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Sports Legends previews games with the philosophy that people want to hear our honest opinions on titles before they are released. If a game looks really promising, we'll pass on our excitement. But if a game needs work, we'll let you know. Here is our exclusive 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Playstation 3 preview. (Also On: XB360)
It's like "Gears of War starring 50 Cent," and all that entails.
ABOUT THIS GAME:In the sequel to 50 Cent: Bulletproof, players again become one of the world's biggest hip-hop stars in an all out battle to protect 50 Cent's assets and to collect payment from a crooked overlord. The game features 50 Cent in a multi-player online drop-in and drop-out co-op world that allows him to call on his G-Unit pals to watch his back in intense gameplay action.
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, the follow-up to the much-maligned 50 Cent: Bulletproof, changes the locale from 50 Cent's hometown of New York City to an unnamed burg in the desert that you would assume is somewhere in the Middle East. In the interests of good taste, the developers stressed that it doesn't actually take place in the Middle East -- it's actually set in a fictional place that just resembles a real place, much like Outer Heaven from the Metal Gear franchise. That's right -- a developer just dropped a Metal Gear reference when talking about 50 Cent.
Now I'm sure you're wondering how 50 Cent ends up in the "not Middle East" fighting "not Arabic (honest!)" militants and how an entire game comes out of this premise. Well, here goes: After a sold-out show at the local arena, 50 Cent and the G-Unit go collect their money, only to find that the promoter doesn't have it because the local guerillas robbed him. Notice the "ue" there -- that's important in differentiating them from the Gorilla-Unit (the good guys). After 50 Cent holds the promoter at gunpoint, threatening to blow him away lest he gets paid, the man offers 50 Cent an ancient diamond-encrusted skull as compensation for his 90 minutes of rapping. Soon after, the G-Unit gets ambushed, the skull's stolen, and the game begins.
Blood on the Sand feels a lot like Gears of War, and not just because you're controlling heavily armed cavemen who communicate mostly through grunts, cursing, and shouting. It emphasizes finding cover as you push forward, and the third-person shooting feels very familiar to Gears fans. While it's got numerous situations where taking cover is the best idea, the game never really forces it upon you. The player can usually just rush up the middle and blow everyone away, all the while making inappropriate comments about the enemy's mother. Much like in the first game, you pick a partner from the G-Unit to serve as backup; this time around the roster includes Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and DJ Whoo Kid. 50 Cent's armed with the usual selection of pistols, Uzis, assault rifles, and, of course, a rocket launcher. Oddly enough, the game treats all of the melee attacks as quick time events. Upon reaching an enemy, you enter a short cut-scene and tap a button when the screen flashes -- all for the pleasure of watching Fiddy stab a man in the torso seven times before slashing him across the face.
The game sports a ton of high-quality, hilarious voice acting from 50 Cent and the G-Unit. As you rush between cover blasting away, a constant stream of taunts and expletives spew from your characters (most of which can't be repeated here). Expect "Where's my skull, bitch!" to quickly become a catchphrase among those that play it. For 50 Cent fans, the game features 42 tracks that you can customize into a playlist as well as unlockable music videos. You unlock the bonus content with high scores and medals gleaned from each of the game's 24 levels. It rates all of your kills and actions, and the game awards extra points for huge explosions and flashy, graphic melee kills.
Blood on the Sand actually feels surprisingly tight for what it is, and I found the cover system to be fairly intuitive, with 50 Cent jumping from spot to spot at the push of a button. Aiming's tight as well, and the generally over-the-top feel was always present. Supposedly, 50 Cent asked the developers to include some driving levels and a helicopter level, which adds to the game's sensation of playing a Hollywood summer-action film. Unfortunately, the driving level we played was a fairly clunky affair, albeit one filled with explosions and slow-motion shots of a Hummer with rims soaring through the air.
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is ridiculous and makes no attempt to hide its ridiculousness. The game focuses on polishing the flawed gameplay of its predecessor, and from the demo we played, it definitely succeeds in doing that.
