Oct 3, 2010

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand was ahead of its time

When historians look back at the young medium of electronic videogames, they will no doubt mention a few titles as breakthroughs in innovation for the artform. Super Mario Brothers, Final Fantasy, Bubsy 3D, World of Warcraft and Peggle will be mentioned as titles that pushed the boundaries of what society thought a videogame could be.

I believe 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand for Xbox 360/PS3 should be added to that list.
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand has a button dedicated to swearing or questioning your enemies sexual preferences.
This seems like a frivolous and mean spirited thing for a videogame to have, but think back to other games and how this feature would change the dynamics of the gameplay system. Imagine if the taunt button was available in earlier games.

In the game you only start with a limited amount of taunts, things that aren't any worse than something you would call your neighbor or mother such as the b-word or the b-word with an O sound thrown in the middle of it. As you progress through the game (it takes place in Iraq... more on that later) you find a lot of United States dollars which can be used to purchase language classes for 50 Cent and the rest of G-Unit and that gives them a more diverse pallet of words to choose from. Instead of being locked down to comparing your opponent to a shril or weak woman, you can compare them to a homosexual or use various racial slurs to degrade them.

The increasingly vulgar taunts give the player something to work towards, and this is on top of the

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is epic in both story and setting.

I will now paste the game summary from Wikipedia. Beware: after reading this you will not be able to rest until you play and beat the game on all 3 difficulties.

The game is set in an urban warzone in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, where 50 Cent and G-Unit have been hired to play a rap concert. After the concert the promoter refuses to pay them the US $10-million in cash he promised, but relents after being threatened. However, instead of the cash they were promised, he gives them a diamond-and-pearl encrusted human skull as collateral. This is promptly stolen by a paramilitary group. 50 Cent (with the help of a selected G-Unit partner) decides to get it back at any cost.

So who in an urban warzone is taking time off from defending/attacking to go to a 50 Cent concert? Apparently enough people to be worth 50's 10 million dollar fee. Let's do some math:

10,000,000 (50's fee, not including G-Unit's fee, stage, lighting, security, or promotional costs) / 150 (a generous average cost per ticket)= 66,666.7. So to break even on 50 Cent's promised payment 66,667 people need to attend one concert in an URBAN WARZONE.

The story goes on from there, your mission is to go from point A to point B killing anyone who isn't a member of G-Unit. You will fight multiple helicopters. You will be betrayed in every single level by the person who sent you on the mission in the first place.

It's thrilling and ripped form the headlines.

Soundtrack is 100% 50 Cent and G-Unit songs.

Only a videogame executive producer like 50 Cent could secure the highly sought after rapper 50 Cent to provide background music for 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. Your main character (50 Cent) can use the United States currency that he finds in 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (currency that is not already spent on additional taunts) to buy additional tracks such as:

In Da Club
That less notable song that sounds like In Da Club
AND MORE

If only the creators of The Legend of Zelda would have had the foresight to include generic club rap in their game maybe 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand would only be the greatest game of 2009 instead of the greatest game of all time.

Other amazing features:
Unreal Engine! (so it looks like every other game that looks like Gears of War)
Plays like Gears of War! (so it plays like every other game using the Unreal Engine)
Co-Operative Online Multiplayer! (hope you are ready for some great discussions about world events and human rights because these gamers LOVE to debate)
THE HIT SONG "IN DA CLUB"

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand did not meet the sales expectations that were set by its publisher, and that is a shame because I believe the videogame industry needs to have a spot for subtle games that make the gamer as questions like, "Why are we sending our young people to die for a cause they don't believe in?" and "Who let these hoe's in my room?" Despite Roger Ebert's claims otherwise, I feel that videogames are an art form and there is no better example of that art form than 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand.

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