Konami's Coded Arms for PSP is playable here at E3, and it looks like the game will be of interest to first-person shooter
fans, although we have to admit to not being totally impressed.
Players control a high-tech suit of armor that can translate data crystals into weapons and ammo. These crystals can be
picked up by hunting around the levels or by destroying robotic enemies, which always leave something good behind.
The combat seems pretty standard for an FPS. The analog nub controls movement and the four main buttons control aiming and
turning. That leaves the L and R buttons for jumping and firing, respectively. The digital pad is used for swapping weapons.
Each room in the demo level we played was populated with a few enemy robots, which we were able to shoot at and kill rather
easily. Skills such as circle-strafing work like they do in most FPS games…
The only weapons available in the demo were a pistol, an EMP laser, and a sniper rifle. Each enemy takes a few shots to kill,
and you have to make sure to duck behind cover while reloading. Enemy A.I. seems decent — they moved out of the line of fire
when attacked and tried to get behind our character in close quarters. We saw maybe three or four different enemies in the
demo–a short grenade-throwing drone, a pair of bi-pedal gun-toting robots, and a large four-armed boss robot with rocket
launchers attached.
Graphically, the game looks okay. The graphics are sharp and loads of polys are used for the robots and weapons. In
particular, all of the laser, spark, and partical effects are very pretty. Unfortunately, the level they're showing off here
at the show is set inside a rather bland office building structure and all of the rooms and elevators look the same.
Supposedly, the final game will have a variety of settings and utilize a color scheme other than brown and metallic.
Multiplayer support for as many as 8 players is also going to be included in the release version.
