50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

By Tom Bramwell Published 4 February, 2009

Surprise on the cards?

I'm pretty sure I've been shot more than nine times at this point, but in the grand scheme of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, this is forgivable. After all, 50's wearing Kevlar (even on-stage, complete with grenades slung around his waist), and as the first game pointed out, he's bulletproof. It's certainly no more absurd than the story, in which 50 and chums are chasing down a diamond-coated skull stolen in an ambush by a balletic ninja lady. "Where'd she go? That bitch took muh skull," he laments, after he dives backwards over the bonnet of a Humvee firing an assault rifle, and sets off to shoot up a fictional Middle-Eastern country, which seems to be populated almost exclusively by terrorists, drug lords and weapons dealers with thick accents.

Of course, when Gears of War does things like this ("They're using a giant worm!" for instance), no one's sure if it's meant to be taken seriously. But when Swordfish Studios does things like this in Blood on the Sand, you end up with unlockable taunt packs rated by profanity, bragging and sexual content, and unlock special moves like Assassin's Wrath. "A combination of efficient jabs finished by a vicious neck snap, this jujitsu move will drop any fool to the floor." More macho IP for smirking British developers, please? Given some of the stuff that 50 and his choice of wingman - either Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks or DJ Whoo Kid - yell at their enemies, they must be in on the joke.

The game itself is no joke though. The debt to Gears is obvious throughout, but it works. The clip-on contextual cover system is fluent and logical, and allows you to pop out and target easily, spraying the Unreal Engine 3 visuals with shots from your dpad-selected quartet of weapons, and Swordfish even lifts (affectionately, I'm sure) little touches like the way 50 goes into a forced walk to slow your heart-rate while he's receiving chatter through a headset. Given the context, tension-heightening elements like Active Reload and chainsaw melee are missed, but the alternative to the latter is the amusing "counter-kills", of which the abovementioned Assassin's Wrath is one. Press the melee button up close and you go into a brief quick-time sequence that sees 50 punch and eventually - with unlocks - gut and mangle people dumb enough to get within range.

'50 Cent: Blood on the Sand' Screenshot 1

The Music Player allows you to set up a playlist with any of the songs in the game, several of which are unlocked from the start, or set it to shuffle.

But while the most obvious debt is to Gears of War, Swordfish's fellow Brits Bizarre Creations will recognise a tip of the doo-rag in a scoring system that owes more to The Club than anything on Epic's Sera. Whenever you cap an enemy, or do something else of note - a kill assist, taunting in battle, uncovering collectibles, etc. - you add points to your score and a little red bar appears along the top of the screen and starts gradually emptying, which is your window to keep the combo going. The more points you gain in a level, the better the medal you win at the end.

Fans of The Club will choke even harder when they realise there are even bull's-eyes hidden around each level to uncover as you dash through courtyards, up and down stairs and over rooftops chasing down your loot. Unlike Bizarre's underrated speed-shooter, however, post-level unlocks based on these discoveries are big news for 50's fans, including a bunch of exclusive new songs.

Early level and enemy design isn't exactly in either game's class, mind you: enemies appear from grey doors and take up obvious positions, rarely doing much besides dying co-operatively on the default setting, while environments are well-appointed but generic rundown streets and buildings. Swordfish makes good use of UE3 generally, though, with impressive fire effects and a frame-rate solidly above 30 - if not locked at 60 - for most of the time, and 50's likeness is very good, even if he sometimes has a puzzled-squirrel expression when he stands behind cover squinting out of the corner of his eye. Driving through the streets in one of the game's vehicle missions, while Tony Yayo rides shotgun (well, rides 50-cal), the draw distance is vast, and explosions convincing among the sun-blasted mud-brick houses, corrugated doors and wire fences, and the drive itself is comfortably executed, with some neat set-piece destruction and fewer pad-through-the-screen moments than, say, the Gears of War 2 ice-lake debacle.

