Coded Arms First Review

[bapenguin]

PSP 411 (http://www.psp411.com/show/review/1138) has the first review up of the PSP first person shooter from Konami called Coded Arms. With the lack of dual analog sticks, it's hard to imagine how controls work...As an avid PC FPS player, I was very wary that console FPSs have a tendency to be the malnutritioned cousin of their PC counterparts coupled with the PSPs control layout with only one analogue stick. After trying all the 4 selectable control schemes, that can be extensively reconfgured, I settled on type A. Speaking of which the controls do take some getting used to but after a couple of hours I found that they did not hinder the gameplay enough to ruin the fun. It would be nice to have had the option to speed up the rate of turning, but its rarely annoying as the game is designed with the controls in mind.

Thanks Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com)

[Vandenh]

> after a couple of hours

Hours? Err.... I dunno about you guys, but with me a game doesn't last longer than 10 minutes if the controls are crap.

[Commissar Rob]

Gah, I really wanted to want a PSP. But I just haven't seen anything to make me want to invest the rather significant amount of money they're asking for the functionality they supply. $250 for the system. $150 plus for a decent memory card. $20 - 30 bucks a pop for second rate movies. And the games aren't doing it for me.

Maybe in a year or so it'll look better but right now...no thanks.

[AspectVoid]

> after a couple of hours

Hours? Err.... I dunno about you guys, but with me a game doesn't last longer than 10 minutes if the controls are crap.


You know, if you look back, its always taken hours to get used to control schemes. Most of us gamers don't see that because we've been playing through the gradual evolution, with one or two new buttons being added every now and then. Take someone who's never played an FPS on a PC before and try to teach them how to play HL2 or Doom 3. It can be extremely hard to learn.

When I taught my 25 year old sister how to play an FPS game, it took her a good 40 minutes just to get used to moving, looking, and jumping, let alone actually having to be able to remember primary and secondary weapon functions, learning how grenade tosses arc, crouching behind cover, changing one's selected weapon, open doors, etc. In the end, it took her about three days to be able to comfortably play.

In the PSP's case, I don't think its a matter of bad controls, but rather that its a matter of learning a new control scheme. Five years down the road, if this is the standard FPS control scheme for the PSP, most gamers will be able to pick up a game and play it well in five minutes.

[Kamalot]

Official Playstation Magazine gives it a 40%

Electronic Gaming Monthly gives it a 4.5 / 10

Looks like there is more wrong with it than just controls.

I've never heard of PSP411 before. Are they reputable, or are they a PSP fan-boy house?

[Kamalot]

Gah, I really wanted to want a PSP. But I just haven't seen anything to make me want to invest the rather significant amount of money they're asking for the functionality they supply. $250 for the system. $150 plus for a decent memory card. $20 - 30 bucks a pop for second rate movies. And the games aren't doing it for me.
Ack! When you put it like that, you are looking at the cost of a PSP to be $450 (hardware memory stick and a game!)

That's more than the PS3 is reported to cost!!!

[AspectVoid]

Ack! When you put it like that, you are looking at the cost of a PSP to be $450 (hardware memory stick and a game!)

That's more than the PS3 is reported to cost!!!


Depends on how big a memory card you get. My PSP, 3 games, a set of good headphones, and a 256mb memory card (which gives me an hour of video and two hours of music with 30mb left over for game saves) cost me a touch of $400, and this is perfect for me right now. I listen to my mp3s on my way to and from work (a 20 to 40 minute drive), watch a TV show or two while eating lunch (an hour break), and can get in a few quick games here and there when things go deadly quiet.

My PSP has gotten more use then then my GBA, and I've owned the GBA for year longer. Whether its a good investment or not depends on the owners habits, I think. For me, its great. For someone else, it isn't.

[KarmaGhost]

Official Playstation Magazine gives it a 40%

Electronic Gaming Monthly gives it a 4.5 / 10

Looks like there is more wrong with it than just controls.

I've never heard of PSP411 before. Are they reputable, or are they a PSP fan-boy house?Yeah, I was about to mention this. Seems like PSP411's review is the exception and not the rule.

[rein]

I do not think this game will be worth upgrading my firmware to 1.51. I would rather play some of the homebrew games than this.

[Kamalot]

Well, if you are tired of uninteresting games with shoddy controls and some ugly graphical glitches with objectives like, "shoot everything" then maybe pick up the recently released Dead to Rights.

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/deadtorightsreckoning/review.html

Waitasecond...nevermind. It looks to be a piece of complete crap too.

Gamespot - 5.7 / 10

[thecrazyd]

Wow, looks like the PSP has crap going for it. Whoda thunk it?

[CapnBob]

Well, the alternative at the moment is not too much better... DS only has the Metroid demo and Rogue Agent on it. I've been playing a bit of Rogue Agent and it's an extremely generic affair with shitty music. The two upsides are a rock-solid framerate and very precise mouse-like aiming with the touchscreen. So... Basically you have shitty FPS that control terribly on the PSP but look good or shitty FPS that control great on the DS but look only decent.

[Kamalot]

Gameplay > Graphics

[Cpt.Justice]

I'm really glad this game is a turd. I wasn't planning on buying it because of the forced firmware update and at least now I wont miss out on a good game.

[thecrazyd]

Plus, the DS has a ton of great content coming out for it, while the PSP has a new GTA. Thats it.

E3 was great for DS games, and thats about it. Personally, I am waiting for a price drop on the DS, and have yet to even consider purchasing a PSP.

[mister_slim]

I wonder if anyone will make an FPS using the right-hand buttons to move and the analog stick to look? It would take some time to get used to, but it could work pretty well.

[Kamalot]

I wonder if anyone will make an FPS using the right-hand buttons to move and the analog stick to look? It would take some time to get used to, but it could work pretty well.
I used to run Quake III like that on my Dreamcast. It sucked though.

From what I understand, Coded Arms has 3 control schemes. Quake III on the Dreamcast, if I remember correctly, was TOTALLY configurable. Why is that so hard to do?