Artist: Video GameTitle: 50 Cent: Bulletproof (Video Game)Rating: 3 StarsReviewed by: Boudreaux
Movies, music and whips are cool but what rapper could pass up starring in his own video game? Enter Hip-Hop most savvy self-marketer of the moment 50 Cent and his pixilated take on the ghetto superhero with guns drawn fantasy, 50 Cent: Bulletproof (Vivendi Universal Games; PS2)
Besides the characters being drawn like steroid abusers injected with the strength of 50 midgets, this game is the typical shoot em’ up. Game play isn’t exactly intuitive with its aiming system being mediocre at best. Thus, more bullets will do you better than precision. The storyline begins deceptively simple before morphing into a more refined tale of backstabbing and intrigue that can only be answered with heavy artillery as 50 stomps across New York City. Of course, Fitty makes sure to drop plenty of product placement; from his vitaminwater being used to revive health levels to the G-Unit attire all the characters are sure to be wearing. At various times 50 goes on missions with his sidekicks Lloyd Banks (nice with lock picking), Tony Yayo (the TNT layer) and Young Buck (the weapons specialist) but controlling their actions is virtually non-existent. Eminem’s take as a sheisty cop is entertaining though, as is Dre’s turn as a gun happy army vet.
Though the game pales in comparison to its soundtrack (if you rack up enough dough on missions you can purchase the entire G-Unit music catalog to be played while your gunning down your foes), it is worthy of plenty of hours of play. Shooting up your enemies with a cadre of weapons is tough to get wrong. However, Bulletproof falls a couple of hollow tip clips short of classic game status.