If you guys plan on buying TBOGT, do not listen to Ryan hating on the game. A lot of his grievances about the game seem unfounded. The story is really top-notch; the player sees what happens when people who achieve the American Dream start to have everything slip away. When you played as Niko, you keep hearing about making it big, but you never really see it. In TBOGT, you actually witness the good life and see why Niko and Roman want to make it on top. AS for the gameplay, you're doing a lot of crazier stuff than before. It doesn't fit 100% with the world, as Ryan said, but it's hella fun, which is what naysayers wanted after bemoaning the lack of san andreas-type gameplay. The side missions, especially base-jumping, are really fun and there is a lot of replay value. At the end of the day, it's GTA4 but bigger and better. I don't know what game Ryan was playing, but it definitely still holds up. If MW2 did not come out this year, this would be my GOTY. 

Agreed. I find it laughable that GTA4 got 5 stars and BOGT only got 3. Perhaps he still had a little egg left in his beard about the absurdly high GTA4 review.
 
Or was that Jeff's review? I can't seem to find any staff reviews for anything other than BOGT on the GTA4 page.

It's okay Ryan tends to hate on everything I noticed, but then again multiple Uwe Boll movies in a row would make me hate the world too.

Don't listen to someone else's opinion!
 
I agree with him, the story is lacking compared to GTAIV and TLAD, and Luis isn't a very endearing character with a lot of loose ends. It's still good and better than most, but GTA demands a certain degree of excellence that Gay Tony fails to reach, in my opinion, of course - before this gets treated like fact as well.
 
The dialogue is still fantastic, though.

I thought TBOGT was fair.  It wasn't spectacular, but it was far from bad.  This is of course comparing it to IV and TLAD and being fair in the GTA universe is still miles ahead of many other games out there, many that cost a lot more than $20. The dialogue and scenes are still amazing and *most* of characters are top notch.  
 
When Ryan said it was looking out dated, I disagreed whole heartedly.  Yes, it's using an older engine but for what it does, it still looks great.  I liked Luis as a main character. He wasn't whiny like Jimmy and kept  a cool head in all regards, much like Carl did in San Andreas. The only real issue I had with TBOGT was they didn't spread out the missions.  
 
They had 3 helicopter missions in a row and then three parachuting missions in a row and so on.  If they mixed them up, it owuld have been better IMO.  Still, over all it was a great game for what it was.

Opinions are opinions and nothing can change that.

" The only real issue I had with TBOGT was they didn't spread out the missions.    They had 3 helicopter missions in a row and then three parachuting missions in a row and so on.  If they mixed them up, it owuld have been better IMO. "

If you don't listen to the Bombcast, you are a bad person.

I don't always agree with their opinions, but I won't stop listening because I am not in favor with some of their ideals. The podcast is great and you can use your own judgment for a game and rationalize the discussions, it's as simple as that. As long as you aren't a sheep of their opinions you should be ok. If you are, then you should jump from a rooftop, because with that behavior you won't do any good to our society.

Avoid opposing points of view at all costs!

While I did enjoy The Ballad of Gay Tony a lot more than it seemed Ryan did, I certainly would talk his opinion over yours if I haven't played it yet.

Yes, we already know. Ryan was way off in his review.

His opinion is unfounded because it's different than yours, right. Why don't you just write a review rather than moan about it, and say Ryan's wrong. This expansion is based on a game that's almost 2 year old, things have changed. Why is it laughable that people have made better games in the time since GTA4 came out?

Opinions are great.

Nah, listen to it.  I disagreed with most of it but I still like to hear what other people took from a game.
 
The main thing that stood out to me was the talk about the over-use of epithets compared to the OC and TLAD.  I took that to be a deliberate theme in the game, stemming from the title itself:  the protagonist doesn't use them and always rolls his eyes, chastises or throws them back at anybody else whenever they use them - he's also the only character (from what I've played so far) that isn't portrayed as a total loser.
 
I didn't feel like the Brucie scenes were played for laughs this time around, I found them quite uncomfortable to watch.  Brucie became an actual character rather than the characature he was in the OC.  Kinda like the development from Bernie to Gay Tony (the introduction of the Bernie character was the moment I realised I hated the GTA4 storyline btw).  It felt like Rockstar were tearing down a lot of the bullshit cliches they built up in GTA 4 and I found that very refreshing.
 
Yusuf took Brucie's old 'just for laughs' position in the game and, imo, trumped him handily.

GTAIV felt dated when it came out in 2008. It feels even more dated now.

