Riddled with holes

By Nate Denver

› a&eletters@sfbg.com

GAMER

Megafans of 50 Cent, this game is for you! 50 Cent Bulletproof (PS2, Xbox, PSP) is for completists who need to own everything 50 Cent is involved with. Those who buy his Formula 50 vitamin water by the crate, who buy his busted sneakers even though they look like K-Mart versions of Stan Smiths.

The game opens with 50's buddy K-Dog running into some trouble. So he does what anyone would do: He calls G-Unit for help, and 50 calls Tony Yayo, Young Buck, and Lloyd Banks, and they all head out to mow down the nerds who are hassling K-Dog. Unfortunately, K-Dog dies, and 50 takes nine bullets to the back. We should mention that 50's body has no trouble absorbing dozens of bullets during the first level, but those last nine somehow manage to do damage. The confusion and anger 50 feels after getting blasted motivate him to avenge K-Dog's death and his own shooting — let the awkward third-person gaming begin!

The main problem with 50 Cent Bulletproof is the aiming engine. It is hard as hell to hit opponents. The designers probably thought they were making the game challenging, but there's a difference between challenging and poor design. This game suffers from the latter. The aiming system is hard to control, and the human targets zip around like thugged-out Tinkerbells.

Countering the horrible aiming system are the excellent character designs. The characters look like their real life counterparts: 50, Yayo, Buck, Banks, Eminem, and Dre look great. Eminem plays Detective McVicar, a dirty cop who helps 50 for a small fee. Dre plays the gun-dealing Grizz. The voice acting is pretty damn good. Those guys are all used to being in front of a mic, and they deliver most of their lines in a relaxed manner. Battling those wonderful characters are the poor level designs. Boy, are they dark. Fans will be delighted to hear exclusive G-Unit tracks and see their videos, all of which can be bought with money earned in the game. You can also buy weapons such as machine guns and shotguns.

Hardcore G-Unit fans will want to take a look at this game and will probably enjoy hearing the music and watching their heroes running around on-screen. Fans of third-person shooters should look elsewhere. *