15.3.2010

--The Ballad of Gay Tony Review--We have finally come to the end of what can only be described as one of the best journeys in gaming history this generation, Grand Theft Auto IV. From the six month delay till 2008, and then another 10 months before the first expansion was released, it has been a long time coming. Now at the back end of the 2009 the game is finally over, but not without one last explosion!The Ballad of Gay Tony puts you in the shoes of Luis Lopez, co-manager of two nightclubs in Liberty City. Hercules, the all-gay club is a low class club, whereas Maisonette 9, is a very high end club. While the placing of these clubs is a bit lazy (same road for both clubs and safe house),Rockstar have certainly made up for it. Inside the clubs, you can take part in dancing mini-games, which could lead to some romantic `treat', champagne drinking games, which make you incredibly drunk and club management games, which involve walking around and watching a cut scene now and then. This is not the most exciting mini-game but gives you a sense that you own the club.The story is a bit erratic this time through. You are simply just assigned missions to fill in gaps of GTA IV and The Lost And the Damned storylines. The game starts off at the bank robbery in GTA IV storyline, and finishes around the same time as GTA IV does, but there are a few crossover missions, like diamond robbery at the museum, to name one. The game does however make up for the weak storyline by including an excess amount of fun in each mission. Blow the crane up with a sticky bomb, steal a subway train, start a police riot, or bomb a boat. There are however some really bad missions, like driving to an internet cafe, posting a comment, and that's it. Not impressive, and certainly just another way to waste some missions when the ideas stop.Each mission is graded up to 100%. There appears to be a few glitches such as in easy missions like in the one above where you should get 100% but for some reason the timing does not match the quality of the mission. How do you drive from Broker to Alderney in under a minute without damaging your car? It does give some replay value, but gets incredibly frustrating after a while.By the mid-point in the game, you will have unlocked some base jumping based missions, drug wars, golf and fight club games. The base jumping means you can jump off a building, and parachute onto a target. Drug Wars is a replica of The Lost and the Damned Gang Wars, but without, y'know the gangs. Golf mini-game is challenging, but equally quite boring, and the Fight Club has random AI, sometimes really easy, sometimes really hard. All these games need to be completed once to go to 100% tariff, but none of them are broken and certainly add more to the length of the game.So the missions are mostly fun, with ridiculous targets, but there is an excess amount of extra stuff to keep it ticking over its short life-span, however the game has a few threatening glitches. The game has an annoying knack for car popup. It can be a clear road and then suddenly there are thousands of cars which you go crashing into, possibly ruining your mission goals. Also AI tends to be coded to run in front of you regardless of whether you are shooting or not, again leading to a possible failure in your mission. The game is also showing a sign of lackluster graphics. The HUD looks out of place, the buildings are quite grainy and blood isn't really effective. There are some really cool songs on the soundtrack, but no new radio stations (except on the actual Tales from Liberty City disc with includes one new station), so it can be hard to find these songs.Multiplayer wise, the game features everything from The Lost and the Damned and GTA IV and puts them all into Free Mode, along with underpowered tanks and missing helicopters. Death match has been updated with new weapons, and new payouts per kill, and racing is adapted for the brand new Nitro. It's pretty awesome stuff, but takes a while to recharge. Plus Liberty City streets are so short, you really need more straight road races to get the most use out of it. There are no major glitches in the game though apart from connection lag and the like.Truth be told, I was expecting much more from this expansion, I would have expected the game to be thoroughly tested before release, and some improvements made in terms of graphics and storyline. It is fun for a while, but when you reach the ending you know it's over and that's probably for the best. If you're a fan, go buy this now, but if you are over GTA IV and Liberty City after 18 months, maybe this is best avoided.

