You'd think video games involving battles with gun-toting hoodlums or computer-generated robot hackers would at least get the blood pumping.

Two new titles for Sony's PlayStation Portable suggest otherwise. "Coded Arms" and "Dead to Rights: Reckoning" have given me a fresh set of blistered, aching fingers and not much else.

Both feature endless running, dodging, shooting and explosions in the name of … oh, who really cares why?

The premise of the first-person shooter "Coded Arms" is sci-fi stripped down to a level so vague and detached it's hard to care about what you're doing.

It's the future, and you've entered a military virtual reality filled with like-minded hackers ready to violently delete you from the system. Your job is to clean up the place using a cache of weapons like energy blasters, sniper rifles and grenades.

I applaud Konami Digital Entertainment-America for trying to bring a console experience to a portable system, but the PSP's lack of two analog controllers makes it an unnecessarily tough challenge.

I found it hard to effectively move, look around and target enemies in this 3-D world. The game allows you to fully customize each button, but no matter the configuration I found the awkward controls a steep learning curve.

"Coded Arms" does feature some of best graphics I've seen on the PSP, and there's some genuine excitement and replay value in the game's multiplayer mode, where you and three other real people can scrap against each other wirelessly.

"Coded Arms" also randomly generates some levels, so no two games are exactly alike.

But that's pretty much it: blast enemies, run and jump from one box-shaped level to another, repeat. Combine the lack of depth with the weird controls, and it just gets old fast.

Just not as fast as "Dead to Rights: Reckoning," a brainless excuse to pound the PSP's buttons until your fingers bleed or extreme boredom sets in. I suspect the latter will happen well before you have to worry about any permanent injury.

You're cast as Jack Slate, a street-clothed cop on the tail of a kidnapped informant who's key to the investigation of a crime lord.

You're always seemingly one step behind the kidnappers, who will surround you as you give chase in the warehouses and motel parking lots of Grant City.

The controls with "Coded Arms" were an issue, but at least I was eventually able to tweak them into something doable.

Button layout will be the least of your concerns in "Reckoning." There's no depth to the gameplay or the story of this flawed shooting gallery.

Appropriately, here's a quick game summary - in bullet form:

- Jack enters room and kills enemies by shooting them, performing one of several scripted close-combat disarming executions or siccing Shadow, his bloodthirsty dog on them.

- Every so often, Jack encounters a more powerful boss enemy who will require a bit more time to kill than ordinary thugs.

- Game over.

There are some potentially nifty features: A slow-motion effect similar to the one popularized by "The Matrix" is cool looking, but apparently serves no other purpose.

Perhaps the worst part is the camera control. "Reckoning" plays out from a third-person view behind Jack until you get near a wall or stuck in a tight corner. Then the camera suddenly shifts to first person. It's a jarring sensation that makes it hard to see your surroundings and easy to lose the game.

I remain hopeful that someone will realize the potential of mobile action gaming on the PSP.

These two games, however, aren't the answer.