"Extreme Crotch Punch!"

Most of us that have been around video games for a long time can tell you: avoid almost any licensed or celebrity tie-in game (sports sometimes excluded) at all costs. So why would I throw down with the Xbox 360 shooter “50 Cent: Blood on the Sand” when I know it has a huge likelyhood of being a cash grab?

Two reasons.

First, I rented it instead of buying it.

Second, I heard it was actually pretty good.

Did it live up to the “actually pretty good” hype that I was promised? Read on to find out.

“50 cent: Blood on the Sand” is third person shooter developed by Swordfish and published by THQ. The plot involves a crystal skull, that was given in payment for a show, being stolen and now 50 and G-unit have to get it back… guns a’blazin!

You control 50 and, with either an AI or actual friend as a member of G-unit, make your way through a fictional middle-eastern country killing anyone who gets in your way. The gunplay and cover system are straight out of Gears of War and work really well here as well. If you get in close, you can trigger an instant kill quick time event where 50 puts the beat down on his opponent. You can also push in the Left Stick to hurl insults at your adversaries.

The game is very reminiscent of an arcade game in it’s point system. While most modern games have ditched points as an in-game reward, BotS embraces them. You get points for nearly everything, from getting kills in rapid succession to jumping over exploding ramps in the games driving sequences. There are even little mini games that will pop up during the action like “take out the heavy weapons guy” which will give you even more bonus points. Each level keeps track of a high score and has bronze, silver and gold awards to go with various ranks.

You also collect money throughout which can be spent at payphones to buy new weapons, new up close kills, and new insults. The upgraded guns were fun to play around with, but the other two sections don’t really seem to affect the overall game and are just there for the fun of it.

Honestly, I don’t have a lot to say about this game. It is over the top in it’s characters and story and has the most swearing of any game I’ve ever played. It is constantly playing 50′s songs in the background, which also have a lot of language not suitable for a younger audience. It is definitely rated M for a reason.

I have read several of the interviews people have taken with 50 about his game and, when it comes down to it, he is a gamer that wanted to make a game that is, above all else, fun to play. In this, he has succeded.

Tags: 50 cent: blood on the sand, action, shooter, third person shooter, Xbox 360

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.