If you buy only one game featuring 50 Cent and G-Unit shooting people in a quest to get back their diamond-encrusted skull this year, make it 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. I'm still overwhelmed by the game's plot, and when 50 Cent is your protagonist, you might as well embellish as much as you can. Go over the top, and then go even higher.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is a straight-ahead action game. You'll fire all kinds of guns to kill waves of disposable enemies, all trying to stop you from getting back what's rightfully yours. In a recent demo of the title, I felt a little bad for the sheer numbers of enemies you must dispatch; surely, these lowly thugs aren't making diamond-encrusted-skull money.

And before I get too far, a clarification: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is not necessarily set in the Middle East. Lots of places have sand, including Miami Beach, school playgrounds, ant farms, and other non-Middle-Eastern settings. The game is merely set in a fictitious, unnamed country with sand, palm trees, and vaguely Middle-Eastern architecture.

When we first read the title 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (the previously untitled sequel), we, like you're surely doing right now, prayed for Fugitive Hunter-esque hi-jinx that would have Fiddy & friends sorting out the U.S.'s problems in Iraq and getting home in time to record a new smash hit with Rhianna ("I'll stop those terrorists ... or die tryin'"). Sadly, MTV has shattered our dreams, reporting that the game "sets 50's character against a cabal of international gangsters on a far-flung, bullet-riddled adventure." Missed opportunity? Table for 1? (There are some screenshots here if you want to get a better feel for the new setting.)

On the plus side, the game will have nothing plot-wise to do with the poorly-received 50 Cent: Bulletproof. There's also encouraging word from Vivendi producer Aaron Blean who said, "We've emphasized the gameplay quality [more] than anything this time around." We think we speak for everyone when we say, "Yes. Yes, that's a good choice."