50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Preview
- December 12, 2008 16:37 PM PST
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Rapper 50 Cent tears up the Middle East looking for a diamond skull. So bad it's good?
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is so ridiculous that it's actually fun to play. It's a third-person shooter like Gears of War 2, but with a way less serious tone. For example, the story is about hip-hop star 50 Cent in the Middle East. After performing a show, his payment is stolen - a diamond skull worth $10 million - and 50 Cent isn't leaving without getting it back. Let the ridiculousness begin!
Murderholic Rap Points
Before each mission starts, you get to choose a henchman from the G-Unit crew to be your sidekick - Tony Yayo, Llyod Banks, or DJ Whoo Kid. Or play the game with a friend in co-op, where the first player is 50 Cent and the second player chooses between the sidekicks. This sidekick will help you fight, lift heavy doors, and hoist you up to higher platforms.
The goal of the game is to earn lots of points by killing enemies, locating hidden items, and speed. The easiest way to get points is by combo-killing enemies. Each time you kill an enemy your combo meter goes up, but the meter won't last forever. You also earn points on how stylish you take out enemies. Blowing up explosive barrels, for instance, will net you more points, as will taunting your enemies. And then there are hidden items, such as posters to collect and targets to shoot that add to your point multiplier. The final ingredient to earning the biggest score possible is speed. Complete each level as fast as you can by efficiently killing enemies and collecting all hidden items for a perfect score. The final score for each level is calculated into bronze, silver, and gold medals.
The core gameplay is fast and chaotic. Imagine Gears of War 2 meets an arcade shooter like Sega's The Club. You have four different weapons to choose from at any time, which include guns such as assault rifles, dual Uzis, dual pistols, and rocket launchers. Each enemy you kill fills up a "Gangsta Fire" meter, which is a slow motion bullet-time effect mode that's best to save when you're close to death, but also earns you more points when active. You can also run up to enemies to perform one-hit Counter Kills, which were featured in the first 50 Cent: Bulletproof game. There are over 20 different Counter Kills in 50 Cent: BotS, but you can only have five equipped at a time.
Counter Kills and Taunts can be purchased and swapped out at payphones, where you access the in-game merchant. The same goes for weapons. Because 50 Cent: BotS is all about getting big points, the more violent Counter Kills and Taunts cost more money, but increase your score significantly when used.
50 Cent by the Numbers
50 Cent is all about the Benjamins, baby. The game features 42 rap tracks, of which 18 are exclusive. There are 24 levels that make up nine single-player campaign chapters. You get to choose from three G-Unit sidekicks to fight with, or play with a friend in two-player cooperative mode.
The first 50 Cent: Bulletproof game wasn't exactly cool or fun to play, but Blood on the Sand is. The Unreal 3.0 engine really lends a helping hand to the core shooting mechanics and definitely the graphics, which are quite impressive compared to other games that have used the engine.
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Preview: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand Impressions
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