Written by Derrick Sanskrit
I am of two minds when it comes to the new action-shooter-brawler 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, which the 61FPS crew were treated to a pre-alpha demo of this week. On the one hand, it looks like a fantastic urban shooter with a ton of fun, though not revolutionary ideas packed into it. On the other hand, I have never seen a game more likely to fuel the violent-games-produce-violent-children argument.
Technically, the demo was very impressive. We had a hard time believing that the game is running on Unreal Engine 3. The graphics are noticeably more stylized than than the many other titles running on UE3. The team at Swordfish Studios are obviously pushing the engine as far as they can to come up with a more distinctive graphic style that suits G-Unit more than Gears of War. The game plays is more of an arcade-shooter format than Curtis's previous appearance, 2005's 50 Cent: Bulletproof; you earn points/money for every kill, with emphatic type announcing your successes on screen. The more fantastic the kills and combos, the more money and points earned. There is also a solid focus on teamwork, as 50 will always have a partner from G-Unit. Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, and DJ Whoo Kid are selectable, each with their own unique weapons proficiencies, and can be called on for assistance with obstacles. They do, however, remain distant enough to avoid the latent homoeroticism of Army of Two (G-Unit don't roll that way). Also, 50 has a "Gangsta Meter" that allows him to enter a token bullet-time mode.
Which brings me to my real gripe with the game: these are digital representations of real people, celebrities that countless pre-teens around the world adore. These kids buy the albums, the clothes, and the sneakers to be more like 50 and his crew. And here's a game where we're glorifying their spectacular feats of mass murder. We were repeatedly shown the new "counter-kill" system, a melee-attack quick-time minigame in which Curtis would run up to people, pound their faces in bare-knuckled, and then impale them on a hunting knife. It was so slow and beautiful that it bordered on pornographic. 50 seemed to get more than twice as much money per kill for this direct approach. See that kids? Your chosen idol is running around the desert slaughtering people for insane amounts of money! Doesn't that look like fun? When did G-Unit become a pack of mercenaries? The story in the game picks up AFTER THEY PERFORM A CONCERT. Get up on stage, spit phat rhymes, then go out on the street and slay thousands of international gangsters for straight up cash money and bragging rights.
Another minor qualm came from the game's accidentally humorous taunting mechanic. You can get extra points/cash for clicking down on the thumbstick while attacking in order to talk smack at your enemies. Cute, except for the fact that one of the first ones we heard was "Game over, nigga'!" A small grievance, but I did not appreciate the main character telling me the game was over when, in fact, we were in the middle of the level with no end in sight.
I actually am impressed by the work coming out of Swordfish for the license they have. The proposed online co-op should be a lot of fun, and the addition of vehicles like jeeps and helicopters broadens the experience. But I can't get over the fact that these are licensed facsimiles of real-life celebrities. If this were an original IP based in fiction, it would probably be a decent shooter, but as is, this game is in extremely poor taste. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is due out for the Playstation 3 and XBox 360 this Fall from Vivendi Games.