So because Ryan dislikes TBOGT more than you, I shouldn't listen to the Bombcast? I'm still gonna get it whether Ryan likes it or not. Certainly not a reason stop listening to the only thing capable of making my Wednesday morning commute enjoyable.

well gta4 it's self is an awful game and I can't believe an add-on to it would make it any better

" If you don't listen to the Bombcast, you are a bad person. "

" @natetodamax said:

" If you don't listen to the Bombcast, you are a bad person. "

Then I must be a horrible person since I've only listened to two or three bombcasts. Never more than 20 minutes too. It's more fun to play games than listen to guys talking about games.   Back on topic though. I think TBOGT is much better than both the original story and TLAD, atleast so far. "

Ryan hated on The Ballad of Gay Tony.
 
Ryan loved Rabbids Go Home.
 
Obviously, Ryan is a raging Wii fanboy and is only hating on TBOGT because of that.
 

" It's okay Ryan tends to hate on everything I noticed, but then again multiple Uwe Boll movies in a row would make me hate the world too. "

" It's more fun to play games than listen to guys talking about games. "

I don't support not listening to the Bombcast, but if you wanted to make your point you probably could have just given the time frame they talk about BOGT and tell people to skip that section.

" Kinda like the development from Bernie to Gay Tony (the introduction of the Bernie character was the moment I realised I hated the GTA4 storyline btw). "

Having played every GTA game besides London and Chinatown Wars, the series is never the best at anything it does. They always seem a step behind. That being said they are always fun.

"

I don't support not listening to the Bombcast, but if you wanted to make your point you probably could have just given the time frame they talk about BOGT and tell people to skip that section.

"

i'm pretty sure i can disagree with the man and still enjoy the bombcast... how many times do these guys have to tell you that it's just an opinion before you get it through your head? there's a reason they allow user reviews on this site, if you disagree with Ryan on the game's quality, write a review, dont whine about it and try to mask your bitching as a boycott of some kind.

" If you don't listen to the Bombcast, you are a bad person. "

" Opinions are opinions and nothing can change that. "

Opinion vs opinion woooooahhh

Whoa Whao Whao... 
 
People have different opinions?   
 
Mind blown.

I'm confused as to how you listened to the Bombcast and didn't understand the score (at least from his point of view).
 
Bad characters
Lame story
Clunky gameplay
 
Ryan didn't review GTA4 so who knows what he thought of it. Everyone agreed that the fundamental gameplay of GTA4 had aged terribly in the 18 months that its been out. Since its release Saint's Row 2, InFamous, and even Red Faction have made huge improvements to the open world style gameplay and mechanics. The thing that separated GTA was the amazing story and characters, unfortunately TBOGT has neither.

I kind of agree, when he said Rockstar is slipping i was kinda confused. All there games up to TBOGT were amazing and Ryan was the only reviewer that didn't like it.  
Personally i thought this episode was the best episode it reminded me of the fun i had in San Andreas with all the crazy missions and stuff.

HOLD THE PHONE YOU MEAN SOMEONE HAD AN OPINION ON A GAME GOD DAMMIT!

I did not write this post to bash Ryan. I just want to tell people not to be discouraged from buying this game due to Ryan's super negative comments.

" I'm confused as to how you listened to the Bombcast and didn't understand the score (at least from his point of view).  Bad characters Lame story Clunky gameplay  Ryan didn't review GTA4 so who knows what he thought of it. Everyone agreed that the fundamental gameplay of GTA4 had aged terribly in the 18 months that its been out. Since its release Saint's Row 2, InFamous, and even Red Faction have made huge improvements to the open world style gameplay and mechanics. The thing that separated GTA was the amazing story and characters, unfortunately TBOGT has neither. "

" I'm confused as to how you listened to the Bombcast and didn't understand the score (at least from his point of view).  Bad characters Lame story Clunky gameplay  Ryan didn't review GTA4 so who knows what he thought of it. Everyone agreed that the fundamental gameplay of GTA4 had aged terribly in the 18 months that its been out. Since its release Saint's Row 2, InFamous, and even Red Faction have made huge improvements to the open world style gameplay and mechanics. The thing that separated GTA was the amazing story and characters, unfortunately TBOGT has neither. "

Ryan hates on a lot of things.

Oh no!  Ryan Davis has a different opinion then you!  Thanks for warning me...  Now I won't listen to the bombcast.

" This cant be your game of the year because its not even a game, its DLC, I was going along with what you were saying until you added that little statement at the end which exposed your stupidity, looks like im gonna side with Ryan on this one. "

" If you don't listen to the Bombcast, you are a bad person. "

" Ryan hated on The Ballad of Gay Tony.
 
Ryan loved Rabbids Go Home.
 
Obviously, Ryan is a raging Wii fanboy and is only hating on TBOGT because of that.
 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

And if you believe the above line of reasoning, or anything similar to it, you're an idiot.  Welcome to the world of differing opinion.

"