50 Cent: Bulletproof was awful. Supposedly based on Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's life, the game was a horrible montage of crappy AI, crappy gameplay, and overall general crappiness. So when glimmers of a sequel started shining out of the rumor mill, I had to wonder: Who the eff bought the original game to warrant a godforsaken sequel? Either Fiddy's got some real hardcore fans, or him and his G-Unit posse ponied up the cash to buy all of the copies that were (and are still) sitting on store shelves. Either way, I couldn't believe it, but like any good reviewer, I went into this game with an open mind. What surprised me was that this game, while by no means spectacular, is actually a fairly solid third person shooter, and is a pretty fun experience.

The game starts out with G-Unit finishing up a concert in some unnamed Middle Eastern country. As Fiddy and the crew walk off the stage (complete with bulletproof vests and grenades at the ready, presumably for defense against unruly concert-goers and weapon wielding helicopters) they mean business. It's payday, and if the show promoter doesn't cough up the dough, then he'll be sleeping six feet deep tonight. As expected, the promoter doesn't have the $10,000,000 promised to G-Unit. Probably not more than 15 or 20 seconds in, and Fiddy has already pulled a shotgun on the man. This sets a precedent for the entire game, as neither 50 Cent nor his G-unit cohorts set the guns down for the rest of the experience. The promoter offers up a diamond encrusted crystal skull as collateral while promising to get the performers their cashola soon. Of course, the skull is stolen, and Fiddy, along with a member of G-Unit traverse across a "diverse" landscape of the middle east in a campaign of bloodshed and bullets in order to get this skull back. It's a little ridiculous, but I might argue that the story is the best part of this game, as long as you don't take it too seriously.

You can just tell that 50 Cent played Gears of War for a few minutes and decided that this game would be much better with a little G-Unit flair. A rule of thirds inspired over-the-shoulder camera places 50 (or a member of G-Unit) in the left hand side of the screen. Pulling the left trigger brings up the aiming mode so you can better put a bullet through the enemy's head. Pulling right trigger fires the weapon, and the right bumper throws grenades. The D-pad switches between four types of weapons: pistol, assault rifle, close-range weapon, and special weapon. Each of these weapon slots have upgraded weapons that can be purchased by talking to an arms dealer (a not-so-cool version of Drebin from Metal Gear Solid 4) on a phone that rings off the hook whenever you're near it.



Being near an enemy brings up the option to Counter-Kill. Pressing the B button sends you into a quick time event which has you pressing a whole one button over and over in order to take the enemy out. You ALWAYS press the B button during these events. More Counter-Kills are available to buy at the payphone, but I don't see any way to use them. Even adding the new purchases to the Counter-Kill list still sees Fiddy doing the same two or three over and over. While they're pretty cool ways to kill people, it's gets boring seeing the same knee to the face or knife in the chest schtick time after time.

Pressing the Y button activates "Gangsta fire mode," a sort of bullet-time that slows everything down for you and your partner allowing shots to more easily be lined up. It's ripped straight out of F.E.A.R, and doesn't do nearly as good of a job making you feel just like Neo.

One of the cooler parts of Blood on the Sand is the inclusion of a co-op partner. There are a lot of games coming out that use this mechanic of getting a friend in on the action, and BotS delivers only a bit of mediocrity in this area. The main player is always 50 Cent, while an Xbox Live equipped homie is a member of G-Unit preselected by the game's host. Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, and DJ Whoo Kid all return from Bulletproof, and they're largely the same as 50 Cent. Same weapons and controls, the only difference is their taunts. The co-op is drop in and drop out, so if you're running an open game on Xbox Live you'll occasionally see a gamertag above your G-Unit pals. However, if you're in the middle of a heart wrenching, tear jerking cutscene and someone joins, you skip right to the gameplay. Come on, Fiddy doesn't cry in front of people!



All of your kills are racked up in a global score and bonuses are given for headshots and explosions. Similar to Gears of War but a little bit more annoying is the cover system that has been implemented. Pressing the A button will either have Fiddy dive roll or stick to a wall, and it can be hard at times to tell which he's going to do. Unsticking from a wall can be just as hard, causing problems at times for major firefights. Taking cover isn't even necessary, nay, you're given points for being exposed! While this seems like a cool way to show off your skills as a gangsta, it really just makes the cover system almost irrelevant.

50 Cent's visuals are standard for this generation and type of game it is. Character models are detailed and do a great job of showing off Fiddy's muscular physique. It also appears that the actors have been motion captured to provide accurate movements during firefights and cutscenes. Textures are fairly good, except in the beginning of levels and after loading a checkpoint. There's some pretty nasty pop-in going on here, and it's very noticeable. I suspect installing the game to the hard drive alleviates some of these problems, but they shouldn't be there in the first place. Explosions are pretty cool, and the developers love to throw them in and make them as over the top as possible. Bottom line: BotS isn't winning any graphics awards, but everything is as it should be for a game like this.



If you're a 50 Cent fan (and who else is picking up this game, honestly?) then the soundtrack leaves nothing to be desired. Over 18 never before heard tracks make their way into the playlist, along with most of 50 Cent and G-Unit's hits. There's a playlist editor located in the pause menu for lining up your favorite tracks to pop caps to, though, like the Counter-Kill list, it doesn't seem to do much. No matter how many tracks were added to the list, I couldn't get it to play more than five or six of them in a row. So hearing all these new tracks while playing the game could be a little bit hard to do.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand boldly goes where every other third person shooter has gone before it. The storyline is awful (at times it's so awful it's amazing) and the gameplay is fairly mediocre to match. It's not a terrible game by any means, but for the $59.99 price tag it's fetching at retail, there are plenty of other games that would be much more enjoyable. The campaign is short at only 5-6 hours long, without much replay value unless you're looking to get all the achievements. Even then, it's only recommended as a rental. The third person firefights are occasionally broken up by vehicle and helicopter levels, but it's easily apparent that these levels are just tacked on to add some variety. Bottom line: if you're a fan of 50 Cent and Gears of War and you'd just love to see a game combining the two, give Blood on the Sand a rental.