GTA expansion graces Xbox with reliable play

The game is worth the cost.

By Chase Koeneke

Published Feb. 23, 2009

In 2001, a controversial game made its way to PlayStation 2. Its name was "Grand Theft Auto III," and despite its bar-setting open world gameplay, the only coverage it received was focused on its crude and violent nature. The game would go on to sell more than 14 million copies and put the "GTA" franchise on the map, spawning sequels such as "Vice City," "San Andreas," two PSP spinoffs and "Grand Theft Auto IV."

Flashing forward to 2009, Rockstar Games has just released its newest iteration of the franchise with "Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned," a downloadable expansion to its fourth numbered game in the series. Like its older brothers, "Lost and Damned" changes little from its predecessor in the basic gameplay, but the new story and small refinements will have gamers clamoring to return to the streets of Liberty City.

You'll step into the shoes of Johnny Klebitz, vice president of biker gang, The Lost. The gang's president, Billy, is just getting out of the pen and is undoing all the hard work Johnny has done to make the The Lost a more upstanding and efficient group. Egos clash and -- without giving away too much of the story -- Johnny eventually becomes responsible for leading the The Lost and dealing with the new messes that Billy has caused.

Although bikes (and by bikes, I mean the motorized kind) have been included in every GTA since "Vice City," no previous game has made them as centralized as "Lost and Damned." Riding with your gang grants you benefits and gives you insight into the lives of your fellow bikers. Furthering the "brother mentality" of a real gang, you can call for assistance from other Lost members. Fighting alongside your leather-clad amigos "hardens" them making them more effective the next time you need to call upon them. Also, being the two-wheeled veteran he is, Johnny is much more proficient in riding bikes than previous GTA protagonists, which is reflected in the new motorcycle physics of "Lost and Damned".

Even though the bike physics, character and story are different, everything else in "Lost and Damned" remains largely unchanged -- both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, you'll still be cruising around the gorgeous and lush Liberty City, which even the grandiose "GTA IV" could not fully explore. But we're still stuck with old GTA conventions such as bad targeting and wonky character movement, which sours an otherwise sweet purchase.

Speaking of purchasing, "Lost and Damned" is only available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. Sorry PlayStation and PC owners, but so far, the hog-riding downloadable content is exclusive to the 360 and has yet to be announced for anything else.

Is "Lost and Damned" worth it? The price of entry is $20, relatively expensive to most things found on the Marketplace, but when you weigh in the fact that it's equivalent in size to about a third of a retail GTA game, $20 can actually be considered a bargain.

Despite its affordability, "Lost and Damned" won't bring any new gamers into the GTA fold. If you don't like the franchise, "Lost and Damned" won't do anything to get you interested. If you already own a 360 copy of "GTA IV," it's absolutely worth it to pick up the new expansion. For those who are curious about GTA, it's difficult to recommend "Lost and Damned." If it were a standalone product, the price point would make it excellent for newbies to dip a toe, but because it requires a copy of "GTA IV" to play, you'd ending up spending a lot on something you don't know if you'll even enjoy. Those looking to get into the franchise should start with "Vice City" or "GTA IV" before jumping into the non-refundable downloadable content.