How cool is violence? That's pretty much the long and short of what Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson has been promoting in his recent music, his new movie and this, his kick-stab-and-shoot-the-dollar-bills-out-of-your-victim videogame.

You have to be fair to the man, he has worked his way up, like many successful American rappers, from the slums and ghettos of the inner city, into penthouses, gold chains and Lambourghinis. He's done this through good old-fashioned hard work, with a healthy slab of talent on the side. His musical style may have become a little more relaxed of late since his hunger has waned a little - I mean let's face, it the man had no money and now he has wrist watches that cost more than most people's houses, so he can't want for much - but his roots have stuck firmly with him throughout, most evidently in his new film that parallels his own rise from street hustler to platinum rap star.

All that aside, I'm not here to review the man, but his new game. Gangster rappers and video games go together like bullets and Glocks. Look no further than the Def Jam Vendetta series to figure that one out. Rappers like to show the world how well they can beat the crap out of people and how good they can look while they do it. It's just part of the image; plush velvet tracksuits, Gucci watches and ploughing a man's face through a car windscreen just seems to be their thing. 50 Cent, or Fiddy as I like to call him, has gone just a little further on the violence front. In fact, if the violence in Def Jam Vendetta: Fight For NY was an orange, 50 Cent: Bulletproof would be Florida.

Let's start with how it looks. Like most rappers in their videos, it looks pretty damn good; well dressed, smooth and finished to the highest possible standard. Hip Hop tradition demands nothing but the best from its MVPs and Fiddy has demanded nothing less from the crew at Vivendi Universal. The graphics look spot on, all surfaces are rendered in incredible detail, the locations look grimy and textured, while Fiddy himself looks better than he does in most of his videos. He's clad in trainers, baggy jeans a bulletproof vest and a variety of holsters for his plethora of weaponry. Seriously, this guy makes Rambo look like a Care Bear. The colour palette is like that of Taxi Driver; muted greys and browns mixed with glaring street neon and steaming vents. giving the game a real 'street' feel. It's like the lyrics of every verse Fiddy ever spat over a beat have come to life.

Fiddy's neighbourhood. A dark corner of the underworld, with crack whores on the corner, a pawn shop with metal fencing over the windows and a rundown movie theatre with its doors boarded over. The whole place screams ghetto. There's steam coming up from grates in the streets, newspapers littering the tarmac and bright streetlights with deep, dark shadows surrounding them. Inhabiting this poverty ravaged land are various denizens of the night, including some guy who sells tunes out the back of his car (which you can listen to in game by the way, but I'll talk about that more later), an immeasurably large man who practices 'medicine' and a wheelchair bound pawn broker who's as lethal as he is disabled. This motley crew and more make up Fiddy's allies and all play some role or other during the game. They each perform a role in the plot, as well as providing some kind of service. For instance, the fat doctor supplies medicine and such for replenishing health mid-game, and the fella in the wheelchair does all sorts of tactical stuff that helps you find more people to shoot in the head.

There are two characters that stand out more than the others and the game is sold heavily on their presence, so if you've seen the case you probably already know who they are. Eminem and Dr Dre play Detective McVicar (a dirty cop) and war veteran Grizz respectively. McVicar's role in this theatre of operations is mostly provider of information; like the pawnbroker, he is mostly there as a plot device. Grizz is your man for weapons, which he'll sell to you from the back of his clapped out van.

This is a third person game, and from your vantage point above and behind Fiddy's head, you get a great view of the violence. From the very start, after a brief (but rather good looking) cut-scene, the gunfire kicks in. Men in military garb with 9mm pistols and M16 rifles start laying down suppressing fire and your crew (Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo, aka G Unit) tread in and start returning fire. In the beginning it looks ridiculous, because you're kind of expecting it to be. People are running round everywhere and as you try to familiarise yourself with the controls, the combat seems jerky and a little bit out of your control. If you stick with it though it all gets calmer as you learn how to use cover, how to duck and roll, and become accustomed to the aim sensitivity. There are enemies on the roof, enemies on the ground, enemies everywhere, and they're never ending.

The fun in this game comes from killing people, there's no doubt about it and there's no hiding from the fact that violence takes centre stage. But it does take many forms. You can shoot people in a number of ways with a number of weapons, from nines to rocket launchers, and some seriously heavy-duty firepower in between. As you take aim, the cursor focuses, increasing the accuracy of your aim. Focus in on an enemy's head and you'll hear a sharp whining sound; pull the trigger and follow the bullet in slow motion through the target's head. Nice. There's no kung fu, Mortal Kombat, Wu Tang nonsense going on, but there are counter kills. Run up to an enemy, hit the correct button and you'll take his gun away then stab him in the face/throat/chest etc. Blood spurts in all directions and the enemy's virtual, pixellated life slips away very quickly. If you're feeling particularly sneaky, you can take a hostage, then hide behind him and fire at others, interrogate him, or simply cut his throat, straight up gangster style. Word.

Each level brings with it new enemies, usually a new gang with each section of the story. The aforementioned military types show up a lot, but there's also FBI agents, bikers and goodfellas to contend with, and all of them want a piece of Fiddy (but usually only because Fiddy wanders onto their turf and starts shooting them). Each new gang brings new environments; from junkyards to warehouses to sewer systems, there's a good variety of locations and the levels themselves aren't so big that you'll get lost in them. The developers tried to throw some puzzles into the mix (more because they felt they had to than actually wanting to distract the player from the violence) but anyone who's mastered opening doors or flushing a toilet shouldn't be too challenged by them.

As you run around blasting on fools, G Unit runs around with you, performing key tasks such as picking locks and hacking security, whilst also helping to blast on said fools. They'll call for help sometimes but they're practically invincible, so don't worry about them too much. You on the other hand are far from invincible; get cornered and the enemies will take you to pieces, run out into the open and the enemy will take you to pieces, don't use cover and the enemy will…you get the picture. One way of avoiding getting smoked before your time is to keep getting head shots and stealing from the corpses. Robbery is all part of the game; why go to all the trouble of smoking some fool if you ain't gonna take his paper? Other than getting body armour for a head shot kill, you'll get a fat pile of cash too. The more gruesome the murder, the more bounty they turn over, so its worth taking the time to kill people properly. Remember that, kids.

Money can be spent on several things, including new and more gruesome counter kills, bigger and badder weapons and more funky tunes to listen to as you murder wannabe playas. The extras in the game are pretty extensive and if you're a fan of Fiddy's work with a microphone, there's plenty of content to keep you happy. As well as Fiddy's music, instrumentals included, there's a couple of albums from G Unit and some of their individual work. There's a whole host of music videos too, but they're expensive, so you'd best get on with killing in bright and colourful ways if you want to see them all.

All in all there's plenty in 50 Cent: Bulletproof to keep fans of Fiddy and the rap game happy for many hours. There's enough killing to satiate even the sickest soul and the baddest gangster, and there's hours' worth of high quality music to listen to while you do it. There are music videos, interviews and a couple of short documentaries to watch between gun battles, and the storyline (written by The Sopranos' Terry Winter) is compelling enough to keep you playing. The levels look good enough to eat and the animations are as smooth as Carmen Electra's thigh. The best thing though is the atmosphere it creates; this game oozes hip hop grime and if that's your bag then you'll simply love this game.

Reviewed by Jim Powell for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).