Grand Theft Auto 4: The Lost and Damned (Xbox 360)

[aruljothi]

   Release Date: 02/17/2009
ESRB Rating: Mature
Genre: Action
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar Games

The Lost and Damned delivers more of everything that defines the venerable Grand Theft Auto series: car chases, firefights, kidnappings, colorful characters, and controversies (more on that later). It's still the same Liberty City, but the character development of the new protagonist, Johnny Klebitz, and Billy Grey, president of the eponymous biker gang The Lost (and one of the better characters to appear in the series), helps this DLC feel worth it. Together they tell an engaging story about brotherhood, responsibility, honor, sacrifice, and knowing when to walk away from a fight.

Don't assume that because your character is billed as being part of a biker gang that you're immediately a badass for hire. For the first-half of this expansion, you do ordinary errands: go here, deliver that, and steal this. Missions start to feel repetitive and lack innovation; an issue the series has struggled with throughout its history. Nine times out of ten they end in a familiar firefight or car chase. Johnny only comes into his own later in the story, but by then the eight-hour adventure has already started to draw to a close.

Side missions, races, and wars with other gangs help prolong the game's life after you've finished the story, though. And while The Lost and the Damned may not offer much you haven't done before in a GTA game, it does finally address the series' much-maligned lack of mid-mission checkpoints. Death now results in you respawning at the last checkpoint, minus any ammo or armor you'd used, instead of having to restart from the beginning. You also get a bunch of new weapons to unleash on the streets like an automatic pistol, grenade launcher, and automatic shotgun. The new artillery helps make firefights more fun, with the added bonus of making it pretty likely things end in a beautiful fiery explosion. Too bad you still have to discard weapons after they run out of ammo -- a particular nuisance after paying $10K for a rocket launcher.

The much talked about missions that crossover with GTA4's main story don't bring as much to the game as hoped. Sure, it was cool to see Niko again, but not during two of the more frustrating missions from GTA4: Blow Your Cover and Museum Piece. On the other hand, it was cool to serve as the catalyst for others like Hostile Negotiation and Taking in the Trash.

Beyond the missions, though, Rockstar has improved the way you interact with the cast and characters. The Lost members Terry and Clay stand at the ready to provide back-up for you at a moment's notice, with a bike if you get stranded or a van full of discount priced weapons when you need a reload. Niko got similar perks over the course of GTA4, but it's nice to have these guys at your back, practically from the very beginning. The DLC also makes use of the other members of your gang. Bring them along with you on missions and they gain experience, eventually making them much more useful in a firefight. Just make sure they don't die, or all of your hard work in upgrading their talents will go to waste.

[pradeep prem]

gta is really amazing game
this game should have some work of gangster to finish it