GTA IV - The Lost and Damned

[egparadigm]

Been trying for the Dead Wood achievement (whack 69 bikers off their ride in races) for the last couple days. Just managed to get it: great fun!

The whole bike handling is absolutely brilliant; they've clearly play-tested it to perfection. Really easy to ride with style. As a result, these are the best races I've participated in in a GTA game. Normally these side-attractions come off second best to specialist games (in this case racers like Burnout).

If you actually play the races and attempt the achievement in the spirit it was intended (hit other racers and race), the two compliment eachother perfectly. This is what a good achievement results in: encouraging players to do something enjoyable they would not otherwise bother with.

This reminds me most fully of the "30 seconds of fun" the developers of Halo bang on about. In Halo, I didn't mind repeatedly failing from a checkpoint, because it was fun to purely mess about regardless of the outcome. I didn't mind failing a race or missing a target with the bat, because if I failed at one, the other was still fun to do.

This mode also steals Road Rash very successfully.

[Julio III]

Just bought this last night and gave it 2 to 3 hours and so far really enjoying it. It immediately feels completely different to standard GTA4. The look of the game with the filters and drab colours, always travelling and fighting with the biker gang. Your clubhouse is amazing and overall it feels like Johnny is part of this big family. Especially since you see other bikers just riding around town. The combat also feels different, no doubt thanks to the sawn-off shotgun being the standard weapon. It was great riding around and shooting other bikers with it. The races are fun as well, once I'd discovered that the handbrake button makes cornering easier and also means the camera actually follows you when you turn. Driving to missions no longer feels like such a chore with the follow the leader gameplay and banter. The whole music has changed too. I plan to play through this using as little cars as possible and only listening to Liberty Rock Radio and LCHC. Thats my only complaint actually - LCHC has completely changed style. It used to be my favourite station and now it plays a completely different style of music and the jingles/presenters are different too. They should have made this a new station. I hope Niko's LCHC remains the same.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Just got this on the Episodes Of Liberty City pack.
So far I'm loving it more than GTA 4.

BTW anyone see that ad on TV (FiveUSA) for a US drama called 'Sons Of Anarchy'?
Very similar story, & even the advert looked like a remake of the opening sequence introducing you to the gang in a comic way