PLATFORM: Xbox 360
DEVELOPER: Rockstar North

Considered a masterpiece by many critics, Grand Theft Auto IV was released in early 2008 to much anticipation. Shortly before its release, the news broke that Microsoft had paid Rockstar $50 million for two exclusive downloadable episodes, later revealed to be The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. While “two full games” as stated on the cover is a bit of a stretch, these two pieces of content no doubt represent great value for money and excellent gameplay. The package comes on a disk which does not require the original GTAIV disk to play. Both episodes are also available over Xbox Live as downloadable content (DLC), but these do require the original GTAIV disk to play.

PLOT

This collection features two fairly separate experiences, opposites in almost every way. Both set in Liberty City, a living, breathing parody of modern day New York City, they each explore different sides of the city that never sleeps. In The Lost and Damned (TLAD), you are Johnny Klebitz, the vice-president of an outlaw motorcycle gang, The Lost. After the club’s leader, Johnny’s best friend, Billy Grey, returns from court-ordered rehab, old wounds are re-opened and fires rekindled as Billy retakes leadership and paints the streets red with blood. After a truce set up by Johnny during Billy’s absence is destroyed with a gunshot, all hell breaks loose and soon Johnny finds himself in the middle of a vicious and violent gang war with rival bikers. The power struggle between Billy and Johnny soon becomes apparent as the body count rises and gang morale dwindles.

The Ballad of Gay Tony (TBOGT) features Luis Lopez, best friend and bodyguard to the eponymous “Gay” Tony Prince. Tony is the owner of the hottest gay and straight clubs in Liberty City, and has been ‘king’ of the scene since the 90’s. It’s made clear early on that Tony is a mess, a victim to not only party drugs and the party scene, but also to mafia debt collectors. Much like the GTAIV’s protagonist, Niko Bellic, Luis too is dragged into the criminal underworld once more after trying to escape it. The cutscenes are noticeably longer in TBOGT, and the strained friendship between Tony and Luis is one deeply felt.

While both storylines are engaging and deep, I must say I enjoyed TLAD’s tale more than TBOGT’s. This is not down to the writing, which is more convincing and better performed than a good deal of TV shows and movies these days, but more that I preferred the characters in TLAD. Don’t get me wrong - Gay Tony is a really fantastic, believable and likeable character - but I found Johnny’s world more entertaining and enjoyable (maybe I can relate better to a violent yet good guy at heart biker than rich and reluctant night-club owners). I really felt Johnny’s actions were for the good of everyone else, while Luis’ seemed more to self-serving, even going against Tony on a few occasions. While anticipating the release of TBOGT, I often thought to myself, “man, wouldn’t it be cool if in Gay Tony, it turns out to be a friend you thought you had as either Niko or Johnny was actually betraying you behind your back the whole time!”. While this doesn’t exactly occur, something very similar does appear.

It’s these intersections and interactions between a now humongous cast of characters that make experiencing all three stories highly recommended. I swear I could write a full-length essay on these stories, and make it a whole lot more interesting than a Jane Austen interpretation.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay of course remains largely unchanged. Both expansions include new weaponry and vehicles, which both add a lot to the gameplay experience. TLAD features a whole fleet of new motorcycles to ride on, though I stuck with Johnny’s custom chopper for most of the time. Riding bikes in the original GTAIV took some getting used to due to the realistic physics engine, but this has been tweaked here to make riding more accessible. In addition, because of the gang-based nature of the storyline, you will often find yourself riding in formation with your “brothers” during missions. A logo appears on the road in front of you during these segments and if you can stay within it for a few seconds, you will gain a health or armor boost depending on how much damage you have sustained. As well as the main missions there are two new optional missions, racing and gang wars. While gang wars is just killing a bunch of guys, racing is more fun and challenging as you race other bikers around the city, with the ability to knock each other off your respective wheels with a baseball bat. The gameplay here remains as fresh and innovative as in GTAIV, and is only improved with these great additions.

