Coded Arms

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Coded Arms
Coded Arms box art
Developer(s) Konami
Publisher(s) Konami
Release date(s) June 23, 2005 (JP)
July 6, 2005 (NA)
September 16, 2005 (AU)
September 23, 2005 (EU)
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s) ESRB: Teen (T)
CERO: All ages
PEGI: 12+
OFLC (AU): M (Mature)
OFLC (NZ): M (Mature)
Platform(s) PlayStation Portable
Media UMD
System requirements Memory Stick Duo

Coded Arms is a first-person shooter video game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation Portable handheld in 2005.

The game takes place inside a virtual reality military training simulator, which has been abandoned. However, the program continues to run, generating enemies for the no longer present soldiers-in-training. The player takes the role of one of the many hackers attempting to break the codes of the simulator and derive the most valuable data possible. To do this the player must explore several "sectors" that are infested with various kinds of enemies, including alien soldiers, bugs and security bots. The only way to survive and get the greatest rewards is by destroying the enemies and the bosses at the end of the most difficult sectors.

Contents

[edit] Features

  • More than 30 weapons
  • Random level design
  • Ability to upgrade weapons
  • 5 different weapon attributes
  • Mix and match armor types
  • 3D in-game map
  • Wireless Ad-Hoc multiplayer with up to four players
  • Three different multiplayer modes: Deathmatch, Keep the Mark and Last Man Standing
An in-game screenshot from Coded Arms. The player is firing the Assualt Rifle (Assault_RFL.arm) and the orange object on the right is a .cbx item.
An in-game screenshot from Coded Arms. The player is firing the Assualt Rifle (Assault_RFL.arm) and the orange object on the right is a .cbx item.

[edit] Equipment

In Coded Arms, equipment is acquired from defeated enemies. Because the game takes place in a computer program, the equipment and pickups are named with extensions, much like in a conventional computer.

  • .arm indicates a gun of which there are 23 different ones
  • .cbx indicates a grenade of which there are 10 different ones
  • .dfn indicates armor of which there are 18 different ones
  • .utl powerup (i.e. invisibility)
  • .blt ammunition pickup
  • .med health pickup
  • .upg weapon or health upgrade

Weapons, grenades and armor are obtained by picking up files in the game. All of the weapons and grenades can be upgraded by picking up a certain amount of Opt_Key.upg files (The amount varies from weapon to weapon). The players health starts the game at 100, but can be increased by picking up HX.upg files which increase your health limit by 10 up to a maximum of 250.


[edit] Attributes

All of the weapons and armour in Coded Arms have one of five different attributes. The available attributes are: physical, electrical, light, fire and viral. Certain attributes are more effective against certain enemies. For instance, bots can be overloaded by weapons with the electrical attribute and bugs usually dwell in the dark so light weapons do the most damage to them. The enemies in Coded Arms also use weapons with different attributes and therefore one can get certain types of armor that are resistant to attacks of a certain type. For instance the Optical Jacket (Opt_JKT.dfn) is resistant to weapons with the light attribute.

[edit] Game Progression

A user progresses through the game by completing sectors. Sector 00 consists of one battlefield (Training) with 3 levels that serve to familiarise the user with the game. Sector 01 consists of three battlefields (City, Base and Ruins) and each battlefield has 6 levels. Sector 02 also has three battlefields consisting of 13 levels each with a boss at the 13th level of each battlefield. Sector 03 consists of one battlefield (Infinity) which has an unlimited amount of levels to it. There has been a lot of debate over whether or not there are an infinite amount of levels, but technically there isn't as an infinite number can't be present in a finite space. There's currently no proof whether there are more than 1000 levels yet. The difficulty of the game increases as the user progresses through the sectors. All of the levels in the game are randomly generated when you access them.

[edit] Bosses

In Coded Arms there are three different bosses which are detailed as follows. They are Enforcer, Mantis and Colossus.

Mantis is a giant bug that first appears first in the final level of Sector 02 Ruins. Mantis is considered a bug type enemy and is therefore vulnerable to weapons with the light attribute such as the Laser Pistol (Laser_PSTL.arm), Pulse Rifle (Pulse_RFL.arm) and the Photon Machine Gun (Photon_MG.arm). Additionally, this boss is affected by the Honeypot.cbx, a grenade which attracts the attention of any bug or insect-type enemy. This boss will be attracted to the grenade and become completely immobile until the grenade effect wears off or is hit powerfully by a weapon such as the shotgun, or the Plasma_LCH.arm grenade launcher.

Enforcer is a robot with rocket thrusters that first appears on the final level of Sector 02 City. Enforcer is considered a bot type enemy and is therefore vulnerable to weapons with the electrical type attribute such as the Bolt Pistol (Bolt_PSTL.arm), Bolt Launcher (Bolt_LCH.arm) and the Judgement (Judgement.arm). In addition Enforcer is effected by the Chaff Grenade (Chaff_GRE.cbx) and by using it Enforcer can be quite harmless. It should be noted, however that this boss retains a degree of mobility which can make it difficult to get a clean shot.

Colossus is a huge towering enemy five floors tall that makes his first appearance in the final level of Sector 02 Base. Colossus is considered to be the hardest boss in the game. It is most vulnerable to weapons with the physical attribute such as the Pistol (PSTL.arm), Assault Rifle (Assault_RFL.arm) and the Shotgun (Shotgun.arm).

In addition to appearing on the final levels of each battlefield in Sector 02, each boss also appears in every thirtieth level in Sector 03 Infinity with Mantis first appearing on level 10, Enforcer on level 20 and Colossus on level 30. After level 30 the cycle repeats itself with Mantis on level 40, Enforcer on level 50 and so on. Also each time you encounter a boss in Sector 03 Infinity the boss’s difficulty increases.

[edit] Criticism

Many people have complained that the controls for the game are uncomfortable and hard to get used to, specifically the analog stick. There have also been complaints that the game can get very repetitive and has very little replay value but many people also believe that with the random level creation there is endless replay value because it is always different.

[edit] Sequels

Despite its low ratings, two sequels are in progress; one of them, Coded Arms 2: Contagion, has been announced to be currently in production for the Playstation Portable.[1]

Also, a Playstation 3 sequel is also planned, known currently as Coded Arms Assault. It was shown at 2006 E3.

[edit] Trivia

  • The game's thematics are influenced by many cyberpunk series, such as "The Matrix" and "Ghost in the Shell".
  • In the UMD icon animation, a constant flux of data is animated going from right to left. If the system is turned properly, the animation will be just like the one found at the beginning of every Matrix movie.
  • In the game's front illustration, the helmet of the "Coded" hacker has the words "Personality Sincronization Plug-in device" written on it, resulting PSP if it's abbreviated.

[edit] Extras

Coded Arms comes with a PSP firmware version 1.50 update. This is only useful, however, for Japanese models of the PSP which came with version 1.00 at launch; US launch models have 1.50 preinstalled.

[edit] External links

[edit] Official Sites

[edit] Reviews

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