Video game downloadable content has always been considered something extra, an insignificant piece of software that does little to enhance the gaming experience. Over the past month or so Bethesda Softworks (Fallout 3) and Rockstar Games (Grand Theft Auto IV) have tried to change that perception, with the releases of Operation Anchorage and The Lost and the Damned respectively. Both of these add-ons make an attempt at expanding on the original retail title and changing the way gamers look at the three letters: DLC. We can’t write a standard review for The Lost and the Damned DLC because it simply is not a full game, even though it is longer than some of the trash publishers put out these days. For a little background on the original game, Grand Theft Auto IV,
click here to check out the review, posted middle of last year. The Lost and the Damned is easily the best piece of downloadable content (DLC) we have ever played through, read on to find out why every adult gamer should add this to their purchase history today.
Simply put though this downloadable content does not need much introduction; Grand Theft Auto IV was one of the best games released during 2008. The Lost and the Damned (LATD) DLC takes everything that was amazing about the retail game and pushes it into a brand new experience. Rockstar priced the downloadable episode, which is exclusive to the Xbox 360 console, at a reasonable $19.99 or 1600 Microsoft Points. Liberty City was a huge city and the possible storylines are endless for talented developers such as the ones at Rockstar; LATD is the first of those plot lines. It revolves around main character/badass Johnny Klebitz, who is the vice president of fictional biker gang The Lost. The total playtime in the Lost and the Damned tops out around 10 hours or so; this includes 5 hours for the main plotline and another 5 for side-missions, extracurricular activities, etc. Never once did we feel as though we had overpaid or been ripped off by the price of the downloadable content, it’s a great value as far as playtime goes.
The cast of characters (biker gang members) includes a “recovering” drug addict president, a loose-lipped gun salesman, a strung out girlfriend, ass-kissing prospect, and a ton of other fantastically enjoyable NPCs. Everything about the storyline feels new and never once reminded us of our time with Grand Theft Auto IV, other than the obvious same environments and gameplay. Every minute of the main story quest is filled with backstabbing, murder, foul language, and other insanely adult-intended topics. The Lost and the Damned makes the original retail game look like an episode of Sesame Street; this is not a bad thing. Anyone who thinks being in a motorcycle club is anything short of hardcore violence, sex, and rock-and-roll does not need to download this add-on. That being said as long as you can handle the mature themes it is one of the most enjoyable cinematic experiences available on any system to-date.
Taking the “hot coffee” situation to an all-new level the Lost and the Damned includes a full-frontal male nudity scene, about ¾ of the way through the main story. Voice acting talent and in game cut scenes are both of top-notch quality, helping to remind players why Grand Theft Auto IV won so many awards when it was released. The new DLC doesn’t really have much room to grow considering the technology it’s based on but it does just as good of a job as the original game did, if you loved it you will love LATD even more. There are a good number of different mission types as far as the main story goes. Everything from leading some crooked cops into an ambush to taking down a helicopter with a rocket-launcher is available to those who spend the points and download the new content. When the final credits rolled we only wished there was more content to play, never once thinking that what we had just experienced was not good enough. Because the Lost and the Damned revolves around Johnny as he gets into trouble with his other bike gang members the main mode of transportation is of course a motorcycle. Rockstar has talked a lot about how much effort they put into making sure controlling said vehicles would be much improved over GTA IV and gamers would actually want to drive them.
We never would have guessed it but they actually pulled it off, driving a motorcycle in LATD is a whole lot better than it was in the original disc-based game and we found ourselves using them exclusively during the play session. The developers also added in a good bit of new content, be it the arm wrestling mini-game or slew of new weapons to unleash on your enemies. There were times during the story that we laughed out loud, a couple times when we cussed out loud, but for the most part we just sat there gaming with an enormous smile on our faces. If there was one complaint on the story it would only be that because of the limitations of the DLC there wasn’t enough time to flush out the plotlines as much as they needed to be. Some of the missions are really hard so thankfully the developers came to their senses and included the option of retrying a mission in the middle, a la the “checkpoint” system; thank you! Make sure to finish all of the bike races included in LATD because the new “Road Rash” style racing is as fun as it gets in Liberty City.
As if all this wasn’t enough Rockstar decided to include some new multiplayer content into the Lost and the Damned as well. New modes like Own the City, Club Business and Witness protection keep with GTA’s multiplayer tradition of offering games that are more complex and more fun than stuff like team deathmatch (which is still included along with others). There are also new options for getting into multiplayer instantly with your in-game cell phone that allows you to skip the lobbies. At the end of the day we thoroughly enjoyed this first attempt at changing the way gamers perceive “downloadable content”, it included all the elements of a full retail game for a third of the price. If you own Grand Theft Auto IV and consider it one of the better games of last year there is no reason you should not go download the Lost and the Damned right now. We are hoping that it will also bring some new fans to the franchise via the Xbox Live Marketplace and we are all waiting with anticipation to find out what Rockstar is going to do with the next downloadable episode.
Final Verdict: Buy
