50 Cent: Blood on the Sand hit retailers this week sporting a fancy 2 player co-op option. We sat down with Julian Widdows, Game Director from Swordfish Studios, to talk about the game and what it offers.
Co-Optimus: We've heard comparisons to Gears of War being made for Blood on the Sand - was there any inspiration there? Any there any other games that inspired it?
Julian Widdows: Obviously we’ve been really flattered by the comparisons people have been making with ‘Gears of War’ - it’s such a seminal title that one can’t help but feel proud when ‘50cent: Blood on the Sand’ is mentioned in the same heartbeat. We never wanted to ape ‘Gears of War’, however. We share the same basic camera position and the cover system is very similar, but we’ve worked hard to create something that’s at its core a very different experience to Gears – a more arcadey, over-the-top, obviously self-referential and irreverent experience. Really, what we wanted to capture in a shooter is the impact the original ‘Burnout’ had on driving games back in its day. We’ve also seen comparisons to ‘The Club’ here and there – bizarrely, the similarities are purely coincidental.
We were a long way into development when ‘The Club’ was announced and were, understandably, choked when we saw what those guys were up to. That’s one of the most problematic challenges of development isn’t it, trying to differentiate your title never knowing if someone else is going after the same prize? We are a very different game to ‘The Club’, however, which some of the press have picked up on. Most of the similarities are pretty superficial – they are very, very different play experiences.
Co-Optimus: Is there any degree of customizable weapons or character models?
Julian : We discussed customizable characters at the start of development – the reality is we just didn’t have the time to develop the technology to support this feature such that it would have been competitive with the best in class. With regards to customizable weapons, they would probably have been a level of detail too far for this game. All the way through development we’ve worked hard to stay true to the over-the-top arcade focus of the concept.
Co-Optimus: Are there any plans to implement content filters? Or at least character voiceover muting?
Julian : We support parental controls and age restrictions and you can mute the in-game voices should you want to.
Co-Optimus: The latest videos released show the game is heavy on action and scoring. Does the co-op mode have shared scoring system? If so, are there online leaderboards for the best co-op scores?
Julian : Scoring in co-op mode is competitive. We very much wanted that sense of gamers having to both compete against each other for the highest scores, but also collaborate to get through the level. We think the final balance works really well. And yes, we do support online leaderboards.
Co-Optimus: Will the helicopter turret stages be playable in co-op?
Julian : Yes, absolutely. The helicopter turret stages are playable in co-op with each player taking control of the one of the machine guns. The driving levels are also playable in co-op with Player 1, as 50 cent, driving the vehicle, and Player 2, as the co-op member of G-Unit, firing the gun.
Co-Optimus: Is there any split screen play?
Julian : There’s online co-op and leaderboards but no split-screen play. We’d have loved to have included couch co-op but, again, we just didn’t have the development resource to deliver on this feature to the required quality level.
Co-Optimus: One of the common problems today with co-op gaming is it only focuses on player 1's experience, does Blood on the Sand allow player 2 to save their progress as well?
Julian : I know what you mean but no, we don’t allow Player 2 to save their progress.
Co-Optimus: As shown by the trailers, Fiddy has mad peeps in da club. Surely his Escalade can fit at least 4 in it...even with a 30 inch sub in the back. Why was the decision made to go only with 2 player co-op?
Julian : Lol. No doubt it can. When scoping the game we only wanted to work on features that we knew we could deliver on to the required quality level – taking on a 4-player co-op game, with full anytime join, would have just been impossible in the time-frame. We’ll add it to the wish-list for next-time!
Co-Optimus: When the game was first announced, we sort of didn't take it seriously. But soon we started to hear good things, and then we started to see good things. Are you happy with the way the game turned out? What surprised you the most with it?
Julian : Ha. You know I think a lot of people were in the same position as you. I’m not sure folks were expecting much at all from the game when it was first announced. In the final analysis I’m really happy with the way the game’s turned out, however, as I know the team are. Of course there are always things we wished we could have done differently – there always are –the end product has more than achieved the objectives we set for ourselves and that were required by the license though, and this is what really matters. What’s surprised me the most? Probably the way people have responded to the over-the-top arcade feel of the game. Creatively this was always something of a risk as we were intentionally taking a really old-school approach to the experience – that people have bought into this and are enjoying the game because of it validates the decision. This is great to see.
Co-Optimus: Finally what's your favorite co-op moment you've seen in 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand?
Julian : It’s got to be playing the helicopter level for the first time with a friend. Shooting doesn’t get much better than that.
Thanks to Neal from THQ and Julian for their time!