Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned for PC, PS3 and X360 is the first major DLC created by Rockstar Games. The expansion offers a separate story set in Liberty City already known from the core game, which is required to be able to play this expansion.

Story

The story of the first expansion for GTA IV focuses on a motorcycle gang known as The Lost. The group suffers internal problems as people are fighting over leadership. The player is put in the shoes of Johnny Klebitz, a temporal leader in the time of Billy Grey’s absence – he is the actual boss of the group. When the brutal and impetuous Billy returns from a rehab, the entire hell breaks loose – all the alliances the rational Johnny had made are broken, and the friends become enemies of each other, trying to take over the gang. On top of that, a rival gang known as Angels of Death appears on the scene, and the player has to face them as well.

Gameplay

The action in Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned for PC, PS3 and X360 is set in Liberty City, an urban environment visited already in the IV. However, the city itself received a few improvements and additions. The most important are of course the new interiors the player visits. The protagonist can spend some time at the bar-hideout located in Alderney, visit a few warehouses and many other interesting places. As the expansion tells a story concerning motorcycle gangs, the game brings a few adequate gameplay additions fitting into the atmosphere. These include new motorbikes and an ability to ride with other bikers in formation, which rewards the player with special additions.

In Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned for PC, PS3 and X360, the dominant part of the gameplay consists of the story missions of course. These require the player mainly to fight the enemies. The story of the expansion overlaps the events from GTA IV – the player meets Niko Bellic in the expansion. During most of the story missions, the protagonist is accompanied by his fellow gang members. When it comes to the equipment, the expansion brings several new weapons. These include a huge grenade launcher, a sawn-off shotgun, a pipe bomb and an assault shotgun.

The creators decided that a few improvements in terms of the mechanics would be a beneficial move. As a result, mainly the physics behind bike riding were changed – to fall off the bike requires increased effort here. Such a modification is connected directly to the content of the expansion – for the most part, the player traverses the city in the saddle of a motorcycle. Interestingly, the expansion brings back spectacular shooting sequences requiring the player to fire at the enemies from a vehicle controlled by another character. Moreover, a few interesting mini-games were added, such as arm wrestling. New internet sites, TV and radio broadcasts were added as well. Finally, the online aspect was extended, for the expansion offers several new multiplayer modes.

Last updated on 18 February 2010