50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (PS3, Xbox 360) Preview
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 05.02.2008
Vitals
Genre
Action Adventure
System
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release Date
Q3 2008
We get out first look at 50 Cent's latest game.
411mania recently attended a media event hosted by Vivendi Games to show off some upcoming Fall 2008 titles. The first game of the bunch shown was 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. The game is not a direct sequel to the previous 50 Cent game (Bulletproof) as it has a completely different plot. The game takes place in a war-torn Middle Eastern country where 50 Cent is owed money for a concert he previously put on. Now that the country is in disarray, 50 Cent decides that he needs his damn money. Rather than going to the government that owes him some cash, he figures he'll go after the rebels that have taken over. Yes I know they are not the ones that owe him money but I guess it's all the same to 50. An over the top and unrealistic plot, I know, but the developers assure us that it's meant to be that way and once we see trailers and advertising for the game, we'll feel much better about it's direction.
Unlike the first game, Blood on the Sand is more of an arcade shooter than anything else. You run and gun down your foes while racking up points and bonuses that are good for purchasing new items and kills (which I'll get to in a moment) in an over-the-shoulder point of view. You can also duck and cover, adding some strategy to the whole process but for the most part, you'll go guns-a-blazing in your quest for cash. The game has over 20 levels some of which involve 50 Cent taking over a helicopter and tanks to mix things up. There are over 20 weapons, broken down into four classes - handguns, assault rifles, automatic weapons and heavy weapons such as grenade launchers. There are certain types of kills that can also be performed on your enemies. When you are within striking distance, you simply press the correct button to perform a kill that brings in mega points. You can equip your kills before each level and you can purchase new ones with the money you collect. New and deadlier kills give you more points of course. You get different amount of points depending on the types of kills you perform which also include environmental kills.
Whenever you want to buy new weapons, you have to find phone booths. These phone booths serve as your way of contacting your weapons dealer to do business with.
With the points you pile up, you can get online and upload your score to the online leaderboards. There is also an online co-op mode where you and a friend can blast away together and your scores will be combined to give you a co-op score which also goes onto the leaderboards. So there's no confusion, there are two online leaderboards – one for co-op and the other for single player. Aside from 50 cent, the second player can be Tony Yao, Lloyd Banks or DJ Woo Kid when playing co-op.
There is a meter positioned above the health bar that slowly fills up; sort of like the fiery meter that shows up on Burnout Revenge used for nitro boosts. When the meter fills up, you can initiate bullet time that will help you take out a number of foes all at once which becomes useful when you are under attack from what seems like the entire Middle Eastern army.
As for downloadable content, the associate producer told us that it's something that's in the works but nothing has been confirmed yet. Some things they are considering for DLC would be new clothing, in-game music and weapons.
The game still has a ways to go before being finished, but graphically it looks very good while the gameplay seems to be catered towards the casual gamer. It's a game that will be easy to pick up and play as it's not very daunting yet has a decent amount of depth you give you different ways of approaching your missions. You'll also find bonus missions within the game but those will be optional and do not affect the outcome of the game – simply your wallet.
When asked if we'd see any other rap/hip hop artists in the game as bosses or allies, we were told that it wasn't even considered as not to take away from 50 Cent.
Blood on the Sand is being developed simultaneously for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and uses the Unreal Engine 3. Scheduled for a Fall 2008 release, we'll wait to get some hands-on time with a near to final build in the coming months to give you our final take on this latest entry in the 50 Cent world.
Unlike the first game, Blood on the Sand is more of an arcade shooter than anything else. You run and gun down your foes while racking up points and bonuses that are good for purchasing new items and kills (which I'll get to in a moment) in an over-the-shoulder point of view. You can also duck and cover, adding some strategy to the whole process but for the most part, you'll go guns-a-blazing in your quest for cash. The game has over 20 levels some of which involve 50 Cent taking over a helicopter and tanks to mix things up. There are over 20 weapons, broken down into four classes - handguns, assault rifles, automatic weapons and heavy weapons such as grenade launchers. There are certain types of kills that can also be performed on your enemies. When you are within striking distance, you simply press the correct button to perform a kill that brings in mega points. You can equip your kills before each level and you can purchase new ones with the money you collect. New and deadlier kills give you more points of course. You get different amount of points depending on the types of kills you perform which also include environmental kills. 
With the points you pile up, you can get online and upload your score to the online leaderboards. There is also an online co-op mode where you and a friend can blast away together and your scores will be combined to give you a co-op score which also goes onto the leaderboards. So there's no confusion, there are two online leaderboards – one for co-op and the other for single player. Aside from 50 cent, the second player can be Tony Yao, Lloyd Banks or DJ Woo Kid when playing co-op.
