Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned Game Review - Xbox 360

OUR RATING:

8.4

GREAT

TANGIBLES:

Gameplay:		9
Visuals:		7
Audio:		8
Value:		9
Quality:		8

Why you should buy it: Great new cast of characters; later missions are a blast to play; new multiplayer modes add plenty of solid replay value.

Why you should rent it: Too much downtime in early missions; some technical flaws apparent throughout; $20 might be too much for some to spend.

UNIQUE RATING:

8.4

SUGGESTION:

Buy It

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned

Written by: Joshua Schwartzman | Tags: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned, Xbox 360

February 25,2009 - The Lost and Damned is the first downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV, and although it arrives nearly a year after the original game released, things couldn’t have been any more fun. While some of the missions are dull treks across the widespread cityscapes of Liberty City, there are plenty of miscellaneous goodies and quests to keep you entertained and get your money’s worth. For what it’s worth, The Lost and Damned is a solid addition to an already enjoyable Grand Theft Auto experience, and if you heavily played and enjoyed the hell out of GTA IV when it came out, this DLC should be a no-brainer for you to pick up.

At a $20 price tag if might be hard for some gamers to plop down that much cash for new content on a game that most of you have probably not touched in months. But given those restraints, from the moment you take control of The Lost biker gang you will get hooked into every mission and moment you spend with them. The Lost are the loveable bad guys, a biker gang who wants nothing more than to spend their days with the wind in their face, babes by their side, and as much drugs in their pockets. The leader of The Lost, Billy, even said that money is the least of his problems and he has everything else he needs. But that priority soon goes out the window when neighboring gangs and drug lords soon vie for complete control over the drug monopoly. The cast of characters in The Lost and Damned doesn’t stray far away from the main characters of the group. You control Johnny Klebitz, a wise guy henchman who sometimes questions the antics and morals that Billy makes his brothers at The Lost perform for him. Automatically you get that sense of brotherhood that The Lost no doubt expresses at any given moment, and that sense of teamwork and trust is the underlying theme throughout the entire episode.

Because remaining loyal to The Lost and your brothers is an important factor, you have various options to enlist the help of your brothers in any mission you perform. Terry and Clay, two notable Lost members, are always available via phone for backup and always come packing a punch. Some missions will give you pre-set members to fight alongside you but many of them are easily disposable and will probably end up dying in standard gunfights. If you can happen to keep members alive after battles, their toughness meter will go up, which makes them more accurate in future gunfights. Terry and Clay cannot die in the game, but they can fall in gunfights and are made unavailable until the next mission. Building up various members of your brotherhood could help in sticky situations, and since Terry and Clay are always available to call up, you never have to worry about rushing into enemy territory by yourself.

Being part of a biker gang isn’t all about brotherhood as it is about the bikes, and motorcycles play a huge part throughout the story of The Lost. Whenever you get Lost members to accompany you on various missions, most of the time you must travel together in biker formation. When this occurs, you typically have to remain close to the other members of The Lost in order to hear accompanying dialogue about your mission or missions prior. Plus, staying in formation allows you to heal yourself as well as a shield icon appears that when riding over will gradually refill your health as you cruise along.

Since being on a motorcycle is a heavy part of The Lost and Damned, controls seemed to have been given a slight tune-up. Although there are the occasional grief-stricken moments, like when you fly fifty feet through the air after hitting a curb, the choppers for which you control tend to react as well as most cars in the game. Shooting off of the motorcycle is easier to manage since your line of sight is more recognizable, but braking and shooting simultaneously never works as well as it should.

Many of the missions in the early parts of The Lost and Damned require you to simply head to a various parts of Liberty City, wipe out a few no-gooders who wronged The Lost and then head back to your headquarters. In fact, it is safe to say the first few missions in the game are borderline boring to play as they are nothing out of the ordinary in terms of basic GTA styled structure. Once you end up meeting past GTA IV characters, the fun begins, and you end up seeing different sides to missions you played before. Niko, Elizabeta, and other popular characters from the game make reoccurring appearances constantly throughout the game, and it is fun to see how their stories tangle in your brotherhood’s objectives. After that initial hump in the beginning, the missions do get downright enjoyable. One of our favorite missions has you escaping from cops on the backseat of a motorcycle, firing an assault shotgun and dropping grenades to slow down pursuing cops. The last mission of the storyline is equally enjoyable as well, which features an all-out brawl inside a prison that is both intense and exciting to play.