Welcome Back 50 Cent!

50 Cent: Blood in the Sand has been brought back to life. The game was originally dropped when Activision and Blizzard merged. Now THQ has announced that they have picked the game up and will publish it.

Nothing like playing a rapper who fights extremists in the Middle East. Extremists who stole his crystal skull that he got as payment for a benefit concert?

Play Red Faction: Guerilla Beta... for a Price

THQ is currently holding a Red Faction: Guerilla beta for the Xbox 360. However, there is a catch. You must be a Gold Xbox Live member and a member of FilePlanet or IGN Insider.

I went to FilePlanet and activated a month's membership for $6.95. I was able to get an activation key and download the beta with no problem after filling out the questionaire. But be warned that there are supposed to be a limited amount of slots in the beta.

Red Faction: Guerilla is being developed by Volition and takes place on Mars 50 years after the first Red Faction. There are two factions, the re-established Red Faction and the oppressive Earth Defense Force. The single player campaign will have the player helping the Red Faction fight against the EDF. The game will be released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in fiscal 2009.

The beta is around 640 MB in size and is only limited Multiplayer of the game.

There is no tutorial for the beta so in the beginning, you'll have to deal with some trial and error and ask your teammates any questions.

The most common game is usually a type of territories. There are three "territories" that your team can control. There is a machine on each of these territories when a team has control of it. You must destroy any enemy machines there and then build your own. You get a point every second or two per machine(maximum one per territory). The first team to 400 points wins.

Your starting equipment varies from game to game, but I think you always start with at least an assault rifle, a sledgehammer and a repair gun thing. There are also modules around that give you a backpack which gives you special abilities.

The Concussion power knocks enemies off their feet(good to then go in and smash their face with your sledgehammer as they're getting up). The Rhino power lets you tear through barriers(and enemies). The Fleetfoot power lets you run really fast. The Firepower power allows you to increase your damage.

Every once in a while in the beta you play a simple team deathmatch, but so far I've only seen one map.

New Saint's Row 2 Trailer Calls Out GTA IV

The developers over at Volition have released a new trailer that makes fun of some of the new aspects of GTA IV which gamers have found annoying. The trailer definitely throws down the gauntlet and lets the gaming community know that they plan on trying to beat GTA IV(plus it's pretty funny).

In particular, the trailer makes fun of GTA IV's bowling, watching TV and hanging out with friends at the cabaret. The trailer also shows some of the aspects of upcoming Saint's Row 2 like hijacking septic tankers, robbing liquor stores, disguising yourself as a cop, collecting insurance claims, flying barnstorming airplanes, base jumping, car surfing, working security for a rock band, underground fight clubs and just general mayhem.

Watching the trailer might give you an idea of why I've been looking forward to Saint's Row 2 for so long.

Saints Row 2 Delayed

THQ has confirmed that Saints Row 2 will be dealyed until October 14th. The original release date was August 24th.

THQ said "marketing and issues and product quality" are the reasons behind the decision.

Sounds good to me. I really enjoyed the way Saints Row took the good parts of GTA and made them better. I did have a lot of bug problems, so if they are fixing those then I'm glad it's delayed. Nothing pissed me off more than driving along and then getting stuck in a building because the Xbox didn't draw it there fast enough.

I imagine GTA IV's success is playing a small role in this as well. I hope SR2 really ups the game, like they did with their first release.

Saints Row II Dated

Since we are talking release dates, THQ announced that Saints Row II will be releasing this year on both the Xbox 360 and PS3. The sandbox game will be available on August 26th.

I was a short lived fan of the game, but with all the bugs I experienced I wasn't able to finish every mission or really enjoy the online aspect of it. Let's hope THQ QAs the hell out this sequel otherwise I'll have to save my money for the other great looking sandbox games coming out this year, like APB and Prototype.