's not repulsively bad, but it's not exactly good either. Somewhere dead in the middle. If I were to tell you even one sentence of the plot I'd basically be giving you a spoiler because that's really the entire plot. Basically, in the future, people can jack themselves into computers, Matrix-style. A lot of hackers like to go into this program called A.I.D.A., a military training simulator gone berserk. The ones who go in for this are called "Coded Ones". The weapons you use are called "Arms" which is where the latter half of the moderately creative title comes from. And once you're in A.I.D.A. you run around blasting little digital things because...well...I guess there is no real proactive reason, it's just because.