29.10.2009

If you liked Grand Theft Auto IV, then you're gonna love this. This disc contains the newly released DLC (Downloadable Content) "The Ballad of Gay Tony" and the first DLC "The Lost and Damned". I knew about this package since April and I've been desperate to get my hands on it, and I'm so glad I did!The game does exactly what it says on the box! "Two complete games. The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Two complete games on one disc. Grand Theft Auto IV not required to play". Those are all key features and they're clearly stated on the box, highlighted in gold banners!Description (From the back of the box):The Lost And Damned: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: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.The game (or should I say games?):Basically, the game loads exactly like "GTA IV", you get the same warning menu at the beginning and then the two Rockstar Logos, except the only difference is after that, you get a menu to pick which game you want to play (first time ever in a GTA game, I think), with the protagonist and the logo beneath them. You then get to play that game, and it loads exactly like it does, if you had of downloaded it (I presume)."The Lost And Damned" is a brilliant game with new weapons, vehicles and better bike handling (IE you don't fall off as easily) and "The Ballad Of Gay Tony" is brilliant aswell, also containing new weapons, vehicles and let's not forget a new chopper that will steal the online and offline experience.I would tell you about the games themselves, but I don't want to give anything away, seeing as it startles you when you put it in and play it, without a clue of what's going to happen. But I will tell you a couple of things. ON THIS DISC ONLY: You can get, three EXCLUSIVE radio stations; "Vice City FM", which plays mostly unfamiliar 80s Pop (with the exception of Marillion), "Self-Actualization FM", which plays music to relax you and "RamJam FM" which is the replacement of "Tuff Gong FM" (but nowhere as good) with reggae music. Also you don't have to waste valuable Xbox hardrive Space to fit the games on like you would if you bought them off Marketplace (unless you install the game to hardrive, like I have). The game calls itself "GTA IV", so basically all the achievements that you get in this game are added to the achievements you got in GTA IV (if you haven't downloaded TLAD you'll notice you'll have more achievements to get on GTA IV) And if you're thinking "I don't want to buy the games online, I want them on disc! But I want those achievements..." You're prayers have been answered. This disc adds to those achievements. I am new to both of these games, so I can't tell you much about them. But one BIG difference is that TLAD has a grainy picture, if you look carefully, it is optional though (it comes under the name "noise effect").Overall:Anyway, this is a fantastic package, which contains two GTA DLCs on one disc and is only available on Xbox 360, and is the most fun you could have with a video game. You must buy this, if you've played "GTA IV" and you've wanted TLAD for a while, but wanted it on disc. Also this is cheaper than buying both games on Marketplace! Buy this now! (Please note you will be able to find this on my IGN and Gamespot accounts)

27.7.2011

Having read the recent reviews of this game on Amazon I feel that people have been incredibly OTT in their criticisms. I got this game in summer 2010 and the online game is one of the very best xbox live games out there. And not to ignore the single player mode-they are each very good games in their own right. Although individually each game isn't quite as long as GTA 4, collevtively it makes for a longer game. However, despite not being quite as long as GTA 4 in their own right, the single player is just as good, if not slightly better. Add that to the fact that you get 2 games in 1 then the game makes for very good value.Just to confirm though, this is not the same game but in 2 different settings.The actual feel of the game, the graphics, the guns, the aiming etc feel slightly different in each game. This is evidenced even more when playing online as TBGOT and TLATD feel like 2 different games entirely. TLATD feels more like GTA 4 than TBOGT.The single player games are each very good games but it is in multiplayer where this game comes into its own. I prefer to play TLATD online but you tend to get more people playing TBOGT. Ever since first playing this online a year ago I have never gone more than a few days without playing it online. It is a fantastic multiplayer game and the only minor flaw I would say is sometimes struggling to get enough people to start a good match online, although you can usually find more people by clicking on 'instant play' (i.e. non ranked).To address the other reviewer who said:`The problem is there is not enough free space. As a fan of the motorbike from other GTAs such as San Andreas, i think there are limited options for transport.There are other shortcomings too. In San Andreas for example you get: 3 cities; a large countryside; a mountain; an endless desert and rural highlands to explore.Here it is just a city, however unlike vice city, the streets are too narrow. There are not enough stunts. Your player is limited.'- I couldn't disagree more. The whole map is HUGE and although it may not encompass 3 cities like you mention in San Andreas, the map is still massive and has more than enough to keep people entertained on single player for months. And as for transport, there are at least as many options as there are in any other GTA game so I'm not sure why you would think that. The streets are normal sized streets and as it is basically NYC the streets will only reflect how big they are in real life NYC, as Vice City did with Miami.If someone wishes to just navigate around the map aimlessley in a multitude of vechiles trying stunts etc, or go on a 'rampage' shooting random people then this is still just as easy to do as in any previous GTA game, and to drive from one side of the map to the other is an incredibly long drive so I would like to reiterate that the map is massive, yet easy to navigate around. There are countless places to do stunts and as per any GTA game, the entire environment feels fully interactive. Your player feels truly free.I can't recommend this game highly enough. I think it is a vastly underrated a game and in online multiplayer, it is one of the best games available on the xbox. It should be ranked up there with the very best multiplayer games-COD, Red Dead, COH2 etc.Overall I think this is a fantastic game well worth the advertised price.

