50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

Welcome to the action movie that Fiddy built. Only it’s a game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, of a kind that nobody else would dare.

This being 50 Cent and his pals, you ought to have a pretty good idea of what to expect in terms of attitude. But few would’ve predicted that after the risible 50 Cent: Bulletproof (2005) that he’d oversee such a tight action game as Blood on the Sand.

Alright, it’s largely props to development studio Swordfish for ultimately delivering the goods. But thanks to Fiddy and a bunch of lads based in Birmingham U of K we’ve got ourselves some foul-mouthed fun to remember.

It is the 50 factor that rules here, we won’t beat around the bush on that point. Were it not for the US rapper’s provocative angle on entertainment values it’s possible that Blood on the Sand would be an also ran – albeit a technically impressive and stylishly choreographed rival to EA’s Arm of Two and the Gears of War series.

But this is 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand; a convoluted tale of modern-military guns for hire meets disgruntled artist in a pretend post-gig payment gone awry. The setting is clearly inspired by the war torn Middle East, conveniently identifying a hackneyed selection of bad guys to rage against. But you’ll be relieved to encounter twists to the tale that Fiddy must have approved if not requested.

Gameplay is slick, with a cool co-op system that works great when teamed with the AI but obviously more fun – and plenty funnier – when gunning alongside a pal online. You need each other to lift heavy objects or provide a ‘leg up’ to higher ledges. Confrontations favour shoot outs with a mouth-watering selection of assault rifles, duel-wield pistols, shotguns and later on a useful sniper rifle and mad rocket launcher.

Action regularly gets busy on screen with enemies piling out of vans and helicopters before taking up position. Hence you’ll appreciate a robust cover system and the ability to slow time if 50 gets pumped on Gangsta Fire. Slo-mo buys him more vital seconds to rush in and perform Counterkill attacks – set-piece finishing moves with names like ‘Serial Killer’, described as “A brutal uppercut followed by a quick succession of savage stabs to the chest and a fatal slash to the throat”… and that’s exactly what you get in exchange for pressing the button on cue!

In the early stages we did grow tired of bashing through walls and jumping down floors to find stashes of gold used to purchase weapons upgrades, Counterkills and new taunts (predictably XXX in content). The enemies aren’t really all that smart, even when you’re being targeted by several snipers. You can Counterkill from one bad guy to the other if you get the timing right. But after shooting down your first helicopter and surviving a high speed vehicle shoot-out in a highway battle, it is impossible to resist grinning while bobbing your head to the 50 Cent soundtrack.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand goes for the throat and doesn’t let go. We’ve all lived through similar and more challenging scenarios in previous games but rarely with such conviction. 18 never-heard-before 50 Cent tracks are just the icing on the cake.

4 out of 5