GTA IV - The Lost and Damned

[egparadigm]

Just started this, this morning. I am very impressed!

Billy Grey is particularly well-realised. I also like the lead character; unlike Niko who was more of an angry, comedy character (IYAM), this guy is far more sympathetic.

Combat is a lot clunkier than I remember it being; probably because I've been playing a lot of fast games recently. Amazing how my 'sixth sense' reminds me of which buttons do what!

[Dezm0nd]

Gutted. Finished the main story with 7 hours play time and with me doing side missions and stuff.

I'm only gutted because I loved The Lost, their characters were amazing. Gonna do the races and turf wars soon and there's a "male" up north who no doubt has a mission for me.

Well worth the dosh, gimme another episode please!!!

[egparadigm]

Just played the

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prison break

level; it was hilarious from start to finish.

This game certainly feels a bit sillier than the main story; all the better for it.

[Daragon]

Gutted. Finished the main story with 7 hours play time and with me doing side missions and stuff.
I'm only gutted because I loved The Lost, their characters were amazing. Gonna do the races and turf wars soon and there's a "male" up north who no doubt has a mission for me.

Well worth the dosh, gimme another episode please!!!

Didn't Rockstar quote 30 hours?

What is it with expansion content these days?

[El Leone]

Didn't Rockstar quote 30 hours?

What is it with expansion content these days?

This is a troll, right? I mean, I love how you took a post that was pretty positive and spun it around in your favour to make it a negative comment.

[Daragon]

How is that a troll? I'm merely pointing out that Rockstar and MS ORIGINALLY tried to sell the game based not only on what it offered in terms of features but also how long it would take the average player (not superman above) to beat the storyline and all side missions.

[egparadigm]

Am I the only one who is finding it increasingly difficult to actually 'see' next-gen games? I think GTA IV is the worst offender - I can't bloody see the icons on the map, which are of virtually the same colour as the map. This expansion is even worse because the red shows up really badly against the black.

[Myth]

I downloaded this the other day and not played much, one thing I did forget was how brown/grey the whole game felt. Especially after coming from a re-play through Vice City on PC.

Absolutely love the characters so far though, especially Billy.

[Dezm0nd]

Didn't Rockstar quote 30 hours?

What is it with expansion content these days?

Well the expansion can have 30 hours play time if you include all the new multiplayer content in the game but it's not as long as I'd hope, story wise.

But overall, I am highly satisfied with TLAD. My hopes for next expansion would be set in the future, beyond the Niko and Johnny era. That would be tops, seeing them both in a future timeline.

To the post above, I had the same problem with the original GTA4, so I toned up the saturation option in the display options, adds loads of colour and potentially too much!

[El Leone]

IIRC, the figure estimating how long the game would last was 12-20 hours.

[egparadigm]

This game has seriously pissed me off now. The half-way start positions are next to useless. I'm doing a mission which require ample guns and ammo; every time I fail the mission, I have used up loads of ammo. If I use the half-way start option, I've still lost all the ammo, so I have to keep going back to ammo-nation. Except, and here's the rub - I haven't got any money because I spent it on the last attempt!!

I therefore have to go back to a save game, meaning I have to start the mission from the beginning. What, I ask you, is the point of this option if you can't practically use it!?

The other thing which irritates me about GTA4 is the camera angle whilst driving - it should be at least a little higher than it is so you can see on-coming traffic. The avatar/bike/car completely get in the way of your view, meaning I'm constantly holding the right stick at the correct angle. Unfortunately none of the alternative camera angles are any good, either.

And I'm still not happy about visibility of the phone/map.

[crocky-chocky]

Glad I'm not the only one frustrated by all those mission restarts. I don't remember the main game being so tough. The

->Open Spoiler<-

prison bus

mission was an absolute nightmare,

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I tipped it over like 3 times

!

Still enjoying this when I can find the time to do the odd mission though. The characters are fantastic, and the increasing tension between them is epic. Billy is the most brilliantly hateful character I've seen in a game. I really enjoy how utterly horrible he is!

[egparadigm]

Just finished the story. Overall, I think it may just about be the best GTA story I've ever played. A lot of this may be down to the fact that it was short: I've always thought that GTA stories have been a bit over-long and bloated - the same cannot be said for TLAD.

The credits sequence was jaw-droppingly good; probably the best game end titles I've ever seen.

I was saddened

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by the death of Jim. I was also annoyed by the way it was handled - we were just told he was dead with no fanfare. I thought they missed a trick by not having a proper biker funeral for the guy.

I'm left wondering if I've been brutalised by GTAIV. In the main story I always chose to let people live if it seemed possible (with the executions). However, I learnt my lesson not to let little weasels

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(read Dmitri and Brian)

live and snuffed them out. I also had no compunction in executing

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Billy

...

[Atticus]

After being indifferent about DLC at GTAIV's launch, I've now traded my PS3 copy for the 360 version in order to play The Lost and the Damned, my first biker game since Full Throttle

Only put around an hour into it so far but I love the whole dirty biker vibe. It's just that bit less stuffy than Niko's story and feels more fun as a result.

Most missions have been shoot-outs so far, which have been great (especially with that big ol' shotgun), but I'm really looking forward to some road-based action/missions.

Great game so far.

[Charlie]

It's definately a gread add-on and well worth the 1600 points. I didn't find the story and characters as compelling as most people seem to have done, but then I seldom enjoy stories in videogames anyway, especially compared to movies or plays. No, the best thing by far, in my opinion, are the new radio shows, commercials and news reports, they're ruder and cruder than ever but, as always in GTA games, have that subversive undercurrent of truth running through them that makes them work on so many levels. They genuinely are hilarious. The new songs are excellent too and, along with being part of a biker gang, help create a different atmosphere and vibe to playing as Niko in GTA IV's main story.

I also like how everyone (be it on the radio, on the street, or in your gang) regulalry mentions the credit crunch and the economic misery; it really makes the game feel current and relevant to what's going on in the world.

My only real criticism about the DLC is that it exists entirely as a standalone game and isn't integrated into GTA IV. I was expecting to be able to use the new weapons, vehicles and filter, play air hockey and wrestling and hear all the new songs and radio content playing as Niko and was very disappointed on discovering I couldn't. Also expected the new bike mechanics to be transferred to GTA IV but they haven't which is both disappointing and illogical.