Coded Arms comes at a wonderful time. Up until now the PSP was without a first-person shooter. It had every genre covered except the most common. By being the first game to fill the FPS void, Coded Arms will impress* gamers with soft (almost glowing) light effects, large monsters, and the sheer joy of running and shooting in a first-person world.

*For the first 20 minutes.

Set in a futuristic world where hackers can find their way into the minds of the computers (and tap their own minds into the database for a wealth of information), Coded Arms warps players into a technical world. As doors slide open the area unravels with a cool effect that draws a pixelated wall back from the entrance to the end of the room.

Bright neon signs are everywhere in sight; their glow is slightly blurred, leaving a colored tail that gets smaller and lighter as you move and as you scan the area. Weapon usage creates another computer effect, as does the elimination of enemies.

Fire any gun, even old-school weapons like a pistol or a sniper rifle, and you'll see more than a spark and a bullet being shot out. Unload a few rounds on the nearest wall for a better understanding. Instead of leaving a hole and a smoky mark behind, the bullets disappear, creating a tiny electrical pulse that flows through the wall for a approximately one second.

In this world, the computer world that you're apparently jacked into, everything is artificial. Your life in the game – that's real. But the walls, the signs, the monsters – they're all fake. Blast a few monsters and they'll disappear, leaving behind a faint pixelated image, which disappears a second later. It's like having a visual of computer data as it's being deleted within a software program. You're the cursor. Your guns are your buttons. The enemies are files that you click on. Aesthetically this is a great concept.

Coded Arms assumes that the majority of its buyers will be gamers who have never played a first-person shooter before. Thus the first level is a tutorial that barely explains what needs to be done. It can't be skipped. That's only half as absurd as the gameplay explanation, which wasn't even necessary. They tell you that the analog stick is for strafing; the face buttons change the view; and the shoulder buttons cause your character to jump and to fire his weapon.

Tell me gamers: when's the last time you've played a first-person shooter that didn't use this control scheme? The only ones that don't are the ones that have two analog sticks to work with. This style was a no-brainer for PSP, a console that doesn't have two sticks.

The meat of Coded Arms is not a tutorial but an arcade-style first-person shooter. Most people consider shooters to be arcade games, but there is a significant difference. Home games have a path; a sequence of levels that must be passed, and a series of objectives that must be completed in order to finish the game. Arcade shooters have multiple missions that may be selected the minute you insert your quarters. Complete three missions and another will appear. This goes on until you beat the game or run out of change, whichever happens first.

Codes Arms follows the trend of those arcade games. It also follows the old assumption that, if players enjoy Level 1, they'd probably enjoy Level 1 Version 2. In other words, Coded Arms is more of a corridor shooter than a first-person shooter. Square rooms, long hallways, and brief elevator rides are the order of the day. Enemies pop out less frequently than desired. They grow in size with the progression of the game, but not in skill or in intelligence. They're not the strongest bunch either.

There's a weird misperception that occurs with the sniper rifle. Shoot an enemy from afar and it'll go down. Shoot it up close (without the scope) and it'll magically withstand the first shot. Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Don't weapons increase in power as you decrease the distance between you and your target?

Mission objectives include shoot the monster. They also include shoot the monster over there, and the one down the hall. Oh no, the exit portal is locked? I'll just shoot the monster at the top of the elevator. If necessary I'll shoot the monster hiding in Large Room #1, and blast the exit blocker that's sitting right in the middle of Large Room #2.

These "large rooms" are big, empty spaces that may or may not be occupied by a few monsters. Ammo and health replenishment items may or may not be scattered throughout the room. Otherwise it's just a big square with halls that lead to other big squares.

Levels are rehashed throughout the game, differing in theme (do you want your walls to be painted with industrial colors or something more homey, like the insides of ancient ruins?) but not much else.

Coded Arms earns its medal of disappointment by having the same level (and the same sections within that level) rehashed in every mission. The only thing that could have made them worse is if there were no squares to walk around in – just long corridors to run through.

Gameplay: 5.0
"Give us large worlds and wide-open spaces!" That was the request from gamers at the start of the 32-bit era. Coded Arms listened to this request, implementing several wide-open spaces a whole decade later. After that the game says, "Okay, time for lunch," and never returns. Searching the game's large spaces reveals nothing. A few enemies maybe. A couple of items. That's it. Does that even constitute gameplay? When you have something to shoot the lousy controls prevent any fun from getting in.

Graphics: 6.9
PSP-rific...for the first 20 minutes. After that it's like, "Where'd all the pretty colors go?" They're still there, but your eyes become blind to their appearance when they're forced to look at the same thing for more than a minute. That's one of the reasons we buy old consoles – our eyes get bored easily.

Sound: 6.0
Sound is an area where PSP games excel. Coded Arms's techno mumbo jumbo puts an end to that.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 5.0
The inside-the-computer effects are cool, but the gameplay is anything but original.

Multiplayer: 5.0
Unnecessary, poorly controlled multiplayer adds to the repetition.

Overall: 5.0
Coded Arms's clunky controls that are anything but inviting. I had no desire to return to this game after playing it for a measly 60 minutes. None! Even mediocre games like Batman Begins have something that makes you want to return. The monsters are big but boring; the graphics are only eye-catching at first; and the camera movement is downright awful. It can be tweaked, but not to the point where you'll be happy with it. Save your money for the next shooter. I'd rather play nothing than play this.