When a man has managed to survive nine gunshot wounds and has openly challenged people to take shots at his bulletproof SUV, you know he deserves his own video game. Previously released for the Xbox and PS2, 50 Cent: Bulletproof managed to sell despite low review scores. Undaunted, High Voltage Software has decided to try again with 50 Cent: Bulletproof G-Unit Edition, which manages to make the game portable friendly, but not that much better than its console cousins.

Visually, Bulletproof looks good for a PSP game, though nothing about the game really stands out. Keeping with the game’s theme, Bulletproof uses a pallete of mostly dark colors and blacks. While it does help to build atmosphere, it also makes it hard to keep up with certain details – especially when trying to find certain locations on a map. There were one or two times where I had to feel my way down a wall in order to find the door. Other than that, character models are a little more detailed than you would expect. Animations are smooth, especially when pulling off counter-kill moves, which is even accompanied by a neat slow-mo transition screen.

I’m not the biggest fan of rap in general, so I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the game’s score as much as I did. The visuals and gameplay might have their flaws, but you know a game tied to a musician is going to have great music. Bulletproof features an insane 160+ tracks, all of which fit with the game’s atmosphere. You even get some good voice work from 50 himself, along with Dr. Dre and Eminem.

Bulletproof follows the same story as the console games, with 50 answering a call for help from a friend only to himself take nine shots and be left for dead. 50 survives, but soon finds you that not only has he been framed for the murder, but the killing is part of a much bigger government plot. From here, the game is your typical story of revenge, only with a great soundtrack, lots of over-the-top violence and cameos by Dr. Dre and Eminem.

The first noticeable change to gameplay is perspective, which moves from a third-person behind the back view to a top-down shooter. This new view fits the PSP, which has had problems when it comes to the “typical” action view. However, camera view is pulled in way to close to the action, so it doesn’t work all that well and makes some areas of the game harder than they should be. An auto-targeting system does help out a bit, though as enemies pile up on screen, it becomes harder to quickly switch between enemies, usually resulting in either cheap damage or death.

On the multiplayer side, Bulletproof offers five Ad Hoc modes with colorful names such as Slaughter the Pig, Urban Warfare, Smash and Grab and King of Bling.

Aside from camera issues, Bulletproof is not all that tough. Enemy A.I. relies more on numbers than intelligence. You’ll usually encounter at least three enemies at once, all of which will charge at you and shoot. If you shoot back, they’ll stand there and take the hits, preferring to chip away at your health rather than live to fight another day. Enemies will even stand there and take it when you’re taking them on in melee combat, at which point you can get an instant kill by using counter-kill moves.

If anything, 50 takes revenge seriously and comes prepared for a fight. 50 has access to a sizable arsenal that ranges from nightsticks and knives to handguns and full-automatic weapons. Ammo is plentiful, so you’ll rarely run out, though in case you do, you can always run up to an enemy and with the press of a button disarm and kill them. These counter-kill moves take away from your stamina bar, but are worth using since it not only counts as an automatic kill, but also take his weapon. 50 can even grab enemies and use them as shields for a little added protection.

Still, even with the cool moves and action, Bulletproof isn’t that interesting or varied when it comes to gameplay. There are a few interesting moments, but most of your time is spent performing the same few actions. A hard-to-read map system doesn’t help matters either.

On a positive note, the PSP version of Bulletproof is a better offering than the console versions. At the same time, it isn’t that much better and, even with the loads of added content (which will appeal more to fans of 50 rather than gamers), it still doesn’t manage to be anything other than a straightforward and repetitive shooter.