And in some respects 50 is - perhaps fittingly - pretty old school. Besides the high-score mechanism, he has an actual health bar (sacrilege!), a Bullet Time mode (called Gangster Fire - you can stop making that face now), and a bunch of secret rooms and other trinkets to find. Apart from the hidden targets, there are stacks of cash-filled crates and ammo boxes to seek out by going the other way when you pop through a window or drop down off a ledge, and you even collect posters, some of which, wonderfully, are posters of 50 Cent himself. In addition to picking up guns on the go, you can also buy new ones at payphones, and they have copyright-dodging names like Desert Hawks and MC-10s.

'50 Cent: Blood on the Sand' Screenshot 2

The diamond skull at the heart of the story looks a lot like Damien Hirst's "For the Love of God". Would finally explain who bought it.

I've been to a 50 Cent gig, you know. In-between cameos from the others in G-Unit (each of whom would sing about 30 seconds of some well-known song before it was shut down in a similarly copyright-skipping fashion by a ubiquitous gunshot sound effect), the whole thing was an advert for 50's albums, his film, his clothing and his food and drink sponsorship. It was amazingly brazen, but still somehow brilliant. 50 Cent: Bulletproof wasn't really much of either, but Blood on the Sand - despite the questionable setting - genuinely might be both, with a scoring system tied into tangible rewards, built around good old gaming ideas, and a sense of humour that belies the hip-hop game's usual bravado.

The weapon and level design could do with kicking up over the course, as by the time I left it there was a definite creeping ennui about another grey set of corridors, but interestingly this is not necessarily one to ignore on principle, and the promise of drop-in Xbox Live co-op is another plus point. We'll find out for sure later this month.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is due out for PS3 and Xbox 360 on 20th February.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (75) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • muscleblade #1 3 years ago

    A friend of mine has played it and he told me it was incredibly fun.

  • PlugMonkey #2 3 years ago

    Hmm. The echoing silence of the hundreds of naysayers there were on the last 50 Cent comments thread.

    Don't you all need to come and say how depressing it must be working for Swordfish on such an inevitably shit game or something?

  • mcbi4kh2 #3 3 years ago

    Drop in co-op is awesome, only on Live though?

  • creepylizard #4 3 years ago

    I think I'm going to be sick....

  • retr0gamer #5 3 years ago

    All I've heard about this game is that it's actually quite good fun. I'm scared :/

  • BillyBrush #6 3 years ago

    Eurgh..

    Swordfish make decent games, like the cricket, liked cold winter (think that was them)

    but anything with Fiddy No Talent is an instant non purchase...who shot at him 9 times again? Stevie Wonder?

    i got hit in da mowd that's why i spits so commercial...word..

  • ryohazuki1983 #7 3 years ago

    Didn't like the first game, camera angle and controls were awful (IMO).Will need a demo of this before I buy, Will be picking up SFIV on 20th so that will keep me going for a while.

  • Thunderbolt #8 3 years ago

    From the sounds of it, it looks like a lot of fun. For me though I cant get past the despicable main character.

    I wonder if it will have similar subtle homo-erotic undertones like GOW.

  • sanctusmortis #9 3 years ago

    WHEH MAH SKULL

  • andromeda #10 3 years ago

    even if this was a 10/10 i wouldn't buy it on general principle for fear of any of my money going towards that twat , 50 pence

  • agparrot #11 3 years ago

    Looks... almost incredibly, like it might be a lot of fun, but hopefully nobody will buy it too early on, and I can pick it up for next-to-nothing in some dodgy lo-fi trade in store.

  • mingster #12 3 years ago

    Fiddy is da man dis is gonna be the nutz.

  • jaxon58 #13 3 years ago

    I've played it, it's a very good game. I'd rather have a good game wrapped in a license I don't like rather than a shit game ruining a good license.

  • mazzl #14 3 years ago

    i'm surprised, that this could be good. but that's only good news!

  • ps3owner #15 3 years ago

    if it's more then 50 pence to purchase I won't get it... oh and it must be 11/10. nah. fuck it, I'll buy a can of coke instead

  • anomagnus #16 3 years ago

    gangster fire...

    that shit is OFF the hook!

  • samaran #17 3 years ago

    totally called it

    GOTY 2009

  • kangarootoo #18 3 years ago

    "I'd rather have a good game wrapped in a license I don't like rather than a shit game ruining a good license."

