Grand Theft Auto 4 was a game that, while great, suffered from being way too long and repetitive towards the end. By the end of the Niko Bellic story I thought I was done with GTA4 for sure but the first episode of Xbox360 exclusive DLC intrigued me enough to give it a download. I'm glad to say that that was a good decision on my part.
TLAD
sets you up as Johnny Klebitz who is the vice president of a
motor-cycle gang in Liberty City called "The Lost". Within the first 10
minutes of TLAD you start to see where developer, Rockstar, excels. In
it's cinemetography, voice acting, character design and story setup.
The game starts right after, chapter president of The Lost, Billy Grey
gets out of rehab and takes back position of leader of The Lost.
Previous to Billy being released, The Lost were a pretty chilled out
bunch doing what had to be done to take care of Billy and pay the bills
etc. As soon as Johnny gets knocked out of command tention builds
between him and Billy.
Without
giving to much away, I'll just say that the tone and overall mood of
the game changes dramatically. In the beginning of the adventure you
and your gang brothers feel happy and excited to be reunited with their
leader and in the end I'll just say that things don't go over so well
for The Lost and Billy Grey.
My
big problem with Niko Bellic was that at the start of his story he came
to Liberty City to start over and get ahead of his past of killing and
dealing but in the end he just turns right back around and does
anything that anyone tells him to do as long as they pay. Johnny never
did anything that seemed unlikely for that character. Some characters
from GTA4 including Mr. Bellic return but most of the drama in TLAD
revolves around the status of The Lost as an organization.
As
you would probably expect from a game based around a biker gang, you
will be riding a lot of bikes throughout. If you're like me and had
trouble riding bikes and not crashing all over the place in GTA4 then
don't worry because the bikes have been improved and now feel heavier
and less fragile. Argueably some of the best moments in TLAD were when
you were riding as a pack on your chopper and listening to the chatter
of your gang brothers over some classic rock song.
In
my opinion TLAD has a better story, better characters and a better
length but would not have worked as the main story of GTA4 for a few
reasons. For one, their were no moral decisions throughout all of TLAD
which played a major role in GTA4. If you play it how it was meant to
be played you will be driving motor-cycles pretty much the whole time.
I think I drove a car maybe 3 times and never once drove a boat or
heli. There were also no girlfriends, I think only like 2 buddies to
hang out with (that never called me) and only a few things to do
outside of story missions (multiplayer aside).
As
far as adding things to GTA4 goes, there were 50 some new tracks, a few
new (awesome) weapons including a fully automatic pistol, a grenade
launcher and an almost fully automatic shotgun and some new visual
stuff. Still takes place in the same Liberty City albeit the most
undiscovered, last part island of Liberty City, Alderney. TLAD also
adds some new multiplayer modes which I'm not going to go into because
I don't plan on laying them anytime soon.
TLAD
works as it's own thing as apposed to an addition to the Niko Bellic
story well because it offers something different and thats what
Rockstar needs to continue doing with their DLC. TLAD offers a great
story and cast of charcters that you will care about the whole time
you're playing. For people that liked GTA4 all the way through or for
people like me that liked GTA4 until it got too long, The Lost and
Damned is a great way to spend $20.