Once in a while, it’s nice to play a game that you have no prior knowledge of, with no preset expectations for the experience to come, and are open to the idea that that experience may just happen to be quite good. 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is such a game, and what at first seems like a blatant Gears of War rip-off (complete with cover mechanics and an off-set third-person camera, only set in a war-torn modern-day city featuring real world weapons), soon comes into its own with an addictive scoring system that rates your skills, all packaged in a game with a… unique flavour.

As 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is very definitely mature entertainment, with clouds of blood and foul language appearing in equal measure, it becomes glaringly apparent that developers Swordfish knew exactly the kind of experience they were trying to deliver – an all out shoot and explosion fest that actively encourages you to tackle obstacles (i.e. mountains of enemies) with as much firepower and violence as possible, providing visceral, rewarding gameplay mechanics and progression goals that only enforce your vicious actions throughout the game. And they deliver.

The story of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is completely throwaway and simply serves as context for why the superstar rapper would find himself in such a ludicrous situation. It would be completely forgettable, too, if it weren’t for the developer’s insistence on telling the tale, which goes something like this…

After a musical performance in a war-torn Mid-Eastern country, 50 Cent and his crew, G-Unit, go back stage only to find the $10 million promised to them for the concert is not readily available, but a suitable replacement, a diamond-encrusted human skull (said to be priceless) is provided in lieu of the debt. 50 Cent is happy with the arrangement and sets out in his caravan of Hummers to leave, only to be ambushed by a bunch of gun-toting goons, losing the skull to a mysterious women in the process.

The rest of the game sees 50 Cent (plus one G-Unit member of your choice, who remains with 50 Cent the whole way through the adventure) ploughing through countless hostiles in an effort to retrieve the skull, shooting, melee attacking and destroying anyone or anything that gets in his way, never once commenting on how ridiculous it is that a superstar of his stature could be found in such a situation. Such is the set-up for the game, though, and really, the protagonist could have been anyone. It just so happens to be 50 Cent.

What is immediately striking is how closely related 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is to Gears of War, not only in general appearance, but the mechanics used and the feel conveyed, the fact that both games use Unreal Engine 3 notwithstanding. If you’ve played Gears of War, you’ll know the basic mechanics - you’re able to use walls and (conveniently) waist-high obstacles and debris to hide behind while in a firefight, used to take cover against the hail of bullets heading your way, frequently popping out of cover to fire off a few rounds of your own from a variety of modern-day weaponry, including handguns, rifles, machineguns and rocket/grenade launchers.

You’re also able to take the fight to enemies in closer proximity with a range of melee attacks, although you’ll need to be extremely good at quick time events, as the required button press to carry out a flurry of punches and kicks flashes up on the screen so quickly that it’s fairly difficult to pull off a melee attack manoeuvre first time, which is too bad, because when you do pull them off, they’re suitably powerful and crunchy, only enticing you to continue to try (and fail) using them. You can do without them, though, as the access to a good array of weapons, both long and short range, will keep you alive for the duration of the action romp.

The feeling of movement, either running from place to place or ducking and diving into cover, as well as the act of shooting, throwing and punching, is all delivered convincingly and all serve as moment-to-moment rewards for progress, ably assisted by a scoring system that is pretty unique for third-person shooters, and in the same vein as Bizarre Creations’ arcade shooter, The Club, in its use.

Basically, you’re awarded points for how quickly and efficiently you can take out your enemies, as well as ‘chaining’ enemy kills together to rack up a points multiplier by taking enemies down within seconds of one another. You’re also given a host of mini-challenges all throughout the game, and a limited amount of time in which to complete the challenges – everything from how quickly you can destroy a tank, kill a specific group of goons or take down a specified target. If you’re successful, you get more points. If you’re not, everything is not lost as these challenges are not tied into the progress of the game at all, but simply the points.

If you perform very well during any given firefight, you’re also awarded more time in which to use your ‘bullet-time’ ability. Yep, 50 Cent can do a Max Payne (or Matrix) and slow down time around him, making it possible to take down a half-dozen enemies in seconds. While this addition isn’t necessary to finish the game, it is fun to use once in a while when your back is against the wall.

You’re further rewarded for finding hidden targets, a collection of posters and hidden caches of weapons and loot in the form of money and jewellery. While enemies drop money whenever they die, that cash is chump-change compared to what you can find lying around in unattended boxes, sitting in hidden spots littered throughout the game. This lucre has a use, too, as you’re able to buy new and more powerful weaponry (for the increasingly more powerful enemies), upgrade your melee attacks and buy new taunts… yes, you can buy new taunts with which to hurl at your enemies mid-gunfight.

To spice things up a little bit, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand also has a few vehicle sections in which you chase after escaping enemies, as well as an on-rails turret shooting segment, all of which could have been omitted from the game, but are welcome pace-changers, allowing you to find some relief from the all-out shooting sections.

That the game can become a little bit monotonous is curious, though, as the adventure only lasts five to six hours on the normal difficulty setting, with the only setbacks occurring when the game hurls just a little too much your way, forcing you to slow to a snail’s pace and retry certain situations over and over until you’ve got the series of events just right, for example, three enemies will come through that door - concentrate on them - followed by another three on their demise from a second door - take those guys out quickly - while a single gunman takes potshots at you, replaced by another goon once the first gunman is killed - try to avoid his gunfire.

It’s this trial and error gaming that can get a little bit frustrating after you’re attempting the same scenario for the fifth time in a row, with no checkpoint in sight. The game has a very definite ‘enemy wave’ vibe to it, as each new… wave of enemies is brought into play with a siren and a big red indicator to show you where they’re coming from. It would have been nice to get some random elements in there, although that wouldn’t be conducive to the online leaderboard system.

While 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is indeed a short experience, there are a few additions that may increase the game’s longevity, should you be interested in such things. The entire game is playable in online co-operative mode, which adds a whole new dimension to the experience of the game, as a friend takes control of your ostensible G-Unit buddy instead, making it possible to co-ordinate attacks and watch out for each other.

The other aspect of Blood on the Sand that will potentially add a bit of replay value is the ability to post your level scores to an online leaderboard, which will no doubt lead to players retrying certain missions and levels to finish them more efficiently and find and grab all of the secret items the game has to offer, in order to rack up the most points. Lastly, there is a ton of unlockable content in Blood on the Sand which will prove worthy of the effort if you’re a diehard 50 Cent fan. Music videos, additional music for the in-game soundtrack as well as previously unreleased material from 50 Cent (18 tracks, apparently) are all up for the unlocking.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is a good, solid game, which is extremely consistent in its delivery of all out action, and the quality that goes along with it, almost to the point of monotony. While other games may bring something new to the table and deliver a rollercoaster ride with the appropriate highs and lows, Blood on the Sand uses successful mechanics from previous games and executes them all very well, hardly ever turning the action dial down.

There are problems, such as your aiming reticule getting lost in the scenery at times, rare occasions when you can’t snap to a piece of cover quite fast enough and some encounters where the difficulty ramps up dramatically and unexpectedly, and these can get annoying, but the overall experience is smooth and rewarding enough to overlook these slight setbacks and enjoy a great, if a little short, action game that is sure to at least tempt you with its online leaderboards and wealth of unlockables.

Pros: Great reward system; graphically competent (no ‘wow’ moments though); smooth experience; tons of unlockable content and secrets; solid, well executed gameplay mechanics

Cons: Foul language can get a bit much; aiming reticule can get lost in the scenery; some cover points aren’t one hundred percent responsive; difficulty can ramp up unexpectedly; rather short; still using ‘waves’ of enemies

Purchase: