50 Cent: Bulletproof G Unit Edition

By Daniel Needham

50 Cent is headed to the PlayStation Portable, but in quite a different fashion than we saw on consoles with last year’s effort. 50 Cent: Bulletproof G Unit Edition forgoes the third-person shooter mechanics of the original Bulletproof and instead uses a top-down perspective with some RPG elements thrown in for good measure.

The game's control mechanics are being designed for simplicity and accessibility. Holding the R button will target an enemy, allowing you to strafe around, and releasing and tapping R again will switch targets. The game will also automatically move to the next target when you've killed one, which is helpful in some of the bigger firefights you’ll encounter in the game.

As far as the top-down camera is concerned it has been designed so the game has that adventure feel to it, as the designers wanted the streets to be an urban jungle, full of excitement and uncertainty. One other thing that may need a little tweaking before the game's release is its camera system. The camera is reasonably close to your character so you can't see all that far, but at least enemies generally won't shoot at you from off-screen. The problem is that it can be hard to see what's around you, as online trailers have demonstrated.

Just like the console game, you're able to grab people and use them as human shields and perform counter-kills. Pressing Circle will grab an enemy and prop your arm up over his shoulder, allowing you to fire on other enemies while he takes some of the gunfire. Pressing Square will toss the enemy at his compatriots while holding Circle will execute him. When you're in close proximity to an enemy, pressing Square will perform one of the game's extremely violent counter-kills. The game will zoom in on the two of you and black out the surrounding area so that you'll get a focused view of the kill. If you haven't played the console version of Bulletproof, during a counter-kill you strip the enemy of their weapon and then proceed to beat, maim and murder the adversary. Lovely.

While the game's play mechanics are wildly different than the console variant of Bulletproof, its storyline remains perfectly intact. The real-time cutscenes from the console game look to have been captured and transferred to video for the G Unit Edition, so you'll see the exact same scenes as in the PS2 and Xbox game. This means that the missions themselves, while situated in some different areas, will have the same end-goals in order to keep them relevant to the storyline.

As well as the transferred cutscenes, the game retains most of its looks from its console predecessors, as well as the bulging soundtrack. If you’re a fan of fiddy, rap music or enjoyed the console game or his movie you’re bound to find something satisfying in 50 Cent: Bulletproof G Unit Edition.

NZGamer.com - 50 Cent: Bulletproof G Unit Edition Facebook