50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

European cover art
Developer(s) Swordfish Studios
Publisher(s) THQ
Director(s) Julian Widdows
Designer(s) Tim Austin
Gavin Cooper
Ed Kay
Programmer(s) Jonathan Attfield
Ryan T. Sammartino
Mike Stimpson
Neil Topham
Robert Watkins
Artist(s) Fergus Duggan
Mark O'Kane
Andrew Taylor
Writer(s) Kamran Pasha
Composer(s) Swizz Beatz
Engine Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)
  • NA February 24, 2009
Genre(s) Third-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is a third-person shooter video game developed by Swordfish Studios and published by THQ for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The game was released on February 20, 2009, in Europe and February 24, 2009, in North America and serves as the sequel to 50 Cent: Bulletproof.

Gameplay

Blood on the Sand includes on-foot combat, as well as vehicle missions such as a driver-and-turret-gunner Humvee H2 road chase and a helicopter-borne minigun shootout. There are also boss battles against helicopters.

The game has a feature called the "Shop" (activated in the game by placing a call on payphones hidden on each level), where the characters can use cash to buy new weapons, upgrade their old weapons, and learn hand-to-hand combat moves called "Counter-Kills". Cash can also be used to unlock Taunts (each rated by Profanity, Braggin' and Triple X levels), which increase the points earned from kills.

Weapons are graded from 1 to 10 by Capacity, Damage Rating, and Accuracy, and also list possible Add Ons (weapon enhancements like scopes or silencers). Players can use a mode called "Gangsta Fire" (50 Cent's variation on the slo-mo "bullet-time" concept used in Max Payne) to take on multiple opponents at once.

Each level has Target Enemies (5 per level; each is just a high-value target, not a "Level Boss"), crates of gold bars (which are broken open to earn money), as well as collectables like Posters (5 per level). Kills grant points, which help the player to earn Bronze, Silver, and Gold G-Unit Badges; these unlock better Weapons, Counter-Kills and Taunts in the "Shop".

It also features more music tracks than the first game (40+ tracks in all); 50 Cent made 18 exclusive tracks just for the game. Swizz Beatz, Lab Ox and The Individuals made the original score for the game. There are also unlockable songs and videos.

Plot

The game revolves around rapper 50 Cent. The co-player's character can be one of three other members of the G-Unit crew: Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, or DJ Whoo Kid, each specializing in different combat techniques. The co-player is either run by the game or through online cooperative play.

The game is set in an urban warzone in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, where 50 Cent and G-Unit have been hired to play a rap concert. After the concert the promoter, Anwar, is unable to pay them the $10 million in cash he promised, but relents after being threatened. However, instead of the cash they were promised, he gives them a diamond-and-pearl encrusted human skull (bearing a striking resemblance to a platinum cast diamond encrusted skull by artist Damien Hirst) as collateral. This is promptly stolen by a paramilitary group led by the terrorist Kamal. 50 Cent (with the help of a selected G-Unit partner) decides to get it back at any cost and soon, they find out that there is a much bigger enemy than Kamal.

Development

After the original company planned to distribute the game, Activision, merged with Vivendi Games, many games, including 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, faced the possibility of not being released. The rights to Blood on the Sand were then picked up by THQ.[2]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings71.03% (X360)[3]
72.37% (PS3)[4]
Metacritic71/100 (X360)[5]
72/100 (PS3)[6]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comC[7]
AllGame[8]
CVG7/10 (X360)[9]
Edge7/10[10]
Eurogamer7/10[11]
Game Informer8/10[12]
GamePro[13]
GameSpot7/10[14]
GameTrailers7/10[15]
GameZone6.5/10[16]
IGN7.1/10[17]
7.6/10 (UK)[18]
7.5/10 (Australia)[19]
OXM6.5/10 (X360)[20]
OXM (UK)7/10 (X360)[21]
Play70% (PS3)[22]
PSM37.5/10 (PS3)[23]
X-Play (X360)[24]
The A.V. ClubC[25]
Maxim[26]
USA Today[27]

Unlike Bulletproof, which received generally very mixed reviews, Blood on the Sand was more well received by video game critics, scoring a 7 out of 10 on GameSpot and a 4/5 on X-Play.[24] Critics also praised the improvement and 50 Cent's involvement in the game. Jeff Gerstmann of Giant Bomb said the story was "mostly nonsense, with a lot of half-assed dialogue that's usually delivered by people who sound like they have a plane to catch".[28] IGN praised the solid gunplay and strong co-op though they noted that the repetitive nature of the gameplay meant that it did not have great lasting appeal.[29]

As of early April 2009, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand sold an estimated 56,000 copies in the United States.[30]

References

  1. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand dated for Europe
  2. Jenner, Laura (2008-11-07). "Ghostbusters trapped by Atari". GameSpot.com. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
  3. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand for Xbox 360". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  4. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand for PlayStation 3". GameRankings. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  5. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Critic Reviews for Xbox 360". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  6. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Critic Reviews for PlayStation 3". Metacritic. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  7. Lee, Garnett (2009-02-26). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  8. Brown, Christopher. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - Overview". Allgame. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  9. Jackson, Mike (2009-02-19). "Review: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand". Computer and Video Games. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  10. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand". Edge. April 2009.
  11. Bramwell, Tom (2009-02-20). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review". Eurogamer.
  12. Helgeson, Matt (March 2009). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  13. Herring, Will (2009-02-23). "Review : 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (360)". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  14. Watters, Chris (2009-02-24). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  15. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review". GameTrailers. March 4, 2009. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  16. Grabowski, Dakota (2009-03-08). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand - 360 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  17. Goldstein, Hilary (2009-02-24). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review". IGN. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  18. Robinson, Martin (2009-02-20). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand UK Review". IGN. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  19. Shea, Cam (2009-02-22). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand AU Review". IGN. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  20. Reyes, Francesca (2009-02-25). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand review". Official Xbox Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  21. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review". Official Xbox Magazine UK: 78. April 2009.
  22. Hopkins, Tom (2009-03-09). "Review: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand". Play. Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  23. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review". PSM3: 68. April 2009.
  24. 1 2 Heppe, Abbie (2009-02-25). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review for Xbox 360". X-Play. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  25. Fischer, Russ (2009-03-09). "50 Cent: Blood On The Sand". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  26. Manolatos, Gerasimos (2009). "'50 Cent: Blood on the Sand' Review". Maxim. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  27. Saltzman, Marc (2009-03-06). "That's a rap: '50 Cent' game sequel hits high note". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  28. Gerstmann, Jeff (2009-02-24). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Review". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
  29. "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand UK Review - IGN". Uk.ign.com. Retrieved 2015-05-05.
  30. Hinkle, David (9 May 2009). "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand sales pale to Bulletproof". Engadget. AOL. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.

External links

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