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[ThePrivateCookie]

'The idea was for a Black James Bond': the making of 50 Cent: Bulletproof

The game's launch 20 years ago coincided with the rapper's meteoric success with his album The Massacre. Here, the team that made the shooter reflect on how it all happened

Thomas Hobbs
Fri 15 Aug 2025 04.00 EDTLast modified on Fri 15 Aug 2025 04.01 EDT


The rapper 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) was inescapable back in 2005. There wasn't a British classroom without a teenager wearing Jackson's G-Unit clothing, while his catchy hits Candy Shop and In Da Club dominated the radio. The backstory of this Queens-born New Yorker – how he survived being shot nine times only to become one of the world's biggest rappers – also made for compelling lore.

That year, 50 Cent sold more than a million copies in one week with his sophomore studio album, The Massacre. In a bid to cash in on this superstardom, his label Interscope Records planned a twin strategy: a Hollywood biopic (Get Rich or Die Tryin') and a licensed video game, 50 Cent: Bulletproof – both to be released by November 2005. "I think the general public are going to be blown away by my game," 50 Cent told the website IGN. "It feels more like an action film."

British developer Genuine Games, previously responsible for a poorly received Fight Club tie-in, was tasked with creating Fiddy's 128-bit era adventure. The problem was it only had 11 months to do it. "I remember we'd get to the office at 7am and wouldn't leave until about 11pm," recalls the game's artist Han Randhawa. "We all lived on a diet of KFC. 50 Cent became my whole life. I even read up the doctor's report from when he got shot, just so I could put bandages on his 3D character in the right places."

The game's designer, Haydn Dalton, says: "It's funny, because this was a game about these dudes from the hood, and yet here was this white guy from the north-west of England writing all their in-game dialogue. It was kind of awkward, but I didn't have much time, so it was about making stuff up on the fly."
Time has been surprisingly kind to 50 Cent: Bulletproof, which is 20 this November. In this shooter, 50 Cent gets caught up in a shadowy underground network full of dodgy terrorists, racist biker gangs and mouthy mafia members. Looking to track down whoever riddled him with those nine bullet wounds, 50 and his G-Unit gang (including Tony Yayo, Young Buck and Lloyd Banks) race through inner city environments, shooting first and asking questions later.

It's as if G-Unit has been modelled on the A-Team, with each member bringing something unique (Yayo is an explosives expert; Banks picks locks), while the game also has surprisingly intuitive cover mechanics, whereby your squad ducks behind walls during shootouts. With its screenplay written by the Sopranos' writer Terence Winter, the cinematic cut-scenes involving 50 Cent conversing with corrupt Det McVicar are a particular thrill.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2...-cent-went-from-rapper-to-unlikely-tv-kingpin
He is a dirty cop voiced by a madcap Eminem, who constantly demands more extortion money so he can send his kid to expensive karate classes. The White rapper's McVicar is joined by Dr Dre, who voices a stoned arms dealer who says things like "That's some serious shit right there", whenever 50 Cent purchases a rocket launcher. The game is stacked full of licensed 50 Cent songs, too, meaning you can kick a heavy in the face while Wanksta plays in the background.

"We were really blessed, because 50 Cent felt more like a superhero than just a rapper," explains the game's director David Broadhurst. "The idea was to make him a Black James Bond." Yet Broadhurst admits the British development team missed out on a lot of this production's glitz and glamour. "Vivendi [the game's publisher] kept us away from 50 Cent and G-Unit; we'd get sent all their audio. I remember 50 Cent had invested in Vitamin Water, so we had to put the drink into the game as a purchasable item."

full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/games/2...-james-bond-the-making-of-50-cent-bulletproof

 

[EerieArcade]

 

[DaciaJC]

Don't see the appeal of playing as some real-life rap thug, personally.

 

[diffusionx]

this was bad but paved the way for the true masterpiece 50 Cent Blood in the Sand

 

[adamsapple]

Don't see the appeal of playing as some real-life rap thug, personally.

Clearly this thread isn't for you then.

On topic: NIGHTDIVE REMASTER WHEN?

 

[rkofan87]

remaster it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ThePrivateCookie]

Don't see the appeal of playing as some real-life rap thug, personally.

guess you never saw the appeal of GTA or Mafia then too

 

[Killer8]

'The idea was for a Black James Bond'

 

[Banjo64]

Went in to CEX the other day and there was about 20 copies of Bulletproof. Just thought it was interesting. 50 clearly sells very well. I love the guy.

 

[TastyPastry]

the game wasn't that great but i'll use the opportunity to say that i miss games that have this gritty urban style. i guess the max payne remake is coming but we need more games like manhunt, urban chaos, dead to rights and so on

 

[Judge Magister]

50 Cent made some cool songs back then.

I'm not sure this game is worth celebrating though.

 

[ThePrivateCookie]

50 Cent made some cool songs back then.

I'm not sure this game is worth celebrating though.

sold 5 million copies and was a big part of alot of people's childhood

 

[ungalo]

Blood on the Sand was alright.

 

[Rush2112]

Whats the pimp management system? Do i get to keep a harem or is it more like yakuza 0?

 

[roosnam1980]

Don't see the appeal of playing as some real-life rap thug, personally.

 

[FalconPunch]

Don't see the appeal of playing as some real-life rap thug, personally.

Edge lord much?