Review by: Jeff McAllister

It took some time, but Rockstar has finally delivered on a promise the company made to Xbox 360 owners and have released what is coined as “epic episodic content”. The Lost and Damned is the first of two scheduled downloadable content packs that bring a new story, characters, weapons, vehicles and missions to the enormous, gritty and bustling metropolis of Liberty City.

TLAD focuses on The Lost Motorcycle Club and its few main members. The President, Billy Grey is released from rehab during the opening sequence and is reintroduced to the Vice President and main character Johnny Klebitz, and the rest of the gang, Brian, Angus, Jim, Terry, and Clay.

Calling TLAD a simple DLC is a little misleading. The game is so much more than an expansion to GTA IV and along with the new additions, it adds about 12- 15 hours of gameplay, something that some full retail games don’t even deliver. Although it may be thought of as a little pricey at 1600 MS Points (about $20), it is worth every dirty penny. The main story follows Johnny and Billy as they butt heads about the direction the motorcycle club should take.

While TLAD introduces some new things like better bike handling – which thank goodness finally came around because there are a ton of missions that require it – new contacts, new radio shows, songs and new weapons, such as pipe bombs, a grenade launcher, and an automatic pistol; the majority of the game mechanics are the same as those known and loved from GTA IV. Other returning features include the ability to call up friends and contacts on your cell phone and spending time doing activities like playing air hockey. Calling your henchmen Terry or Clay will bring them on missions as back up or will have them set up ambush points.

Angus will arrange bikes for you to steal but unlike GTA IV you don’t need to keep spending time with your friends to keep them in favour, however calling the boys for back up repeatedly will increase the damage they do for future missions they are called out on. Unfortunately there is one new addition to the expansion that does make things a little – well, quite frankly, ugly. When the game first loads up, you may notice the visuals looks a little grainy. TLAD has a gritty visual filter that makes the game look as though it is being shown in an older movie style. Thankfully the option can be turned off and I highly suggest doing so. It adds nothing to the experience and takes away what made GTA so beautiful in the first place.

As you make your way through the twisting plot, you will encounter some familiar faces and places. The timeline of TLAD coincides with the time frame as the main story and some missions will intertwine with each other. As you may or may not recall, Johnny popped up, as well did some other members of The Lost, in the main game and the missions show the other side of what happened during those times. It really is comforting to see some of the old cast reappear, such as Niko and Roman, and to see why and how certain events came to be. All of the missions, which like the main game scale from insanely difficult to laughable easy, are varied enough to keep the game fresh throughout and you are always given the option of side jobs, gang wars and street races in case things start to get a little stale.