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A Liberty City Minute
A Liberty City Minute
Posted by Dekko on Feb 25th 2009 00:16
Jonny Klebitz is an interesting character, a man who in his youth has stuck two fingers up to society only for life and maturity to catch up with him and the all or nothing fight & die credo of his beloved motorcycle club is becoming something akin to a headache.
The club president Billy (and Jonny’s closest friend) has just become a free man after a period at His Obama’s Pleasure and the peace of LMC’s recent life under the stewardship of Vice President Jonny is shaken as the boss is back & takes charge in all the old ways.
Jonny shakes his head but mounts his bike, gun ready but heart not in it. Is there a civil war on the horizon?
This is the main character of Rockstar’s first Grand Theft Auto IV expansion pack; The Lost & Damned, a 360 exclusive and worth every dime that Billy Bob Gates shelled out.
Yes, you are a whole different character in a whole different part of town with a wholly different outlook on Liberty City compared to our dear East European cousin Niko.
The game recognises this down to the last detail with even the menu now having a meaner red & black biker look & does Liberty City look that little bit grainier?
Naturally you’ll still be solving things via the medium of ammunition through cranium and generally being a nuisance or the game wouldn’t be GTA but this time, as a biker, you get a new slant on the ‘A’ of GTA.
As a biker in a motorcycle club motorbikes are, naturally, very important and your ride is no different; a suped up chopper!
The bike handling has been tweaked so you're not hugging the side of buildings on every turn (handbreak turns work a treat) and you avoid cars with a natural ease, it gives the game more of a biker feel as Jonny can stay on his bike, an experienced rider compared to Niko who'd just grab whatever was on offer and speed off.
It appears that there is a greater bike to car ratio than there is in the main game, which is fine by me.
As for new rides well yes there are a wealth of new bikes in all sorts from choppers and cruisers to the standard sports bikes and the very sexual scooter. Beep beep.
The pack like most expansions introduces new weapons into the game, such as the sawn off shotgun but my personal favourite happens to be the grenade launcher, the biker element seeming to have ignited some Terminator 2 weapon lusts in those good ol' devs (sawn off, grenade launcher but no mini gun?).
The add on gives you the usual main story missions which will take you about ten of your Earth hours, then add all the side missions & friends and you get another eight then add the new multiplayer modes which include 'Witness Protection' and 'Bike Races'.
'Bike Races' must get a special mention as they are basically a next gen GTA Road Rash!!!!
The game isn't just all about more (all though it obviously does this & does it well) it also gives you a good feel of the size & depth of Liberty City & all its inhabitants making the city even more of a living, breathing experience than it was originally.
Everything otherwise is GTA IV, the new missions are good & varied, you have a mobile with which to contact friends for missions, weapons & vehicles or just hanging out, incidentally the voice acting is as superb as ever.
It's GTA people but with a biker's slant and you must try it out, nothing beats riding in formation (especially when you lead!) and cruising through the mean streets of downtown Liberty. Why if you beep your horn your brothers in arms will beep theirs too; what more does a man need?
There we have it and just like a gay 'woman' who has had a sex change and is sitting on This Morning trying to explain her relationship & her self lubricating body parts despite looking exactly like a dude in a wig so will you be; as lost for explanations as you try to explain away why you do not have this game!
First reaction: cool!
One hour in: this bike is awesome!
Long term: if you love GTA you can't go wrong.
Overall: 9 out of 10
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Mister X said: (Feb 26 2009 at 17:10:26 GMT)
like road rash you say? now i think i'll buy it. good review as always mate
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