Another trip to Liberty City.

Last night I finished the main storyline for The Lost and Damned, the DLC that came out recently for GTA IV. I think this is definitely some of the best DLC that has ever been released for a game. At a price of 1600 MS Points, it's definitely one of the more expensive ones but it is completely worth it. The main storyline took me about 7.5 hours to complete with an overall completion of 65%. I probably have another hour or two of side missions to finish to get 100%. That would give me a total of 9-10 hours, which is a steal at $22.00 CDN. I've paid $60 or $70 for a game and barely gotten that much.

This time around you play as Johnny K, a member of the Lost biker gang that Niko had some run ins with in the original GTA IV storyline. The original president of the chapter has just been released from jail/rehab and and you are now forced to do what he thinks is best for the gang despite how much you disagree. The storyline does sort of follow a predictable path but it is very enjoyable and I almost liked it more than Niko's story.

The one thing the game does very well is link Johnny's story with Niko's. You run into some of the same characters such as Niko himself, Roman, Liz Torres, Playboy and Ray Boccino. Some of the missions you play even link directly to the main game, i.e. you are the one who kidnaps Roman, they mention that Niko kills one of your brothers and you even play through the same mission you did with Niko but from Johnny's point of view. I really liked how they did this.

Some of the other additions include some new music. I couldn't tell you how much exactly as I usually just listen to Liberty Rock but there was some new songs on there for sure. They've also introduced a grenade launcher and an assault shotgun, which may be my absolute favourite weapon in a GTA game ever.

The only problem I had with the game and is not a criticism of it but more of my skills, is that there is more bike combat, i.e. having to shoot people while riding your bike. Let's just say, that's not the easiest thing in the world for me to do but it's not something that lessened my enjoyment of the game.

Overall, I am more than impressed with this DLC and cannot wait for the next one. GTA IV was my game of 2008 and this just expands and improves the games. A definite 5/5 in my books.