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With a new generation of consoles, a new engine, and a new developer, hip-hop star 50 Cent will once again tackle the video game industry. Sequel to 2005's multimillion-selling Bulletproof, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, looks to exceed its predecessor and deliver an exciting experience for fans of the action genre.
Blood on the Sand has looked to the best of the action genre as its main sources of inspiration, mainly: Gears of War. At a first glance, players will easily notice the Unreal Engine in full use. Character models and environments have been expertly rendered with a great amount of detail. Even the gameplay borrows heavily from the Epic's successful titles. Blood on the Sand is a third-person action game, featuring an over the shoulder type view, complete with the controls and evasive maneuvers of Gears of War.
Even though Blood on the Sand draws a lot of inspiration from the Gears of War franchise, it is doing its best to set itself apart from the popular action series. "I would say it's inspired by 'Three Kings' meets 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.' It's definitely a crime story", says Vivendi Games producer, Aaron Blean. The game will play a lot like a blockbuster film with plenty of action and bullet ridden drama to push the game's plot. Blood on the Sand will also feature a handful of playable characters with their own techniques and combat mechanics to lend to the experience. Including its namesake, Blood on the Sand will star the remaining members of G-Unit: Tony Yayo, Whoo Kid and Lloyd Banks. Up to two players can play cooperatively as friends can join in on the action at any time during gameplay. As Gears of War features a steady pace of run and gun sequences, Blood on the Sand will rely on vehicle sections to break up monotony by including car chase segments and helicopter shootouts to up the action and keep players engaged.
Fans of the hip-hop sensation can expect more than just the enhanced gameplay features and improved visuals. Being described as the ‘ultimate 50 Cent experience', players can look forward to a number of music tracks that 50 will record exclusively for Blood on the Sand. And if that wasn't enough to excite G-Unit enthusiasts, it has been hinted a number of high profile hip-hop talent may contribute to the game's soundtrack as well.
Though Bulletproof was a commercial success, it did not fare too well in the video game community and was received with less than stellar reviews. Blood on the Sand has a long way to go before it can strip itself of the veil of skepticism which surrounds its 2009 release. But if the developers can utilize the new engine and implement enough improvements to prevent it from being a Gears of War clone, Blood on the Sand may prove to be an unexpected surprise that starts off the New Year.
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