    This is (unfortunately in this case) quite true.

  • stepneg #19 3 years ago

    50p is a fucking cock and I couldn't face the embarrassment of buying this even if it was game of the year material.

  • TruWari3r #20 3 years ago

    If the humor is so rampantly tongue-in-cheek and the game is pretty god, how can you not pick it up? Still waiting on the review before seriously considering a purchase but I'm amazed that this game isn't going to suck.

  • Grayvern #21 3 years ago

    I still predict that only 50cent fans will buy this game.

    I mean honestly if you hate or don't like hip hop I don't see how you could play this, even with the music off you'd still have to stare at 50's smug mug.

  • samaran #22 3 years ago

    i'm amazed that anyone didn't think this would be brilliant from the first trailer, but i guess they were too busy listening to their REAL HIP-HOP which like, totally isn't about bitches and hos and all that shit, man, and also totally isn't made by black people unless it's pre-1988, and, like, aren't the roots so awesome? they totally play their own instruments. man.

    50 cent is a brilliant pop culture caricature and therefore an awesome protagonist for a videogame. the fact that this one is actually likely to be good and comes with a sense of self-awareness is merely the icing on the cake.

  • Dizzy #23 3 years ago

    Even if this game is good it is still bad.

  • MoGamer2006 #24 3 years ago

    @Grayvern

    You think 'fiddy's' mug looks smug? I always think he looks like he's had a stroke, or was slightly brain damaged at birth.

  • BillyBrush #25 3 years ago

    Being over 25 and going to a shop counter with this in hand would be more embarassing than going in your local newsagent and buying a copy of Razzle when an old ladys working at the till and the local vicar is the next in line

    gameplay.co.uk will prob do well with it

  • TheBoyChris #26 3 years ago

    Brilliant. Can't wait :D

  • Pike #27 3 years ago

    GOTY
    O
    T
    Y

  • Gnort #28 3 years ago

    I have to admit I'm disappointed that this doesn't sound like it will be rubbish.

    Nevertheless, even if they were giving them away I wouldn't take one. I would honestly rather play an average game based on a concept I find appealing than the best game in the whole world ever starring 50 Cent.

  • M_Spitz #29 3 years ago

    Haters get the bozack.

    "It's not real hiphop". Cry me a fucking river.

  • guernican #30 3 years ago

    "Don't you all need to come and say how depressing it must be working for Swordfish on such an inevitably shit game or something?"

    I don't really give a shit. The day Fiddy gets Ł30 of my money is the day I take out a subscription to the New Fascist and tell everyone how much I enjoyed the Reservoir Dogs game.

  • des #31 3 years ago

    GOTY 2009 in the making...

  • Unclebenny #32 3 years ago

    @M_Spitz- What the hells a bozack?
    also good counter argument. I see your point. Obviosuly if he's taking all the worse elements of comercialised rap we should ignore that lest someone suggest we are complaining. I'd hate for anyone to think i don't like something...

  • Shrike #33 3 years ago

    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, it's ok because we're all being ironic, right, guys?

  • schnide #34 3 years ago

    Will this come with a nice big box that I can put any of my spare big cash in?

    Cash in? Big cash in?

  • samaran #35 3 years ago

    If you are suggesting Fiddy is in any way related to hip-hop then you are very very mistaken.

    i'm not saying i listen to the guy all the time, but if you don't see how he is a) hip-hop and b) talented you are hopelessly ignorant. heard the 'power of the dollar' EP, or at least the tune 'how to rob an industry nigga' (commonly considered one of the best diss tracks of all time, even by people who hate his later commercial stuff)? the guy has an interesting, original flow if nothing else, and if something else usually gets some great production on a few tunes. you're telling me 'in da club' is anything other than heavy? if you don't like that style of music then fair enough, but to call him talentless is objectively wrong.

    this thread just screams cliched nerds feeling threatened.

    and yes, the fact that he's a ridiculous caricature makes him a great choice for an action videogame. played gears of war?

