Coded Arms: Contagion, or FPS' in general, isn't something I'd play everyday. I blame my skepticism and inability to play FPS' for my initial reaction towards Contagion when playing it, and I'm sure there are some people out there who enjoy it when a game offers some interesting mechanics even though there's no denying just how awkward and broken Coded Arms: Contagion feels. Perhaps it’s because the PSP lacks another analog stick that makes playing Contagion a bit odd. Either way, the game has more faults than it does more strengths, which makes it feel really unbalanced.
Enemy AI is virtually nonexistent to the point where it’s easy to get through an entire level without really having a difficult time circle strafing enemies. Sure enemies do notice you and attack when provoked, but that’s about all that’s really happening. Since the lock-on button makes it really easy to never miss hitting an enemy and things a lot easier, the only real thing you find yourself doing in the game is repeatedly moving from side to side while shooting and watching your foes go down like flies which rules out any form of a challenge whatsoever. Movement itself is very, very tedious and slow paced that you find yourself taking a bit long to turn around and shoot any enemies that spawn behind you.
The game does has some nice features, though, like being able to upgrade your weapons and armor as much as you want and some intense fighting moments; however, it doesn’t excuse the fact that most of the time spent upgrading is virtually useless throughout the entire game considering its ease of completion and non-existent enemy AI. Online multiplayer also suffers from a lack of appeal because of how glitched most of the maps are as well as actually being able to fill up a room with 8 people playing. Some of the weapons like the lighting gun are real fun to use and just making killing your opponents plain fun, but it doesn’t excuse the fact of how glitched and broken the maps are.
