I saw Coded Arms for $30 a couple of weeks ago so I grabbed it and have been enjoying it for the most part. Took a little time to get comfortable with the controls - I'd normally play with inverted freelook but for some reason I found that I was more comfortable without the inversion in this game. Just about everything is customizable about the controls so you can spend significant time getting it just the way you want it.
The game is clearly an evolutionary throwback to earlier forms of FPS in some ways - mostly in terms of AI - but it manages to be a compelling enough run-and-gun experience. For example, the game ambushes you with timed events (find the exit before the clock runs out) and room lockdowns where you're locked into the room you just entered and are forced to survive several waves of enemy attacks before you can leave.
The randomization of the level design is not purely random because each level adheres to a few parameters - i.e. each level consists of specific room types that are defined by composition of enemy group, pickups present and level exit points but just about everything else is randomized including physical configuration of the rooms, environmental hazards and other incidental objects. Its a good compromise, I think, because if you try a specific level multiple times, you at least know how much of an enemy presence you have deal with and what ammo/power pickups you have to look forward to.
I really like the game's consistency in the presentation of the main theme of the game, that this is a virtual world you are jacking into. From the way you enter and exit levels, the way you die, the destroyed enemies and objects have their code removed, the way rooms you haven't been in before get drawn in. And while there are only 3 main themes to the levels - base, city, ruins - there are different skins within those themes that keep things varied. I've seen three distinct skin types for the ruins themed levels so far - Aztec, Egyptian and alien.
The game also employs some light RPG aspects around weapon and personal augmentation, plus has a rudimentary system for matching weapon types against enemy type for more effective damage effects. Electrical energy weapons are better against robot enemies and laser energy weapons are better against bug enemies, for example.
It's not an advancement of the state of the art in modern FPS but as a sidebranch into making a portable, pick-up-and-play FPS experience, I think that Konami's team has done a decent job.
