Playback: 50 Cent – Blood on the Sand

Personally, I would describe my taste in music as impartial; I have a propensity to drift from genre to genre without any real attachment. When it comes to gaming, however, third person shooters are my forte. Sci-fi, comtemporary, cover-based or not, I’m usually willing to get my hands dirty even if I know the game in front of me is absolute trash. It therefore comes as a surprise that, despite the excessive cursing and wafer thing plot, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand has actually been a highlight in my recent play log.

Developed by Swordfish Studios and regarded as a sequel to 2005′s 50 Cent: Bulletproof, Blood on the Sand is your typical, medium-sized cover-based shooter. Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, is performing a gig in the Middle East with his homeboys, G Unit. Things soon turn nasty when the organiser refuses to pay the proposed $10m, instead offering a rare diamond-encrusted skull as collateral.

In a bizarre twist of events, the skull is stolen away by a extremist paramilitary group. Rather than calling it quits and getting on the phone with his agents, Fiddy and the gang decide to take to the streets and recover the shiny trinket. In premise and execution, the story only serves as comic value. Any attempt at dramatisation is spoiled by senseless plot twists and embarrassing dialogue exchanges. Whether or not the intentions of the game’s developers, even those who are indoctrinated by the G-Unit brand of gang culture won’t be able to the narrative seriously.

A little rough around the edges when compared to its contemporaries, back in early 2009 Blood on the Sand was possibly one the best third person shooters going. Consistent, responsive cover-based gameplay and an arcade-style scoring system were mainly to thank, with a decent roster of unlockables also adding replay incentive. For most however, the co-op was by far the most endearing element; scaling the game back to its easiest difficulty settings and romping through it with a mate proved by far the best way to play.

After the first twenty minutes or so, the warzone-theme started to become a little repetitive yet a constant barrage of mini set-pieces kept the pulse running. Amid the explosions and constant gun-fire, Blood on the Sand also featured a solid soundtrack featuring no other than 50 Cent himself. It felt detached from the on-screen experience, but as we have already established, the only way to enjoy the game was to play it without paying too much attention.

Available for around a fiver, Blood on the Sand is definitely worth a punt if you’ve got a few hours to spare. The lack of trophies and competitive online multiplayer will undoubtedly be a turn-off for some, but if you’re looking to catch a break from the prescribed pipe-fed slew of AAA video games, this may be it.