Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned

Preview from Yug - Friday, 23 January 2009 @ 7:50pm

As you may have realised, the crew here at AustralianGamer.com quite enjoyed Grand Theft Auto IV last year. Easily my number one game of 2008, it’s the most definitive open world game to date, with an intricate level of detail given to the levels, story and characters – regardless of what other critics might suggest.

So when the opportunity came up to get a hands on preview of the exclusive Xbox 360 downloadable episodic content for Grand Theft Auto IV, titled ‘The Lost and Damned’, I politely suggested to Rockstar that there was no other AustralianGamer journalist up to the task apart from me.

I said Starks was too Christian, Jae was too Asian, and Oracle was too ... tall.

So what is ‘The Lost and Damned’ about, and how does it fit into the original Grand Theft Auto IV?

For those of you that remember (and if you haven’t played GTA IV – either go play it and come back or stop reading entirely – this preview isn’t for you) there were a few missions in GTA IV where you were involved in drug-deal-gone-wrong missions with a guy called Johnny, a member from a local biker gang – The Lost. This is the guy who’s story you follow in the Lost and Damned.

This is still the same Liberty City you know so well, but from a very different perspective. It always was a VERY big city, and I don’t know about you but I sure didn’t explore every single area – I never needed too, half the time there was no point – if there was no mission associated with it or if it wasn’t part of the story, there was no reason.

In that respect, the Lost and Damned takes place in the area of Alderney, part of the last island to be unlocked in the original game – which by that point had you powering through the final stage of the story. It’s interesting to see those locations from a different point of view, with a new character and story line.

So you play as Johnny Klebbitz, the vice president of the Lost motorcycle gang, who’s old president – Billy – has just recently been released from rehab, creating conflict and problems not only between the two of them, but between rival gang the Angels of Death as well.

It’s a story of war - both internally and externally, very different from the focused revenge tale of Niko Bellic. And while playing as Niko Bellic – a fresh off the boat immigrant – eased you into the game with a series of social tasks and straight forward missions, Johnny’s story assumes you already know how to play the game, and drops you into the action from the get go.

The demo and hands on I played showcased a select few missions that showcased the new features and differences. The first mission, taken from towards the start of the game, set the scene with Billy killing a member of the rival Angels of Death group and making Johnny and the gang chase after the fleeing flunkies.

First thing I noticed is how similar and yet different Johnny Klebbitz is to Niko Bellic. They both have that shaved head ‘thug’ look about them, and don’t seem too far removed. However, it’s in the mannerisms that the differences become apparent, everything from the way Johnny talks and acts, to the finer touches such as how he holds guns over the shoulder and walks with a swagger. This is a guy who – like the player – knows what he’s doing.

Other new features include a club house where you can play pool, have arm wrestles with other members, and even have strippers perform for you. One might wonder why you would leave the club house at all.

Your other biker crew are an important new addition as well – where as before it was usually you vs a small army, Johnny always rides with other Lost gang members, who even have their own unique stats that build up over time.

There is other new content as well, such as new races, new characters to go drinking with (optional for those who were frustrated by having to maintain friendships in the original), new weapons (the assault shotgun does an amazing amount of EXTRME DAMAGE), and new vehicles – mainly in the form of bikes. Johnny himself has a unique ride that can’t be found anywhere else in the game, although it’s unknown whether you’ll be able to find it again if you blow it up or ditch it for another vehicle.

I got some hands on with the other missions, one involving a siege against the Angels of Death hangout (featuring a grenade launcher similar to the one Arnie used in Terminator 2: Judgement Day – you know the one), an on rails level where Johnny is the passenger on a bike as you destroy police cars and helicopters while making a getaway (SO much fun), and a very familiar mission that is a clever cross over to the original GTA IV story.

Do you remember Elizabeta (the fat black chick) and Playboy (the rasta with the sweet apartment)? Do you remember the mission where you – as Niko – met up with Elizabeta, Playboy and Johnny to pull off a heroin deal that went bad? Well you play this EXACT same mission, except this time as Johnny, and it gives ALOT of extra interesting details regarding the behind the scenes of the (and subsequent) missions.

Yes, you do see Niko – the episode is actually set in the exact same time period as GTA IV.

So there you have it. It seems wrong to label this as just another piece of ‘downloadable content’, because it’s not. It’s not a new horse you can buy in a game, or a couple of extra costumes. This is a fully realised alternate story set within a game that was already fleshed out to an insane degree before this even came along.

I’m genuinely excited to revisit Liberty City, and you should be too.