Probably the biggest gameplay change in TBOGT is the inclusion of mission replays, introduced earlier this year in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. After completing a mission, you are presented with a rundown of statistics on your performance, from how long it took you to finish the level to how many of your kills were headshots. Once you complete the story missions, you can access all of them from your in-game mobile and go for a better post-mission rating. There is little incentive to get 100% on all of them however, as all it will earn you are achievements. Aside from this, the new weapons are heaps of fun to use and the new vehicles, mainly consisting of sports cars, helicopters and even an urban tank, are also great additions. Rockstar seems to have reintroduced a lot of elements from 2004’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, such as the parachute and dancing minigames. The parachute of course is great fun, and the game includes a new side mission set where you jump from various buildings onto targets on the ground, in the air or even on moving cars. The dancing minigame is also surprisingly entertaining, and if you’re good enough you’ll be treated to a fully choreographed group dance sequence. Hell, if you play it enough, you may even pick up a few moves of your own.

VISUALS/AUDIO

Aside from the cosmetic changes to the player character and the new vehicles, the city itself largely remains the same. Some new interiors have been added, such as The Lost’s clubhouse, and Gay Tony’s two nightclubs, Hercules and Maisonette 9, both of which contain the dancing minigame. There have, however, been noticeable upgrades to the cutscene animation and the characters themselves seem better rendered than in GTAIV. It’s still astounding how much detail and life has been presented in this virtual metropolis.

The audio has been given a more substantial upgrade, with most radio stations receiving a bunch of new songs from either TLAD or TBOGT. While playing through the original GTAIV, my radio dial was pretty much stuck on either the classic rock or alternative radio stations, but fortunately these stations were the ones added to in TLAD. The music selection is great and really reflects the attitude and lifestyle of these central characters. As expected, the music additions in TBOGT reflect the New York nightlife and party scene. A great thing about the in-game radio in Grand Theft Auto games is discovering new and exciting bands, songs and genres, and this is certainty the case here. I am by no means a die-hard fan of club music, and I could barely tolerate it before, but now, I’m starting to enjoy it. And, of course, even more dialogue has been added to everyone’s favourite loser, Lazlow Jones, featuring conversations that are more wrong and hilarious than ever.

BEST

• Fantastic value for money
• New weapons, vehicles and side-missions add hours of replay value
• Disk version has exclusive radio stations and songs not available in the DLC version
• The two new plot lines add much depth and intrigue to the original GTAIV storyline
• New multiplayer modes added with TLAD and new weapons and vehicles are added to TBOGT’s online component
• Character dialogue and writing in general is still sharp and genuinely funny
• Main storyline takes longer to complete than a lot of full-priced games

WORST

• Fundamentally almost a two year old game
• Disk version has exclusive radio stations and songs not available in the DLC version
• Mission structure is fairly standard throughout: drive, kill, repeat
• Only available on Xbox 360

THE VERDICT

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City offers players not one, but two completely new ways to experience a city they have got to know so well playing Grand Theft Auto IV. A common theme throughout the narratives of both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony is a longing to return to a time long gone, but this certainty won’t be the case as you play through these titles.

An expansion offering more than a lot of full-priced single player games these days, Episodes represents quite astounding value for money, even if, unfortunately, only 360 owners have the opportunity to play it. While the disk version does contain three exclusive radio stations, RamJam FM, Self-Actualization FM and the nostalgic Vice City FM, if you choose to download the games separately, you’ll be able to still listen to the music present in the original GTAIV, a feature not available in the disk version.

Either way though, this collection of two excellent games is to be recommended to fans of the original GTAIV, fans of open-world games, fans of action-adventure, fans of shooters, fans of driving games and just people who are looking for three great stories set in the modern day, and all of which reflect our concerns, quirks, downfalls and triumphs. This is a game that has received worldwide attention, not only for its controversy, but also for its quality.

With these episodes, the Grand Theft Auto IV saga has become not only one of my favourite gaming experiences, but also one of my favourite entertainment experiences. With all the blockbuster games coming out this season, it may be easy to miss this package, but trust me, it’s more than worth picking up, especially if you have played through and loved the original GTAIV. Oh, and if you’ve been hanging out for a happy ending, the GTAIV finale does end on a high note. Developers take note - THIS is how you make DLC.