Coded Arms Contagion
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Developer: Konami | Publisher: Konami |
| Release Date: September 18, 2007 | Also On: None |
The original Coded Arms launched the first-person shooter genre on Sony's PSP in 2005. The controls were a newer concept and were difficult to adjust to, and the boxy, randomly-generated maps were boring, but the gameplay was decent, the graphics were great, and sound effects were explosive. Konami needed to create interesting maps, hone their weapons, and improve the A.I., and they did all that. Why, then, is Coded Arms: Contagion a slightly less impressive game?
The story finds Major Jacob Grant jacking back into A.I.D.A., the combat simulation system from the original Coded Arms. What is initially a training simulation again turns wrong as Grant is asked to track down Bravo Team, which was just ahead of him in the world of A.I.D.A. There are realized points where Grant interacts with others, which adds a sense of story to the game. This was completely missing from the first game, which, in thought, seems to have been a training exercise for this game.
That doesn't mean Contagion is a lot longer. In fact, the 13 missions seem to take a lot less time than Coded Arms' different sectors. The levels aren't sprawled-out collections of boxes like they were before, and they've got a fantastic layout by comparison. Don't expect anything along the lines of Halo or even old PS2 shooters like Red Faction; Coded Arms is still pretty basic. The missions aren't very complex, either. Most of the time you will be jumping around the environment, shooting boxes and collecting power-ups, shooting enemies, and hacking.
The controls make jumping, shooting, and moving pretty simple after practice. As a side note, Contagion is the first PSP game I have played in 16 months. My PSP passed away last July, and perhaps that is why I had to suffer through an adjustment phase. By default, the left stick still controls movement. The face button is used to look around and move left or right. Jumping is handled with the left trigger, shooting with the right, and reloading, switching, sniping, and locking utilize the directional pad. I found it annoying to move my thumb from nub to directional pad just to reload or lock on, especially because both are very frequently required in the game. I thought that the game would be much easier to play if Jump and Lock-On were switched around so that locking on was quick and simple, but there was no way to manually change all of the controls. The other control schemes allow for lefty controls and Goldeneye-like, single-analog movement control (move in all directions with nub, strafe and look up/down with face buttons) as well as a strange combination with the triggers.
Hacking is a new addition to the game, but it isn't very much fun at all. Grant can approach certain terminals that can be hacked into, resulting in turrets changing sides and doors unlocking. Sometimes power-ups can be found. Again, hacking is a lame process. You have to look at a line of numbers on the left side of the screen and then look to another line on the right and find a pair of numbers that appear on both sides of the screen. This can be incredibly hard, since the numbers are small and the font boxy, making it hard to see the digits. Also, if you fail to hack correctly, an enemy will appear behind you, firing at you—this is pretty unforgiving, but then again, BioShock was never really penalized for the same situation.
Upgrading your plug-ins (weapons) would have been a lot more interesting this time around if the upgrade system wasn't restricted by structured, chronological limits. At a few points in the game you'll be allowed to upgrade your weapons, grenades, and armor with upgrade points found throughout the missions, but you won't ever get to upgrade when you really want to. I feel like you should be able to max out a weapon or armor whenever you want to, not limit yourself to spending a few points at scattered moments throughout the campaign.
Contagion impresses visually and aurally just as its predecessor did in 2005. The detailed environments from the first game have been overhauled, and with the maps no longer being randomized, the levels have more of a sense of design and style. The style is still a mix of futuristic and dirty industrial tastes infused into each area. The enemies are even more detailed than they previously were, but the crab- and insect-like creatures don't fit along the more common human-like enemies, and they're annoying to aim down and shoot at. In fact, half of Coded Arms' control issues would be resolved if looking up and down to shoot short or flying enemies wasn't required and the face buttons didn't have to be recreating what should be right-analog control. As a final visual comment, the frame rate drops a lot more than it did in the original game. Look out for flashing elevator indicators and rooms full of enemies or explosions!
At the start of this review I said that Coded Arms was a more impressive game than Coded Arms: Contagion. This isn't to say that I would rather play the original than the sequel. The new one isn't a great game, but it is a good one that just doesn't overwhelm with its upgrades. Missions are still too basic, the storyline is still too static, and the weapons, enemies, and characters are still totally lacking personality. The Infrastructure multiplayer that was missing from Coded Arms makes an appearance, but the only gamers who will really find a lot to enjoy from Contagion are fans of old-school shooters that throw simple enemies and challenges at them. Konami needs to fire on all cylinders when they release the PlayStation 3 Coded Arms title, and this isn't really the best example of what can be done with Coded Arms.
| Graphics: | 9 |
| Sound: | 7 |
| Gameplay: | 7 |
| Creativity: | 5 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 6 |
| Final: | 7 |
| Written by Cliff | Review Guide |
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