Common Sense Note
Parents should know that this game is riddled with questionable and offensive material. Superstar rapper 50 Cent lords over his 'hood with supposed strength and integrity. But really he's a murderous, pot-smoking thug blindly pursuing revenge after living through an execution-style shooting (the real-life 50 suffered the same fate). Along the way, guns are purchased in an alleyway, heads explode, corpses are looted, cops are bribed, and the body count grows from sickening to ridiculous.
Families who play this game should discuss how its contents are used to deepen the 50 Cent mythology. In real life, the man survived a brutal gun attack and went on to parlay his experience into a successful career in a musical genre that places a premium on toughness. Does this game, in which the protagonist is shot countless times, reinforce the 50 Cent legend and elevate him to status of superhuman gangsta? At what point is the reality of his experience on the streets subsumed by fantasy ghetto of the game? Is the inclusion of 50's music and videos in the game a bonus for fans or another way to market his prodigious empire -- which includes clothing, a fictionalized film account of his life, and, of course, his music?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Aaron Lazenby
50 CENT: BULLETPROOF glorifies the worst images the gangsta world has to offer in order to elevate its protagonist from human celebrity to superhuman legend.
50's prodigious marketing machine never fails to point out that before he became super-famous he was shot nine times -- and survived to become one of the world's most successful hip-hop artists. The game turns this event into the catalyst for a story based mostly on finding 50's assailant and bringing him to (street) justice. There's some other stuff about a drug cartel and government agents for hire, but all is secondary to 50's quest for revenge.
Players move 50 Cent through New York neighborhoods -- such as Queens, Brooklyn, and Chinatown -- tracking down clues and squeezing information out of opponents in a quest to uncover the identity of his attacker. Loaded down with shotguns, Uzis, pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, and more, 50 blasts through his opponents, looting their inert bodies for wallets and credit cards to help him purchase helpful items that support his pursuit. Members of 50s G-Unit posse -- as well as multi-platinum colleagues Eminem and Dr. Dre -- assist 50 in his quest, picking locks, selling him guns, and abusing police authority for our hero.
The intensity of the violence is worth noting, as 50 dispatches hundreds of opponents over the game's 10 levels. Blood sprays, bullets hit flesh, and dead bodies flop realistically against the scenery. If players take careful aim for an enemy's head, the camera switches to the bullet's view as it barrels toward its target, leaving a headless, bloody fountain of a human being in its wake. Players can grab enemies and pistol whip them for information, use them as human shields, or simply execute them with a close-range gunshot.
If that's not brutal enough, the game features dozens of unlockable "counter-kills" that depict slow-motion killing of a particularly cruel nature -- think stab wound to the forehead, or acrobatic point-blank shotgun attack.
The game also features an extensive library of 50 Cent's music and music videos that either depict or recount similar acts. While this collection will thrill fans, it draws a close connection between the fantasy world of the game and the fantasy world of the music. Combined with a fictionalized film account of 50's life (released at the same time as the game), the game feels like one piece of a multimedia marketing assault designed to deify (or at least glorify) 50 Cent and the gangsta lifestyle.
This is further supported by the limited appeal of the gameplay. Developers clearly spent a lot of time on impressive, cinematic cut scenes that frame the story and add to 50's legend. If they had spent similar effort on quality AI, a serviceable targeting system, more lively and interactive environments, and puzzles or problems that require more than button-mashing gunplay, players might have been able to forget the questionable source material and get lost in the fun of the game.
Unfortunately, 50 Cent: Bulletproof is a drab, monotonous vehicle for exalting brutality and expanding 50's reputation. In the end, the game is both offensive and boring. Teens looking for a more creative -- and healthier -- action game should check out Prince of Persia or The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentProstitutes shake their goods on the street and offer to do "anything" for 50 Cent. Two of them end up sharing his bed. |
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ViolenceHave you ever seen a man stabbed in the head … in slow motion? That's just one particularly brutal example of the game's extensive, creative, and unrelenting violence. |
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Language50 Cent grammar rules: Sentences must contain a subject, a verb, and an obscenity. You name it, they say it. |
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Social BehaviorRevenge is the end -- violence is the means. |
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CommercialismAside from promoting 50 Cent and G-Unit products, the game goes out of its way to feature a 50 Cent beverage, now available in stores. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoMarijuana litters 50's apartment, and harder drugs factor into the plot. |
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