Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned (Day 1)

http://gta.wikia.com/wiki/Websites_in_GTA_IV

* Logged in six and a half hours yesterday. Like the original GTA IV, I'm not fucking around here, people. I'm about halfway through the main story, the races, and the gang wars. In case you had any doubts about this expansion, let me tell you now: you're going to get your money's worth.

* Like the main character, Johnny, and the actor playing him (like GTA IV, the acting is top-notch). Niko was a little too humorless for my tastes, and Johnny is a welcome change of pace. Not digging the story much, though. There's nothing wrong with it, exactly. The writing is just as good as in previous games - but it's too similar to previous GTA stories, especially Vice City and San Andreas, with no surprises yet. Well, except for the full 3D rendering of a wang. I wonder how the more reactionary elements of our media will react to that one.

* The Lost and the Damned's biggest success is the motorcycles. I haven't had the need or the desire to drive a car once since starting the game. There are plenty of new bikes to play with, and existing bikes from GTA IV feel all together new, because Johnny can stay on a bike like a fedora can stay on Indiana Jones's head (as where Niko could be thrown off a bike by a very light breeze). Along with the addition of a sawed-off shotgun - merely O.K. on foot, but absolutely devastating for drive-bys - Lost makes you feel like you and your mates truly own the road.

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