It took forever and a day, but PS3 owners finally have access to the two outstanding "Grand Theft Auto IV" expansions on one reasonably-priced disc. In addition to the disc version, the Playstation Store has both expansions available for download as well. This is an option of convenience or useful if you only want one of the expansions. Buying both, however, is the same price or more than the disc, so you might as well buy the disc.
You'll get the nice poster and booklet in addition to the hard copy you can either sell or give to a friend when you're finished. As is custom for the GTA series, the game includes a small booklet and the ubiquitous full-size fold-out poster. The poster has an image of a party girl in a pink dress on one side and a detailed map of Liberty City on the other. The booklet contains brief paragraphs outlining the premise of each expansion, a full list of the radio songs, and the game credits.
Both "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" are amply sized and playing through both took me around twenty hours, and this is considering I ignored much of the many interesting diversions and side-quests (everything from arm wrestling, gang wars, bike races and more) present in both. A very dedicated player could easily spend forty to fifty hours completing all the side-quests and obtaining all the trophies, making this disc a nearly mandatory purchase for PS3 owners who enjoy a good sandbox-style romp.
Of course, both games are rife with the bizarre hallmarks of the GTA games. The nudity is particularly bizarre, including a scene of full-frontal male congressman nudity, which is ostensibly intended to be amusing but only elicited a furrowed brow from this gamer. This sort of thing is nothing new to the franchise or even the genre, so I'm not complaining, just making note. The language is often coarse but I wouldn't have it any other way. It lends atmosphere to the storyline, and after all, we're dealing with a biker gang and a bodyguard/drug dealer. Speaking of which, it's amazing to me how many parents complain about the content of games when specific ratings are provided on each title's sleeve and detailed content descriptions of games can often be found online. But that's another story entirely.
Unfortunately, much as in GTA IV, the AI scripting for your teammates is rather weak. Occasionally they can even become a hindrance, as they get in the way during chases, and even with relatively high attributes are often unable to hit their targets (particularly if the enemy is behind cover). Another slight mark against these expansions are those missions that frankly don't even make much sense. For instance, during one mission on "The Lost and Damned", your character is to ride his motorcycle to find three rival gang vans driving around Liberty City. Once you find a van, you're to throw pipe bombs at the van until it's destroyed, all while the heavily-armed crackshot gang members are leading you with semi-automatic weapons. To be fair, the mission can be completed without resorting to the pipe bombs (I stood in the street and used a rocket launcher instead), but I just couldn't shake the feeling that Johnny Boy had taken too many knocks to the skull. Well, no one said biker gangs were very bright to begin with, right?
This is admittedly a small complaint. Besides, I appreciate that Rockstar tries to add a bit of variety to the missions so that each one isn't simply a full-throttle shootout. At least no mission on these expansions are as ridiculous as that one in "Vice City" where you had to plant bombs using a very unwieldy remote-controlled helicopter! Story-wise, however, neither expansion disappoints in any way. Despite the limited and somewhat dated graphics (keeping in mind GTA IV was released almost exactly two years ago) I'm always impressed with how solid the acting is. The voice acting and scripting are top gear, but what really sells the cutscenes is the dead-on body language and gestures from the characters.
The numerous multiplayer modes add nearly endless replayability to the title and are often a source of great amusement. My favorite multiplayer games include: "Chopper VS Chopper", where one player rides a motorcycle through a series of checkpoints while another player in a helicopter tries to destroy the biker, "Lone Wolf Biker" where every other player is trying to kill the one who is tagged the 'lone wolf', and "Witness Protection" where one team is trying to destroy a bus full of witnesses while the other team is trying to protect it. There are also a multiplayer motorcycle race mode, a "Club Business" mode where the players act together as a team to carry out various tasks, and a "Own the City" mode where the players attempt to take over the city piece by piece.
My personal favorite addition is the mission checkpoint system, which really cuts down on wasted playtime after a failed mission (i.e. having to take a ten minute drive back to the mission site after every mission failure). I hope this becomes the norm on every subsequent GTA title. All things considered, it was well worth the wait. For the modest price this title typically averages, it's highly recommended, and a great way to stave off the waiting for the next GTA title (or, in my case, the upcoming "Red Dead Redemption").
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Feature
- Brings the interweaving Grand Theft Auto IV stories of Niko Bellic (main game), Johnny Klebitz (The Lost and Damned) and Luis Lopez (The Ballad of Gay Tony) to an explosive conclusion.
- Contains The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, on one disc. These were originally digital content releases for GTAIV that were unavailable to PS3 players.
- Both games are standalone releases that do not require the original Grand Theft Auto IV game, or an Internet connection for their single player campaigns. (multiplayer modes are online)
- Complete your Grand Theft Auto IV experience with powerful new weapons, vehicles, music, features and new mission types.
- Each episode contains both a single player campaign as well as a variety of online multiplayer modes specific to the storyline of each.
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Specifications
Get ready to experience the Liberty City of Grand Theft Auto IV on your PlayStation 3 like never before. Originally created as supplemental episodic content for Grand Theft Auto IV, but not available to PS3 players, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City is now available to all pertinent platforms introducing new characters, new weapons, new online multiplayer challenges and two new stories. Available as two standalone games on one disc, these two episodes, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony do not require the original GTA IV game disc to play. Episode One: The Lost and Damned
Developed by series creator Rockstar North and set in Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned features a new main character, Johnny Klebitz, and plot that intersect with the storyline of Grand Theft Auto IV. Players will also experience new missions that offer an entirely fresh way to explore Liberty City with new multiplayer modes, weapons and vehicles and a diverse soundtrack with additional music—all with the incredible production values that are the trademarks of the Grand Theft Auto series. Episode Two: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Grand Theft Auto IV's second downloadable episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony, injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime. Players take on the role of Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (aka "Gay Tony"), as he struggles with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price. Key Game Features- Complete your Grand Theft Auto IV experience with this content previously unavailable for the PlayStation 3 platform.
- Two complete Grand Theft Auto games together in one box: The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.
- Brings the interweaving Grand Theft Auto IV stories of Niko Bellic (main game), Johnny Klebitz (The Lost and Damned) and Luis Lopez (The Ballad of Gay Tony) to an explosive conclusion.
- Two diverse games let you experience the criminal lowlife and the glamorous high-life of Liberty City like never before.
- Both games are standalone releases that do not require the original Grand Theft Auto IV game to play.
- Powerful new weapons, amazing new vehicles, diverse new music, never-before-seen features and all new mission types.
- Each episode contains both a single player campaign as well as a variety of online multiplayer modes specific to the storyline of each.
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2 standalone games.
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Unique online multiplayer.
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2 new GTA heavies.
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Powerful new weapons.
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Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Overviews
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City for PS3... Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City includes two complete games - The Lost and Damned & The Ballad of Gay Tony - together on disc for PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows. In The Lost and Damned, experience Liberty City as Johnny, a veteran member of The Lost, a notorious biker gang. Johnny has been creating business opportunities for The Lost in Liberty City but his first loyalty must be to the patch he wears on his back and to Billy Grey, the club's President. However, when Billy returns from rehab hell-bent on bloodshed and debauchery, Johnny finds himself in the middle of a vicious turf war with rival gangs for control of a city torn apart by violence and corruption. Can the brotherhood survive? The Ballad of Gay Tony injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime. As Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (a.k.a. "Gay Tony"), players will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price.
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