| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Coded Arms Contagion
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
The ESRB Says
Mild Language: GamerDad heard occasional words like 'hell' and 'damn' in the cutscenes. Use of Tobacco: Your commanding officer constantly has a cigar going Violence: The basis of the game is you against ... everyone and everything. The first FPS for the PSP came only a couple of months after the release of the system, and I didn't think very highly of it. Now more than two years later comes the sequel; offering improved controls, visuals and multiplayer, Coded Arms: Contagion aspires to offer PSP shooter fans an experience unlike anything they have experienced. Unfortunately, it feels more like 'too little, too late' and ends up as only slightly better than the original. You play as Major Grant, a soldier who has been digitally injected into A.I.D.A., a computer network that encompasses much of the world's most critical data. His initial purpose is to do some training and troubleshooting, but of course once in there something goes wrong and he is split from the rest of his squad and unable to get out. Predictably outside forces are at work trying to infiltrate the program and use the information to gain power over the world (mwuhaha). If that sounds bland and predictable, then just WAIT until you see the level design! It is arguable whether it is better than the first game in that regard, but at least the shooter gameplay is slightly better. Emphasis on slightly. The only thing to break up the monotony is a code-breaking mini-game that consists of matching numbers from two columns - while being susceptible to damage at the same time! Coded Arms: Contagion tries to be a run-and-gun shooter on a system that is simply not built for that kind of game. There is an auto-aim mechanic that is finicky to get to lock but then takes all of the challenge out of shooting. Even the multiplayer takes all the excitement out of what should be a frenetic free-for-all. Had this game come out in mid-2005 instead of the original it would have been better received, but every shooter since the original SOCOM has been better than this.  
Coded Arms: Contagion is a fairly typical sci-fi shooter. Things appear, you shoot them and they 'de-rez' (to use a Tron expression). No blood or death cries or anything else. The only other content - the mild language and use of tobacco - comes from the cutscenes with your commanding officer General Clark. As is the case with any first-person shooter, you are in constant peril and fighting for survival, and earns the game a 14+ GamerDad Age Seal. But this is one of the mildest first-person shooters I have ever played, so that kids 10+ who have played Metroid games or similar would have no issues with this.
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Coded Arms Contagion |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
