Format: X Box, PS2
Going into this game, I didn’t really have any grand expectations of playing something, well, grand. Incredibly enough, it still managed to surprise me by how bad it actually was.
In Bulletproof, you control 50 Cent through various urban styled levels as he drops the opposition, cops, and the proverbial “haters”. His crew, comprised mostly of Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and the rest of G-Unit, accompanies 50. To round things out, you get a couple of appearances by Eminem and Dr. Dre as well. This game should be a rap/hip-hop fan’s dream come true, but it fails in just about every category you can think of.
The game seems to borrow from the style of shooter that Max Payne spawned, and bears a pretty close resemblance to The Punisher game from a year or two ago. Most of the action is shot from behind 50’s back, and you have access to a variety of weapons. You’re also able to perform up close and personal kills with a simple press of a button. For some reason though, 50 moves as if he’s wearing a two hundred pound bulletproof vest, and you’ll end up doing your close combat kills only when an enemy appears near you, instead of trying to hunt one down. The AI on both sides of the fence (50’s crew and the enemies) is tuned way down, and both sides will typically run back and forth, continually shooting. Seeing as how 50’s people are apparently invincible, it does give a slight disadvantage to your foes. If you had the patience, you could just let your team run around and do the majority of the killing for you, without having to shoot a single bullet. In fact, you might want to, because to go along with the sluggish and unresponsive character movement you have an incredibly slow aiming movement as well, and it becomes smarter to just hold down your trigger than to try and take your time to use a bit of pinpoint accuracy.
Bulletproof isn’t all that great to look at either. The characters are detailed fairly well, but their faces are flat and typically expressionless. At times you’ll have a cut scene that looks really well done, but the animation still looks off and jumpy. The surrounding environments and levels are poorly designed, and all together bland. They’re also filled with action game clichés, like barrels and crates. By the time you reach the game’s midpoint, you’ll be wishing for it all to end.
The game does deliver in the sound department, at least when it comes to soundtrack and voiceover work. Granted, none of these guys are known to be fantastic actors, but they all do a respectable job voicing their game counterparts. The soundtrack is littered with rap tracks, so if you’re a fan of the genre you’ll find little to complain about here. However, the sound effects, particularly in the weapons department, are pretty lackluster, and fail to pack any feeling of reality when you’re knocking rounds into your enemies.
With a bit more polish, and some severe tightening on the controls, Bulletproof might have made for a decent licensed title, even with the incredibly overdone “urban” theme. However, as is often the case, the game comes off as incredibly boring, and completely uninspired. Do yourself a favor and avoid this one, and hope from hear on out that 50 sticks to making records.
.- Dustin Chadwell currently resides in Ohio, USA. He's been playing video games since the Atari 2600, and believes he can whoop anyone's ass in Joust, and Galaga. Probably not Halo 2 though. New technology tends to confuse him.