  • schnide #36 3 years ago

    Actually, look - I'm serious, this shit gets me really angry. I don't care if, upon the first level, it somehow ties in the gameplay of Braid, Fallout and Little Big Planet with visuals that make me involuntarily cry and it sounds like Beethoven trying to woo me into bed, then has angels in the shape of porn stars descend from the heavens and take it in turns to blow me whilst the others tell me I'm hung like a Trojan horse. Every copy of this game sold gives money to people who are glamorising violence and degredation of women, promoting a life of crime and putting the acquisition of money as worth losing your life for. This would be a better, more respected title if real character development was put into an original IP that justified however surprisingly good this game is meant to be. Yes everyone has to work, yes this is business not morality school, and yes I'm one of the first to jump on anyone getting sanctimonious but I'll feel better if at least I've said it.

  • samaran #37 3 years ago

    i will enjoy this game more because 50 cent is in it, so will many other people. get over yourself.

  • FenderMaster #38 3 years ago

    Can I just clarify:

    50 Cent wasn't shot 9 times... He was shot AT 9 times... with a pellet gun... only 3 of the pellets actually hit him, one is lodged in his jaw/gums...

    No matter how good, or unintentionally funny this game is, I will not play this game, such is my loathing of Fiddy...

    Now put Rage Against The Machine in the middle east, fighting of a certain occupying nation (not the U.S.) might genuinely interest me

  • schnide #39 3 years ago

    @samaran

    Then you sir, based purely on your arguments alone, are a mindless twat, with no ability to discern or distinguish gameplay from branding. All the other people you include yourself amongst are no doubt real, and make up what is commonly known as the masses. Daily activities for these people include watching Jeremy Kyle, reading The Sun and holding back advancement of the human race.

    Now clean my fucking bins, scumbag.
    Edited by 1 at 04/02/09 @ 16:44

  • ps3owner #40 3 years ago

    +1 to schnide

  • Azazel #41 3 years ago

    CLASS WAR INFLITRATION ALERT!

  • BillyBrush #42 3 years ago

    @Samaran

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=18cc9WkpZZs = decent tune by 'gangster rapper', nothing fiddly has ever done could be considered above 'garbage' level
    http://ww w.youtube.com/watch?v=b5aocYRSh... = proper hip hoppery

    lern..innit

    *gets coat*

  • samaran #43 3 years ago

    of course i'm not saying 50's as good as biggie, dude! just, he's not talentless either.

    schnide, send me a postcard from your fucking high horse.

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #44 3 years ago

    @samaran:

    I don't think he's on his high horse. I think the majority of us are on solid level ground. Some other people however are knee dip in shit looking up ;)

  • roz123 #45 3 years ago

    I take you to the candy shop
    let you lick my lolly pop
    dont stop till you reach the top.


    The guys a lyrical genius.

    Nah seriously I saw him at reading festival where he got bottled off. The highlight of which was when (after playing some shitty video of him getting shot and working out) someone threw a little plastic chair at him and he held it up going "now this is too far man too far"
    What a dick, no way will i be purchasing this game. Even if its the best game ever (which it obviously isnt as its just a silly gears of war with shit music) anyone who i know who buys this game will go down in my estimation.

  • schnide #46 3 years ago

    @samaran

    Who said you could finish your community service early?

    Now put back on your high vis jacket and get my wheelie bin shining so brightly you can see your grills in it.

  • shotgun44 #47 3 years ago

    Get over yourselves, this game looks fun. The man has made a lot of money; so what? Some people are so blinded by their own stupid principles it's unreal.

  • sneetch #48 3 years ago

    @ps3owner
    if it's more then 50 pence to purchase I won't get it... oh and it must be 11/10. nah. fuck it, I'll buy a can of coke instead

    Woah, woah, woah! You can still get a can of coke for 50p? That's far more interesting than this pile of merchandising by half-a-buck.

  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #49 3 years ago

    @shotgun44:

    "so what? Some people are so blinded by their own stupid principles it's unreal. "

    It is as well. But then, a lot of games are these days :(

  • schnide #50 3 years ago

    @shotgun44

    "For herein is the evil of ignorance, that he who is neither good nor wise is nevertheless satisfied with himself."

    Principles make me civilised. You can argue this is just about a game and fail to see the bigger picture, but when the world goes to shit and you're complaining about it loudest, you can also know that you're partly responsible for it.

