Hi all. I downloaded the DLC “The Lost and Damned” for GTA 4 on the Xbox 360 yesterday (when it was first released). Unforunately, I won’t have any time for a couple days to get to play it (and even when I do find the time, I’m currently working my way through Morrowind on the PC for the first time, and that gets priority).
So - has anyone else downloaded and tried it out yet? If so, what do you think? If not, are you planning on getting it at some point?
I played through the opening cinematics and the first few minutes of the game yesterday before bed. My initial impression was that I was glad that they made riding a motorcycle far less frustrating than it was in the original GTA 4. Whereas I loved riding the bikes in GTA: San Andreas, I really avoided them in GTA 4, because any slight bump would send you spinning into a light pole or flying over your handlebars. In the Lost and Damned, they feel more like they did in San Andreas.
Another cool feature is that you now have gang members who can help you on missions. Apparently, they start out unskilled, but the more experience you get them, the more proficient they become. Plus, they can also die, which forces you to recruit another unskilled noob biker. I really like the quasi-RPG/strategy element that this adds to the game. There’s another related game dynamic where you ride in a pack with your gangmates - there’s an icon overlaid on the road that travels with the gang, and if you keep your bike on it while riding, you get to talk with your other gangmates, and also get minor armor repairs done.
What I didn’t like was that the default appearance of the game is a weird washed-out look, as compared to GTA 4. From what I’ve read online, though, apparently this is an optional filter that can be turned off. I certainly hope that’s the case.
Cool. Let me know what you think. (I probably won’t get into it until next week or so.)
What was your opinion on the GTA 4 base game? I’m assuming you must have liked it somewhat, or you wouldn’t be planning on DL’ing it, but how much did you like it?
I liked GTA4 very much, though not as much as San Andreas. I finished the main story missions, but I can’t be bothered to go back and replay it now (unlike San Andreas, which I actually fired up again about a month ago). While GTA4 was a very impressive technical accomplishment, it felt somehow kind of empty to me, probably because the side missions were crap. Saints Row 2 has much better side missions, both in their variety and their playability. I’m hoping that Lost and Damned puts that missing something back into GTA.
I love Grand Theft Auto 4 and I had stopped playing it for a while despite not finishing it. I picked it back up after fiddling around with it multiplayer with some people on my Gamertag, and forgot how much fun it was. So I picked it back up and started playing it semi-regularly. Man, Grand Theft Auto 4 would have been one of the all-time greats if only they made the multiplayer experience better.