Interview: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 23rd June 2008

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is the follow up to 2005, 50 Cent: Bulletproof, we spoke to game director Julian Widdows about the game.

RG: Can you give us a brief outline of what the new 50 Cent game is all about?

It’s all about fast arcade action combined with state-of-the-art visuals. It’s about giving the gamer a fresh, engaging, heart-pumping experience that just wouldn’t be possible with any other license. It’s about bringing old school mechanics such as points, scores, high scores, leaderboards, and powerups, bang up-to-date in a way that’s compelling and contemporary. In short, it’s about having fun in a stunningly realised game world.

RG: How has feedback from the original game influenced the way you have approached this game?

Feedback from the press, the gaming public, and Fifty’s fans has influenced the game a great deal. When we started development we knew that although people had been pleased with the Bulletproof media package the gameplay itself had fallen short of the critics’ expectations. This is something we had to address for the sequel. This is why Sierra asked us to develop it – new team, new approach, new philosophy. We’ve always had a good reputation for delivering on gameplay so when designing Fifty Cent we were looking for ways to address the issues of the first game whilst still respecting the elements that had worked. To this end we’ve both extended some of themes of the first game - more ways to earn cash to buy counter kills, taunts, and weapons; more classic and exclusive Fifty Cent and G-Unit music and videos; the presence of the G-Unit crew as a user selectable G-Unit sidekick – and also committed huge effort to delivering a totally compelling core experience. To an extent feedback also influenced the setting – you probably know we’ve moved Fifty away from the hood to the ‘hood beyond the hood’, a fictional exotic location that acts as the backdrop to the action. The way we’ve treated this move really leaves any disappointment surrounding the last game well and truly in the past.

We really hope our game ultimately appeals to both Fifty Cent fans and also gamers, like us.

RG: How has 50 Cent been involved in the games development?

He has, over in the US. Fifty’s feedback has actually been great – he saw the game over at Sierra’s head office in LA and by all accounts loved what he saw. At the time what we’d been working on was very much a pure shooter. Fifty requested driving and flying sections to round the package out, to make it a more complete bundle. We responded to these requests, including nearly twenty minutes of driving and flying missions. It’s a more rounded, more varied package now.

RG: How does music from 50 Cent tie in to the game?

Primarily through the in-game music player, which allows you to listen to any of the classic or exclusive tracks you’ve unlocked while you’re playing the game. Although you start the game with a good range of music already available, you unlock more by scoring points as you play. Each level has one track to unlock if you score enough points.

RG: The original games aiming system, was slammed by critics has this been revised for the new game?

Absolutely. It’s totally different. Different engine (UE3), different team, different aiming system. I think people have always viewed us as being a company that delivers tactile, gamer focused experiences. This is something we won’t disappoint on. We’re sure you’ll enjoy it when you finally get your hands on it.

RG: What can you tell us about the new counter kill system?

You start the game with one interactive counter kill which is allocated to a ‘slot’. To activate the counter kill in-game you run up to an enemy combatant and press a controller button. You then have to press the same button at specific moments in the sequence to continue the move. These presses extend the move in time to effects and camera cuts. Completing the move kills the enemy and awards points. As you perform counter kills, so you earn more counter kill points. Counter kill points unlock counter kill slots, allowing you to equip more than one counter kill. New counter kills are purchased from the in-game shop using money found in chests on fallen enemies, the cost of each move dependent on the relative difficulty of that move.

Easy moves only have 3 stages; harder moves have up to 6 stages. The payback for the harder moves is more points for successful completion. It’s a nice progressive system with some brutal moves.

RG: Can you give us some information about the driving sequences, how much freedom do you have and are you able to any vehicle in the game?

The driving sections very much continue the arcade action – they’re interludes, bonus stages if you like, and as such are very structured and directed. We didn’t want them to have a steep learning curve – the controls will be familiar as soon as the player starts driving, enabling gamers to get on with the action as soon as the levels start. As such you have one car to drive – Fifty always takes the wheel and the G-Unit buddy always mans the turret gun. In co-op this is great fun.

RG: The game is going to feature drop-in/out co-op games, will there be other multiplayer options to play?

The game has a strong emphasis on the arcade points, scoring, and combos system, therefore we’re also naturally supporting online leaderboards.

Explosive, looking!

RG: From the trailer I’ve seen the game looks pretty intense, do you think you’ve achieved this vision in the gameplay?

Three months out and I’d say we have, although you guys will be the final judge of that. We’re working hard at the moment to make sure the finished game is varied though – the pace is relentless some of the time, and a little more tactical at others. Don’t get me wrong – the intensity’s always there, but we’re now working hard to make sure we have the correct pace and balance to avoid exhausting the gamer.

RG: How do you think Blood on the sand compares to other action games available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3?

Really it’s different to anything else out there. It nods towards the old school with the arcade slant and over the top action whilst being both very contemporary and integrating everything we’ve learnt about games design over the years. People who’ve seen it in action often comment that it actually delivers a play experience that’s very rare these days, an experience that focuses on clean mechanics and balls out fun.