Taking the action to the streets, Vivendi's
50 Cent Bulletproof - G Unit Edition for the PSP is a solidly entertaining and
challenging brawler that offers a surprising amount of depth. The game offers
players the chance to battle through dozens of levels and acquire numerous
unlockable items along the way. The action is engaging with plenty of weapons
and special items to uncover. Add an engaging storyline, tons of bonus videos
and songs and you have an excellent title that should appeal to both 50 Cents's
hardcore fans and gamers in general.
Set
in the violent urban streets 50 Cent came up from, Bulletproof - G Unit
Edition allows players to relive the famous rapper's years on the street as he
rose from street hood to legend. The game begins with a short action level where
you have to wipe out a series of enemies and collect items until you reach the
infamous point where 50 gets shot nine times, yet somehow survives. Once you
have this level under your belt, things open up and the game's later levels more
closely resemble an action RPG. During these levels, you run through the levels
and can talk to other people in his gang, who will give you advice and allow you
to purchase items and upgrades. There are many things you can purchase including
guns, ammo, body armor, painkillers, health kits plus tons of clothing options
for you to wear. This gives you plenty to unlock throughout the course of the
game. If you earn enough money, you can also buy additional videos and songs to
add to your playlist. The tracks themselves feature both full and instrumental
versions and fit the mood of the action perfectly. Once you get through with the
basics, you'll find that 50 Cent Bulletproof G Unite Edition's layout is fairly
straightforward in presentation and controls. There isn't too much in the way of
convoluted controls, and the simple interface means that most players should be
able to jump right into the action.
Most of the action in 50 Cent Bulletproof
takes place in a top-down perspective, allowing you to get a good view of the
action, while not making things too confusing. You can gauge your position using
the onscreen map, and find out the enemy locations. This is helpful in pointing
you in the right direction. Each level is set up simply and this allows players
to get through the areas without depending on it. You have access to a number of
different weapons and can use these to knock out any rivals you might see.
Switching weapons is fairly simple using the weapons screen, which allows you to
select quickly and easy. There are more than 20 different types of weapons in
the game including Billy clubs, guns, knives, 4X4's and other items. When you
encounter a bad guy, you can choose to either knock them down using your
standard moves, or can perform a brutal execution attack at close range, which
has the added benefit of minimizing the risk they can cause you. If fighting
hand-to-hand isn't your thing, you can also launch grenades at groups of thugs
as well. At close range, you can also grab and use other opponents as human
shields, which means any nearby punks won't attack you either. After you knock
down your opponents, you can press the O key and grab any items they may have on
them as well. There are numerous items you can grab, with money and gold chains
the most common. When 50's life bar gets low, he can pop in some of his pain
pills to restore energy. These can be found in the pockets of foes and can be
called up any time by pressing down on the cross-bar. Bulletproof's levels are
large with numerous hidden areas and places to explore. You can find additional
items and weapons hidden in these areas as well, so it pays to fully explore
each area before moving on. When you reach the end of the level, you'll usually
face a boss encounter, with a really tough bad guy to face, though this usually
leads to plenty of extra rewards and items for your efforts.
50
Cent Bulletproof's single-player game is exciting and engaging, but the game
also includes several online wireless multiplayer modes as well. These include a
decent selection of mini-games, such as one where you have to hold onto your
stash without getting knocked out. The one who stays alive the longest wins the
match. There are also more standard modes where you have to play against other
players to see who can take out the rival gangs the fastest. Playing these
online modes was fairly easy, with simple set up and excellent play that didn't
suffer too much from lag or dropped games. From an aesthetic standpoint, the
in-game action is nicely rendered with large, expansive levels. This approach
gives you a great deal of freedom to explore and find secret areas, but not too
big where you find yourself getting lost. These action sequences are
complimented by a number of nicely rendered cut-scenes that brought the story
forward in a convincing way. The voice acting was excellent here as well, with
many famous rappers making cameos along the way. 50 Cent Bulletproof includes a
very large number of videos, songs and, trailers and everything comes together
nicely to create a seamless glimpse into the streets.
While the game isn't perfect, it's a lot
better than you'd expect it to be. There's a surprising amount of depth with the
RPG elements, and the action sequences are solid. It would be easy to dismiss a
title like 50 Cent Bulletproof - G Unit Edition as a cheap cash-in on a popular
rapper, but that would be a mistake. On the PSP at least, the title's solid
mixture of brawling action and RPG elements makes for an engaging and
challenging title that should please even non-fans.
Grade: B+
