Shallow games seem to be all the rage these days. It's as if we're finally getting what we asked for (good gameplay) and now it's biting us on the ass, or me at least because I actually care about character development. Gears of War 2 is fun but it's about as emotionally compelling as a canceled soap opera, so it's nice to return to the warm cradle of a good plot-line from time to time. I suppose that's why it's been so good to be back in Liberty City's arms again these last few days.
Rockstar's latest car-jacking riot comes in the form of exclusive downloadable content for the Xbox 360 that goes by the name of The Lost and Damned, and it's a primarily biker-themed affair. I'm sure you've heard of it by now but unless you're willing to drop 1600 Microsoft points sight-unseen, you may not know if it's worth your time. New motorcycles, weapons, and mission objectives are nice, but is there enough here to justify spending twenty of your potentially hard-earned dollars on? Fortunately by most standards the answer is a resounding yes, and I believe it shows The Lost and Damned is just the start of GTA IV's great expandable potential.
GTA IV's original anti-hero hands over the series reins to fresh bad-ass Johnny Klebitz, and this time around we follow his life as a member of the renegade Lost Motorcycle Club. Johnny has been running things as President of the club for years after the imprisonment of his best friend and former leader Billy Grey, but Grey's recent release sees things returning to the way they once were and everything Klebitz has worked for falling apart at the seams. Billy agitates tense gang relations to violence in a matter of days and his descent seems to be taking everyone else down with him, so it is up to you to help fate play out as it should. Without ruining anything, I can say there there will be more than a few twists and turns.
The new dialog is top-notch (as you were probably expecting) and the voice-acting team hits it out of the ballpark again. They're especially natural when chit-chatting as a crew as you ride in formation during the specific in-game moments that seem too far and few between. However, I couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be occasional holes in the plot, especially during a pivotal moment that sees a friend becoming a bitter enemy. It's as if they made scenes that would have helped properly transition the story arc a bit better, but they were left sitting on the cutting room floor instead of being inserted where they should be.
I also can't fail to mention that Lost and Damned does seem to cease progressing naturally towards its climax and hastily wraps-up at its end, which I think negatively affects the pacing of a proper tale. Regardless, you learn to care about most of the characters and they might even come to surprise you with their generosity at times. The few deficiencies in the story aren't enough to detract from the events Rockstar has laid out for us, and I ultimately enjoyed how everything finished in the end.
There are a few new sedans and other vehicles to enjoy, most notably motorcycles that include Klebitz's own custom-made bike. It's possible that there have been some tweaks to the driving engine as at least some cars seem to handle less like camels on marbles and more like cars, but I may be imagining this.
New weapons include pool cues, grenade launchers, and pipe bombs, but the latter is effectively no different than the grenades from the original. Then there is the street-sweeper, which a fantastic shotgun and always a joy to decimate police with. The range blows but if anyone makes the mistake of getting close to you, well, they're not going to live to regret it anyway.
Two new non-story events include the Gang Wars and Gang Races, and both require you to be mounted on a bike before you can begin them. The Wars simply play out as combat scenarios once started, but the Gang Races are different from the norm in that you can now strike to your left and right with a bat in a manner similar to the legendary Road Rash games. These are a lot of fun but unfortunately this ability does not transfer to regular play, and that's a damn shame. Knocking people down with a bat while riding a hog is one of life's rare joys, and Rockstar should have made sure you could enjoy it in the normal mode as well.
There's a handful of new multiplayer modes but these are mostly modifications of popular concepts and game types from the original. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are of course present, with Witness Protection replacing the Protect the Mob Boss mode,. It functions almost identically except that you must now drop NPCs off at multiple points rather than just your teammates off at one.
The best addition here though has to be Chopper Vs Chopper, which pits a lone biker against a lone helicopter pilot. The biker must attempt to reach checkpoints before the chopper takes them down, which of course is much easier said typed than done. Controlling the damn 'copter can be maddening, but successfully landing the mother fucker on someone in a desperate attempt to end them is nothing short of gleeful. You'll want to punch your controller every time someone does it to you, though.
All in all there's a lot of good stuff here; a story that is genuinely compelling if not always perfect, exciting new weapons, and multiplayer modes that seem to have more appeal than they did before. A little over 10 hours of entertaining single-player gameplay and some exciting new options in the multiplayer arena make this an easy expenditure to justify. If you have 1600 MS points/$20 and are a fan of the series, then there's no reason not to check out GTA IV: The Lost and Damned, available exclusively on Xbox Live.
If you hate it, you can always take it out on someone in the game with a street-sweeper. That'll pay for itself, I promise.
-Unfather
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