7.7.2011

If you've already played through last year's Grand Theft Auto IV, you have a pretty good idea of what to expect in Episodes from Liberty City. The included episodes--The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony--take place concurrently with the original game's storyline, and while each introduces a handful of new features, the core gameplay remains largely unchanged. The option to purchase these episodes together as a stand-alone product is awesome if you enjoyed GTAIV but have since parted with your copy, and even if you passed on original protagonist Niko Bellic's adventure completely, there's no reason you can't have a great time with new boys Johnny Klebitz and Luis Lopez. With that said,you'll definitely get more from these episodes if you played GTAIV beforehand, because nods and winks to that game are scattered liberally throughout.Johnny Klebitz doesn't like limo drivers in The Lost and Damned.For the same reason, you'd do well to hold off on playing The Ballad of Gay Tony until after you've beaten or at least spent a good amount of time with The Lost and Damned, which was first released as DLC some eight months earlier. In that episode, you assume the role of Johnny Klebitz--a high-ranking member of the Lost biker gang who regularly disagrees with its trigger-happy leader, Billy Grey. Klebitz, who isn't a particularly likable protagonist, sees no need for the gang to go to war with rivals The Angels of Death, but anytime the two gangs clash, you end up doing most of the killing anyway. New weapons added to the existing GTAIV arsenal in The Lost and Damned include a grenade launcher, pipe bombs, and shotguns, which come in both sawed-off and assault flavors. These weapons are very much in keeping with both the episode's subject matter and its gameplay, and since Klebitz spends so much time riding motorcycles, you can use some of them while in the saddle--which wasn't possible in GTAIV.Another neat feature introduced in The Lost and Damned, which also made it into The Ballad of Gay Tony, is a mission checkpoint system. Some of the missions take a long time to beat, and a good number of them involve riding or driving to locations that might be a good distance away before the action really gets under way. In GTAIV it could be frustrating to fail these missions, because doing so meant restarting them from the beginning, but the checkpoint system addresses that problem by giving you the option to restart from the last checkpoint that you made it through successfully. Unlike the more inventive and varied missions in The Ballad of Gay Tony, the missions in The Lost and Damned rarely deviate from the original GTAIV formula. You get to ride alongside your gang brothers occasionally, and you can call for backup from them during certain missions, but playing as Klebitz feels a lot like playing as Bellic for the most part.If you've played through a good portion of GTAIV, it should come as no surprise that Klebitz's and Bellic's paths cross occasionally. Sometimes it's as subtle as the pair simply having a mutual acquaintance, but in one mission the two characters briefly work alongside each other, and if you remember said mission from the original game, you'll get a real kick out of seeing the events unfold from a second perspective.Read full review...

31.10.2009

I actually downloaded the Episodes as and when they came out, but it's the same content, and awesome it is! It is also very much an ADULT title, and I can't stress this enough. Especially The Ballad Of Gay Tony....that 18 certificate is truly there for a reason. Besides, younger people would just not understand the story, or the humour!The Lost and Damned is an excellent new angle on life in Liberty City. It's all about the bikes and the metal. If you're not into thrash metal, don't worry, it can be avoided most of the time, but it's very much a part of the 'feel' of the episode.....one of grit, and grime and general dirty work.Packed with new bikes, plus some new cars, and an arsenal of heavy weaponry,

24.7.2010

I had rented this game as I was dubious whether it lives up to it's reputation, GTA IV was a big letdown for me in terms of story, drive there, drive here, kill him, kill them etc etc. Went on for hours, just mindless driving from A to B with a relatively confusing plot to accompany the lame driving about, the characters were empty and only a few stood out for me personally, Roman and Irish, that was about it.The episodes however, do live up to their reputation TLAD was an alright add on and at first it was relatively stale, there were little mishaps in graphics that were clearly evident but could easily be forgiven for being so small. As I have said the start was slow but the story slowly continues to grow including more and more characters,

13.8.2010

People at work kept on telling me, that as I love driving games and action games, that I would like this just as much.But, procrastinating as I do, I kept ignoring their advice. That was, until last week when I thought, I'm not playing anything else on my XBox, I'll give it a go.All I can say is, I absolutely love this game even though, I am only playing "The Lost and Damned" game at present.Most reviews have said that; "TLaD" was ok but the other game is better. If that's the case, I'm in for a good time.The quality of graphics is fantastic. The reality of riding motorbikes and driving other vehicles is excellent.The game itself is brilliant,

20.5.2010

I bought episodes of liberty city because I loved GTA: IV and since this was sort of like what you could call an add on.The game features Lost and The Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, I wasn't quite sure how it would work with IV but as you start the games it gives an intro of how you have seen the main characters of each game, I won't ruin how.Graphics of both games are amazing, they aren't as long as IV but you can tell with the graphics, sound and story play the makers - Rockstar, have put a lot of effort and time into the games.They are both rated 18 you understand why because of some of the sexual content in both games are not for younger players.Lost and The DamnedNot my favourite of the two but it was still good to play,

