GTA IV: The Lost and Damned review (Xbox 360)

Posted by Aidan Sansom on Wed 4 Mar 2009

GTA is back, and it's angrier than ever

Add-on episodes for games have become a staple in recent years. Any title with reasonable success can usually rely on the fans to sink a few more bucks into a short, sharp bolt-on experience. It's hugely convenient too - the developers can get away with using the same technology and graphics engine, stretching its usefulness as far as the popularity will go.

As we've mentioned before though, Rockstar aren't about treading the beaten path. They're well aware that a simple add-on is exactly what people expect and, in that sense, they've blindsided us yet again. This, the first of three new episodes, is familiar enough to please the fans but fresh enough to be far more than just an afterthought.

You take control of Johnny Klebitz, second in command of the notorious Lost Motorcycle Club, a fierce brotherhood of bikers trying to carve out their own, cut-throat slice of the American dream. The most interesting difference between Klebitz and our original hero, Niko Bellic, is that Johnny isn't new in Liberty City. He's a well established member of his gang and, as such, we waste little time on setup and introduction. We're straight into the down and dirty.

The fact that you're in a biker gang gives The Lost and Damned an immediate opportunity to show off how it's evolved. Riding en masse around Liberty City, weaving through the pack to have a parlay with your brothers at the front feels exhilarating and far less isolated than your lonely journeys as Bellic. Thankfully, the bikes feel a lot more stable than they did in the previous game. They're heavier, more manoeuvrable and much, much more durable (in fact, we haven't managed to trash one yet). You'll also find a wide range of chopper-style custom bikes to choose from or, of course, steal. There are plenty of opportunities to do missions in cars if you want to, but if you weren't much of a fan of the motorbikes in GTA 4, you're going to find the backbone of the gameplay extremely frustrating.

But it's not all about the bikes, oh no. GTA loves its guns. And its girls. There's a great roster of new weapons for you to play with, pretty much from the get-go (pipe-bombs, sawn-off and auto shotguns, automatic pistols) and your club headquarters has its very own in-house pole dancer. There's even a cut scene with some quite graphic (albeit digital) full-frontal nudity. The feverish adolescents among you can calm down and put the Kleenex away, however, as it's actually a rather disturbed middle aged man on fleshy display. Whatever the thinking behind it, the mere act of putting genitals on screen is undoubtedly going to generate some heat politically, and if not for that then certainly for the stomach-turning torture scene. But to be absolutely fair, Grand Theft Auto is and always has been an 18 certificate game, exactly like an 18 certificate film. However much of a fuss Hillary Clinton kicks up about the violence or misogyny, we can tirelessly point her in the direction of Hollywood.

All this ultra violence is punctuated, of course, by a series of increasingly entertaining cutscenes. You'll meet new characters, old characters, and even Niko himself on your travels. The dialogue just gets snappier and snappier, and through it you might even get a different perspective on people you met as Bellic.

Missions themselves unfold in a familiar way, but there's enough variation to keep it from feeling repetitive or staid. In fact, it's on the verge of being a little too hard at times - Think of the final quarter of GTA 4, and how many times you had to retry the more white-knuckle capers.

As we said in our preview, The Lost and Damned is a download only episode for GTA 4. And for the amount of content you get, it's well worth the £13 you'll be scraping together. You do also need the original game which, if you've read this far, chances are you'll already have.

So kick the tyres and light the fires. GTA is back, it's angry, and it's got plenty of scores to settle. If you're a fan, you need this in your life.

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User Comments

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26|08|2009 14:14

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Basically all you need to do in this step is complete one of the offers, this is where the freebie site make their money, if you complete an offer then the freebie site will recieve commission for it. So if you complete Coral which will only cost you £5 to complete, the freebie site gets £25 from Coral. The two best offers are Lovefilm Free DVD rental trial (where you rent any two DVD's for free!) and Coral (bet £5 on a sport). I would reccommend you do Coral as it credits in an hour and is really simple to do, Lovefilm however can become complicated and takes up to 4 weeks to credit! You can also try one of the other offers, most are gambling offers. Don't skip this step! You must complete this step to get your free gift!

Step 3 : Refer some friends

This part is a lot easier than it seems, especially now with free gift sites getting so popular. There's lots of people online who want a free iPhone, Touch or macbook too, so start referring them! You only need to get a few signups before you'll be finished. You can ask your friends or your online buddies. I already got a free iPhone without even having to ask my friends for help - there's lots of people online who want a free iPhone like you! One of the easiest ways to get a referral is to do a favour for a friend and ask them to sign up in return. That way, you both can get a free gift!

Basic rules
Don't break these rules! This is the only reason that you won't get your free gift, so make sure you follow these rules!

- One account per household - don't use a public computer to sign up!
- Use real information - this is a proven legitimate site and they will not give out your information.
- Only complete each offer once! You cannot complete the same offer again, even for different freebies.
- Don't try to cheat the system. This site has been proven legitimate, and they will catch you if you try to cheat. If you do everything legitimately, by following this guide, you will get a free gift!

Thats all, just follow my guide and you will have your free gift in no time.