The two downloadable episodes for GTA IV, The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony are also available through this retail disc. Best of all, with this retail disc, you will not need the original GTA IV to play these two new stories. 

The great news is that both episodes have removed the relationship development and management system that greatly hampered the experience in GTA IV. On top of that, these episodes also have a mid mission check point system. This means you are no longer required to repeat the whole mission if you die mid way through. To put icing on the cake, both episodes also provide you with friends from the start that you can call to get cheaper weapons and the some of the best vehicles in the game. This is no holds barred.

The Lost and the Damned:

This episode has players take the role of Johnny, a senior member of an old school Harley Davidson riding biker gang. From the onset a conflict brews between their leader, Billy, who decides to take on riskier adventures and flame the rivalry against other gangs and Johnny, who has matured and does not want to risk the life of others.

Despite it being a simple DLC, it is a fulfilling story that finds the biker gang getting tangled with drugs, government officials, the Chinese mafia and those cursed diamonds from GTA IV. Speaking of GTA IV, there are appearances from Niko and other members of the original game. The story parallels the diamond story that players would have experienced as Niko. As has become expected of Rockstar, the dialogue and direction is top notch. My main problem with the story is that they do feature full frontal male nudity, something that surely is not needed.

The developers have tried to give the game a unique feel by primarily involving riding bikes and the assistance of fellow gang members. Fortunately they have tweaked bikes by giving them added strength. They also make your character stick to the bike like glue. These are welcome changes as riding bikes in the original GTA IV was a thrilling yet troublesome experience.

Some new shotguns, a grenade launcher and a pipe bomb have been added to the game. The latter of which is difficult to use and almost feels useless. But at the end of the day, even with the minor tweaks, the gameplay still felt like an experience that we have already had with GTA IV. That is not to say the campaign was not fun, it just did not feel refreshing or as much of an adrenaline rush as the missions in The Ballad of Gay Tony. The episode also features new mini games like arm wrestling and hi-lo (card gambling), but these mini games are highly forgettable and close to useless.

The Ballad of Gay Tony:

There were some people that were disappointed by the high level of realism and the lack of over the top action in the original GTA IV. If you are one of these people, you should be happy to know that this episode returns to its wild roots and has a Vice City like aura around it.

Fairly early on in the game, players are granted a long range shot gun that shoots explosive rounds and a sticky grenade. Needless to say, these are an absolute blast to use. (Pun intended). Furthermore players earn a lot of money by carrying out missions. This allowed me to pack up on rocket launchers and use my ammo freely. The over the top weaponry is well supplemented by exciting over the top missions that will have you stealing the Liberty City subway to blowing up countless choppers, boats and planes. 

The one major downside about the required missions is that there are some major ones that require the use of a helicopter. Unfortunately this is one area where the GTA series has failed to make improvements as the helicopters are still very annoying to control and can take many attempts to complete. These are the missions where you will thank Rockstar for having mid-mission check points.

The game also introduces parachutes that are well implemented in some of the main missions. There is nothing quite like disposing a rich business executive in the top part of a skyscraper and making a get away from the window. There are some stand alone parachute side missions that one can take part in. But the ones that steal the show are the Triathlons: These missions start by parachuting from a helicopter followed by a boat race and end with a car race. Other side missions include taking part in regular races (this time the cars are equipped with nitro), helping the character’s childhood friends in drug wars, playing golf and taking part in club activities. The side missions are pretty standard run of the mill. But golf and club activities just feel tedious and are a forgettable experience.

The character you play is a Dominican named Luis Lopez. He is the personal bodyguard and business partner of Gay Tony. Tony gets in some serious trouble as he sells stakes of his business to multiple gangsters. Yet again the story is interesting and well directed. But it is the colourful and over-the-top hilarious characters steal the show. The episode also runs parallel with the diamonds story so there will be run-ins with Niko and Johnny. One thing that did slightly annoy me was that the game spent a lot of time creating drama; there were times I just wished the dialogue would be shorter so I could get right back into the action.

Multiplayer:

The Lost and Damned includes many new multiplayer modes. Most of them are derivatives of team death match. But the one that stands out is the Chopper vs Chopper. This has one person riding a bike trying to reach a destination. The second person takes control of a helicopter and tries to take the other guy down. The Ballad of Gay Tony adds new maps for death matches. They also add nitro boosts to racing competitions. But I am a little disappointed that they did not have the triathlon mode for multiplayer as well.

I am still not sold on the multiplayer aspect of GTA. What makes GTA great is the integration of its individual parts. The multiplayer focuses primarily on these individual parts. Let’s face it, racing games do a much better job than the multiplayer mode in GTA. The same applies to shooters as well.  

The Music:

The Lost and the Damned introduces over fifty new songs. If you buying the retail disc, you will only have access to the new songs. Also if you buy the retail disc you also get a new Vice City FM radio channel that covers music from the 80s.

Final Words: 

Selling at only $49.99 CDN and providing 20 hours of gameplay in the single player alone, Episodes from Liberty City has tremendous value. These are one of the most comprehensive and complete DLC / add-ons ever released. The game will especially appeal casual people as each episode can be completed in 10 hours. A more realistic time line for the casual gamers. 

There are tweaks but not a lot of major changes in gameplay. Those that were disappointed with the intensity level of GTA IV may find the experience of The Lost and the Damned to still be bland, but will also find an explosive experience with The Ballad of Gay Tony.

If you fall into the category of the majority that loved GTA IV, buying Episodes from Liberty City is a no brainer. 

 We like to remind people that we like to be more strict on scores than others. An 8 for us represents a great game. 

Genre: Action

Developer: Rockstar Games

Published by: Take Two