21.2.2011

It's a good game but not something I'd recommend to anyone below the age if 18 due to some of the content i.e. drug use, minor sexual scenes and killing indiscriminately, the story lines aren't to bad they can't be enjoyed but the only real addition to the expansion is some new weapons otherwise it basically is just GTA 4 re-released, graphics wise it is solid and very well presented especially if you own a HDMI TV but is just as acceptable on the older style TV's just with less shine to it, the sound quality is pretty good to with a variety of amusing radio shows with some characters on them people will recognize from older GTA series, the size of the city and car variety is also a plus to with hours of exploration if you wish to do so,

22.8.2011

After playing 'Grand Theft Auto IV' I was recommended 'Episodes from Liberty City' by Amazon. The map is the same used on the previous game which some people will find disappointing but the two games in one both excel themselves with clever, entertaining and prolonged story lines that constantly intertwine with the story from GTA IV. 'The Lost and Damned' and 'The Ballad of Gay Tony' both offer brilliant entertainment that gives fresh energy and life to an old map that many GTA fans will be aware of. The fact that there are two games on one disk offers fantastic value for money.I loved the way in which both Luiz Lopez's (Ballad of Gay Tony) and Johnny Klebitz's (Lost and Damned)

24.6.2012

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is a great game. It contains the DLC packs for GTA IV in one disc, along with three exclusive radio stations. In TLAD, you take on the role of the Vice President of a biker gang, Johnny Klebitz. You do many gang wars against another biker gang in the missions as well as other criminal activities such as an attempted drug deal gone wrong and a kidnapping. Overall the missions are great and almost never repetitive. This game also lets you do more activities and has more vehicles/weapons than in GTA IV. There's also lots of new music to listen to as well, which is mostly awesome as long as you keep away from the heavy metal rock station LCHC. However,

31.12.2009

To start off, I'm just going to say one thing about this game - brilliant! The storyline of both The Lost And Damned and The Ballad Of Gay Tony is excellent. The graphics in both are great. The feel of the game is great! Episodes From Liberty City is set in exactly the same Liberty City as GTA IV, and in many ways, these games resemble GTA IV, because they started off as DLC for GTA IV. The similarities between the games aren't a bad thing, saying they're similar is a compliment because GTA IV was a fantastic game. But Episodes From Liberty City offers so much more than GTA IV. You can experience new characters, new stories, and new places (such as The Lost Clubhouse in TLAD and Maisonette 9 and Hercules in TBOGT).

18.2.2010

Both DLC episodes on one disc mean a double trip to liberty city. The lost and the dambed (TLATD) see you in the boots of lost biker gang Vice president Johnny, its a return to gritty paces adventure with and emphasis on bikes and gang warfare. The balad of Gay tTony (TBOGT) see you as Louis, bodygaurd and bussiness partner of Gay Tony trying to help him return to the top. TBOGT is a return to San Andrea's mad cap styles with bombastic mission and characters, a welcome relief after the main campaign and TLATD, with a particuly briiliant part played by comedian Ohmid Digilli as Yusseff, the persian playboy.After so many years the world is looking a bit drap, character models look a bit blocky and there's noticiable pop-in,

4.3.2013

After completeing the main GTA IV(4) campaign this is a great addition with two smaller campaigns.1.)The lost and damned, be a biker of the tough lost biker gang.Fight back to the top of the gangs of Liberty city!-additional motorcycles and weapons(not available in gta 4 campaign)with more mini games and side missions.2.)The Ballad Of Gay Tony,play as gay tony's right hand man disposing of his underground empire of black market goods and misdeeds as he rolls high on his night club empire.-LOADS MORE guns and sports cars(much better)-and again more mini games and side missions-Parachutes!Personally The Ballad of Gay Tony is better with loads more extras and the online is better than TLAD and IV.overall worth the cash and cheaper than buying it on xbox,

27.11.2010

One word for the newest chapter's in GTA IV !AWESOME!. To anyone who has rated below a 4 star because of the grainy visual's you are all very very stupid. If you do not how to change the grain effect in the display settings then you do not deserve to play the game. To all of you who are reading this review take my word, theese two new episodes are a great edition to gta iv, both have a great storyline with two new character's also with the GTA madness at every turning corner. Theese new episodes provide alot more features such as the returning parachute and a all new helicopter with rockets and 50.cal mini gun's. All in all theese new chapters will keep you entertained for insane amount of hours,

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City - Reviews

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