50 Cent: Bulletproof was my biggest disappointment of 2005. I know that's quite a bold statement, but I really wanted to love that game. The shameless violence (you can drive a knife through the top of someone's head), music, and entertaining cut scenes are fabulous, but the camera and controls are straight up garbage. I was absolutely disgusted with the product Vivendi pumped out its butt, and with that being said, I shuddered when I came across the PSP version, dubbed 50 Cent: Bulletproof G Unit Edition. Yet at the same time, I was undeniably curious. The game wound up taking the trip home with me and I'm glad it did because it's definitely better than its predecessor, even though that's not saying much.

Just like the Xbox/PS2 game, there's nothing sophisticated about Bulletproof. As 50 (who in the game gets shot as many times as Peter Weller in Robocop) you take to the streets and suburbs searching for your attackers. You kill some people, you talk to some friends. You kill some more people, you customize your play list, talk to some more friends, then kill some more people, kick their dead bodies and steal their jewelry. It's very simple stuff, but the combat has some flash. You can grab people, hold them as shields, then execute them, and if you're quick, you can press Square when you're next to somebody and delight in the grisly scene that unfolds, but that's as far as things go.

The only reason why I like this game over its predecessor is because the developers ditched the behind-the-back view in exchange for an isometric perspective. It's not the best seeing as how the camera cannot be adjusted and I can't see where I'm going (the onscreen map doesn't display threats), but considering 50's near impenetrable health bar, running blindly into harm's way doesn't hold many consequences, at least when faced with low level AI. I haven't made it to any bosses yet, so for now, I'm a one man rapping/wrecking crew.

Similar to other games of this type, Bulletproof contains a bunch of vendors that sell all sorts of goodies. One dude sells weapons and ammo such as hollow point bullets, shotgun rounds, rifle ammunition, and grenades. Another peddles medical supplies, and another sells clothing but for astronomical prices. A G-Unit t-shirt for $1500? A jacket for $9,000? Times are hard. Times are hard indeed.

Thankfully, collecting money is a breeze thanks to the AI's deep pockets. As soon as the bodies hit the floor you can run up and kick them, and doing this results in all sorts of goodies sailing from their pants. Money, pills, jewels, and ammunition are in plentiful supply, and after a little while, you'll be able to customize 50 with all sorts of cool and expensive threads.

You can also customize your own play list. Similar to the console versions of the game, G Unit Edition contains over 100 of 50's songs that you can set to play in the background. There's also a decent selection of music videos as well as an exclusive PSP G Unit documentary. There are also plenty of cut scenes, the same ones from the PS2/Xbox game, and 50 as well as other famous artists (Eminem included) provided voice work.

Bulletproof has a stellar presentation but the gameplay isn't nearly as entertaining. It's significantly more enjoyable than last year's game, but I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out where the hell I should be going, and it's because of that why I'm growing bored. However, hats off to Vivendi and High Voltage for salvaging a broken game (that still sold a crazy amount of copies) and transforming it into something that's actually playable. That doesn't mean that I'm going to give it a 4/5, but unless the rest of the game sucks, it'll do significantly better than the publisher's first effort. Look for G Unit Edition on August 30, and expect to see the GameDaily review shortly thereafter.