    I appreciate this is a very serious tone I'm taking, but this shit does actually matter. By endorsing this game you're justifying some fat executive's paycheck who, about a year or so ago, sat there saying "look, make any old shit you like but put the 50 Cent license on it, because some people out there will then buy it regardless and we can buy ourselves another Merc."

    Who do you think those people are he was talking about?

    Now, seriously - clean my fucking bins.

  • samaran #51 3 years ago

    yo i totally appreciate that people have principles worth sticking to, i have many of my own and wouldn't trust anyone who didn't. 'i don't like scary black music', however, is not really a principle.

    i'm not a big 50 cent fan - presumably, neither are many of the developers working on this game - yet, somehow, it still looks like great fun to me and the staff of this fine website. do you not think it might be reaching for a slightly broader audience? i really don't think the game is intended to be taken seriously by anyone, let alone people that aren't 50 cent fans.

  • timpig #52 3 years ago

    I love hip-hop, hate fiddy. The two really are not connected.

    The game might be loads of fun, but it's bullshit politics are not.

    Also, as I'm not an obese 14 year old racist Texan teenager, there's nothing for me here.

  • Azazel #53 3 years ago

    'i don't like scary black music', however, is not really a principle.

    WTF. How isn't it? Cradle of Filth are shite.

  • Xensor #54 3 years ago

    I've got some better titles for this upcoming verisimilitude of pure gaming nirvana:

    Chump Change: Blood on the Shelves
    17 Pence: Flid in the Attic
    50 Cent: How much talent can i buy with that?

  • Ryze #55 3 years ago

    @schnide

    Fair enough - 50's a cock who regularly releases nonsense poor standard pop/rap/r'n'b records - but I'm sorry - you'd be severely limited in how you spend your money, and where you invest it if you're avoiding funding the hate list that you stated in your post.

    Avoid putting your money in the bank, buying fuel, going to the cinema or buying DVDs, or buying any music from the major labels - I'd say.

    Plenty of violence funded and glamourised, women degraded and ex. criminals given honest livings via things such as these that we purchase on a regular basis. This and much worse besides.

    50 is a twat, though - so I don't blame you for not buying his game.


    @Azazel

    :D
    Edited by 1 at 04/02/09 @ 18:13

  • Madder-Max #56 3 years ago

    I'll prolly buy it just to bug the old-set-in-ways crew on here......like Saints Row2 bugs IV lovers!
    Edited by 1 at 04/02/09 @ 19:04

  • patchbox360 #57 3 years ago

    'even if this was a 10/10 i wouldn't buy it on general principle for fear of any of my money going towards that twat , 50 pence'

    coca cola have already paid fiddy 120+million for vitamin water deal - i don't think he needs your money some how.

  • kwesleyb #58 3 years ago

    Oh dear, have developers really run out of gaming ideas?

    Now they have to ask "too wealthy for no talent" people to put their face on games so idiots (unfortunately there are too many of them) will buy this game.

    *sigh*

  • davisorle #59 3 years ago

    This shit actually looks and sounds kinda good. Im exctremely amazed and surprised.. wow. Feels like I somehow hope it wont be good cause I might just freak out if it's as good as it starts to be promising. Dunno.. Just weird lol

  • Widge #60 3 years ago

    50 Cent does pop urban. A wonderful product of marketing and PR.

  • local_celebrity #61 3 years ago

    This game would be improved with the following tweaks:

    1. The ability to shoot our own 50 Cent character in the face. Preferably with an assault rifle. A video editor with the ability to pause, rewind and watch again in slo-mo from different angles, would be stupendous in this regard. Would easily trump the Fallout 3 VATS system any day.

    2. A crossdressing option for our character. Press RB, Fiddy’s wrists go slack. Hit Left Trigger, and he starts cracking onto dirty foreign men.

    3. Some sort of cribs mini-game. Win at this, and Fiddy is forced to move into modest accomodation with tasteful, understated furnishings.

    Developers: if you're reading this, feel free to use any of these ideas in your first patch.

