Publisher: THQ
Developer: Swordfish Studios
Release Date: 2/24/2009
Available On
50 Cent is one of those celebrities who thinks he can dominate any market or any industry, especially ones he knows nothing about, just by flexing his abs, flaunting his fake money, cars, and jewelry. That’s all Blood on the Sand in a nutshell, but if you look past the ’50s over-the-top thug persona, you have a pretty decent weekend rental. The game’s story is complete nonsense since 50 and his crew are fighting Middle Eastern terrorists for a priceless skull. What is 50 doing in the Middle East? Probably not singing for charity causes. What makes the story even more ridiculous is that it’s just lame. You never know why this (insert unpronounceable Middle Eastern name here) owes him this money, and the game just has a lot of loopholes story-wise. Thankfully, it’s easily forgettable, and you really just concentrate on the action.
Blood on the Sand has a lot of action, and it’s not too bad, really. You run around in a third-person POV, ducking behind cover and shooting to your heart’s content. Unfortunately, the game has a slightly broken cover mechanic since it’s too sticky. When you pull away from the cover, sometimes 50 won’t move away, and you usually have to use the roll button to get off. This makes it hard if someone is running up to you and you need to get away quickly.
There are a plethora of weapons in the game, and they can be bought via placed phone booths or picked up by downed enemies. The downside to this is that better weapons can’t be bought until the last level of the game because you can never earn enough money to buy them. Money is earned by killing enemies or smashing crates. Not only can you buy weapons, but you can also buy taunts and takedowns.
Takedowns are timed melee attacks that show 50 using martial arts he really doesn’t know in real life (everything in the game he can’t do in real life yet raps that he can). The problem with buying more takedowns is that you never see the animations. The same takedown is repeated over and over again until the engine decides to let you see one that you spent $50,000 on. The taunt thing is just ridiculous and really earns the game’s M rating. The M rating is mainly for all the swearing, which is in every other word. While this is fine, I just think it’s ridiculous and unnecessary and doesn’t make the game any better. Besides, taunting does nothing for gameplay and just seemed like something that was thrown in there so 50 can curse more.
My favorite parts of the game are the vehicle sections, which vary from turrets on helicopters to driving jeeps. These parts tend to be pretty easy, but I have to admit the game is unnecessarily hard. The game throws too many enemies at you at times, and it is completely retarded. I’ve never played a shooter with so many enemies in my life. It’s hard to really strategize what you’re going to do when there’s an enemy around every corner, and they can even hit you through your cover sometimes. If you really love 50, you can find posters and targets around the game that let you unlock all of his music videos. I am also disappointed that Eminem and the other Shady crew didn’t make an appearance in this game. Hell, even his G-Unit buddies take a back seat as poorly controlled AI opponents, but that’s what co-op is for.
The game has pretty decent graphics since it uses Unreal Engine 3, but it doesn’t use the engine like we’ve seen it before. The game is very dark since the whole thing takes place in a desert, which leaves little room for an artistic style. The audio is pretty good, with a voiceover from 50 Cent, but it tends to be overdone sometimes or spotty. If you really love 50 Cent, you must own this game, but if you just like your shooters, then give this a spin.
Great post tthankyou