  • FenderMaster #62 3 years ago

    Tasteful is one word fiddy' don't know

  • Bangaioh #63 3 years ago

    "even if this was a 10/10 i wouldn't buy it on general principle for fear of any of my money going towards that twat , 50 pence"
    I totally agree with Andromeda, nice one!

  • beastmaster #64 3 years ago

    Interesting debate. Who would have though that the game would have been any good in the first place? Now it seems as though people are not going to buy this out of principle, as opposed to it being a shit game. Is this a first?

    I've got to admit, I had no interest in this whatsoever. Now I'm interested in the final reviews. See what Edge, games TM and EG make of it. Don't think I'd ever buy this kind of game though. Regardless if it swept the boards with 9 and 10s.

    But 20th is Street Fighter 4 day and I'd rather put the money to those spiffy looking fighting sticks. 50p may think he's tough, but Ken would open up a can of whoop ass on him.

  • roz123 #65 3 years ago

    "Now it seems as though people are not going to buy this out of principle, as opposed to it being a shit game. Is this a first?"


    No

  • Syrette #66 3 years ago

    @local_celebrity

    glol

  • FooAtari #67 3 years ago

    Must admit im surprised this is any good. Based on the last game it was a fair assumption to make that this would be terrible.

    Personally I won't be getting it, don't like 50 cent, don't like hip-hop and not a huge fan of 3rd person action games so it has to be really really good and really appeal to me before I'll pick it up anyway

  • Nodebug #68 3 years ago

    This looks to be the new Def Jam : Fight for New York (hip-hop gaming surprise). If it plays well then I'll grab it and have fun playing through with a friend.

    I'm not even slightly a fan of 50 cent but having the whole game play out like a tongue in cheek war through iraq with a bunch of wannabe gangster rappers is just fucking hilarious, and if you think about it, more original than most run and gun shooters can come up with these days.

  • schnide #69 3 years ago

    @Ryze

    Thanks, but I'm ahead of you on that. My money is in the Co-op, so that HSBC can't invest it in wars in third world countries. Yes people, it does do that. I don't buy Coca Cola, which is responsible for draining villages in India of clean drinking water. I don't buy Nestle products because of what they do in Africa with baby milk. I don't buy Walkers crisps because they gave money to Bush's re-election campaign. Not news to you? To some it might be, and hopefully to a few it'll be enough to make them think about what they do. You can't stop every bad company in the world this way, but if the worst ones stopped making a profit, the others would have incentive to improve. Unfortunately most people don't think like this, so this is not the way the world works, but at least I'm not contributing to it and I won't contribute to this game either.

  • 3william56 #70 3 years ago

    I've yet to see this so called humour. Doing something unpleasant in a game without some sort of wit involved (like local_celeb's suggestions) isn't humour , or ironic, it's just pandering to the fat b*stard's ego and puerile gangsta wannabes fantasies. Putting a real person's name on it (if you can call fiddy "real";) makes it bad taste - it does make a difference.

    Can't see Killzone or Riddick being bothered by this.

  • schnide #71 3 years ago

    @Simonsays

    So you think someone who empties your bin and earns a honest living is equal to someone who as built is career on the back of a life of crime ie 50cent ???

    That's not what I said.

    If you have a love of other people's rubbish and/or value the public service that such a role provides then good luck to you and I commend you for it. If you do it because you had no desire to qualify yourself for anything other than having two arms, then you deserve all the derision I've given.

    Either way, I take your point. A lot of the people who complain about foreigners 'coming over here' are the same people who won't work for those wages in the first place when those foreign workers will.

    And, incidentally, bin men earn a pretty good wage.

  • muscleblade #72 3 years ago

    50Cent is a lot of things - but pretty he aint. He looks like some kind of neanderthal imo. Good physique though - but not quite as good as mine.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #73 3 years ago

    I'll have you know that Lewis Hamilton's favourite bands are 50 Cent and 2 Pac

  • metalangel #74 3 years ago

    With this and Riddick it looks like a good year for OTT manly grunting loud violence-fests.

    And those cussing Fiddy are clearly busters who just ain't krunk enough to hang ghetto style.

  • Zaltan #75 3 years ago

    Even if it was amazing... I still wouldn't buy a game about some idiot.