Review: The Lost & Damned (360)

I’m going to avoid any type of point system, grading system, overall totals for now. I may unearth an old rating system I used to use after GameSages, but I’d rather have a plain old review out first with a closer on whether or not I recommend the game, and sooner or later come across a proper system, if anything.

Heeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!

The Lost & Damned is supposed to be ushering in a new era of downloadable content (we’ll forget Operation: Anchorage since it doesn’t exist imo). Content that uses the existing world or game engine for a new adventure. A new reason to put that old disc in the tray and do a lot of new things with something old. Grand Theft Auto IV was already a huge adventure in a huge world, with a lot to do. Rockstar’s first “episode”, The Lost & Damned, takes the world of GTA IV and gives it a whole new story, one that’s priced at 1600 points. Even though it can feel like a short experience, it’s one that is good enough to spend $20 on.

Sparing details that may lead to spoilers, you control Johnny Klebitz, a member of a biker gang called The Lost, and taller twin of Niko (not in story, by character model). Throughout the roughly 8-10 hour story, Johnny will face many of the typical curveballs that a Grand Theft Auto storyline throws at you, and then some. If you’ve played through most of GTA IV, you will definitely see quite a bit retold through a different setting.

I hope you like Choppers and other motorcycles in general, cause you're going to have to ride one most every mission, race and Gang War you come across.

While you are given new activities to persue, and different ways to kill time, you have to search out all the old spots again, as they do not show on the map outside gun shop and car repairs shops. Initially, I thought they were all inaccessible because they were not revealed to me ahead of time. You’ll have to either remember where things were, or if you’re like me, look left at the Liberty City map on my door. There are some omissions, however. Jump into a police car, and you cannot access crime computers, only the ability to call for backup. If you’ve been long tired of darts, pool and other activities from before, The Lost & Damned does open some new doors for you.

The bike racing games are particularly cool. Reminiscent of Road Rash, you have to go from one point to another through multiple laps, while being able to smack off opponents with a baseball bat, all the while avoiding the same done to you. If the routes were not built around some annoying bends and corners, this would be a nice full speed smack-a-thon that keeps you hooked for long periods of time. One of the other new additions to Lost & Damned, Gang Wars, feels like San Andreas’ version of that, where you go to a certain destination, and kill your rivals. The big difference is in San Andreas, you are doing it to take over physical portions of territories. In Lost & Damned, you are doing it mostly to do it. There’s no property disputes, land chunks for The Lost to control. Mindless fun, but nothing new nor spectacular. There are other smaller games, like arm wrestling (why?) and hi-lo. No where as memorable or re-playable as pool or bowling, but it’s something new to do.

Congressman Stubbs is one of the key players you come across in The Lost & Damned. If you're thinking something from viewing this picture, the answer is yes....

Multiplayer seems like an afterthought. To make matters worse, I have not been able to join any ranked or player matches nor create them, so this is just information on what I read off Johnny’s cell phone until I can actually get into a game. I’ll amend this review to reflect my experiences once I get a chance to experience it. You have your cool Free Mode, which is mindless fun, though with little point. Deathmatch and Team variant is back as well. Races is present with bikers against bikers (if it’s something like the story mode races, this would be fun with other people). Club Business is a co-op mission based multiplayer mode. Witness Protection is a team based game that sounds similar to VIP games (protect one designated person or the game is over) and Own the City is a territory game around team play. Finally you have Lone Wolf Biker, which I’d love to try out. From the description, it looks as if one person is a biker on the run from every other player, and the person that last the longest on the road wins. Of all modes available, Lone Wolf Biker seems like one with a bit of replay value.

If only multiplayer would work for me.

If you don’t spend a bit of time within races or wars, you will find this to be a relatively short experience. I spent over an hour doing races to get the 69 achievement, as well as about 45 minutes or more racing around doing Gang Wars, but in the end, I still ended my play through a little under 10 hours and over 63% copmpleted. What’s more disappointing is that you don’t feel emotionally invested in Johnny until the very last missions, and by then, it’s over, and you want more than what you received. In some ways, this feels a little bit like Liberty City or Vice City Stories, where the characters were essentially throw away protagonists put in a familiar city, but at least you start to care about what happens in the next segment of the story for Johnny Klebitz, even if it’s too late. At least those two games were ‘full’ adventures that lasted more than 10 hours.

Johnny and The Lost leader Billy, discussing their 'brothers' in The Lost over some warm apple cider.

Even still, I can’t help but to enjoy The Lost & Damned. The biker gang storyline and feel of it all seems like a good fit into this version of Liberty City. I didn’t expect a 30 hour DLC, nor did I think the story would be as fleshed out and descriptive of it’s characters like San Andreas or IV. I expected a small story in a beautifully created world that would capture me and let me enjoy Liberty City in a slightly different way, and I got just that.

It can be debated whether 8-10 hours is ‘too short’ for a 1600 point extension of a world we’ve been in once before. Many critically acclaimed video games over the last 15 years had short gameplay timers to them, at $40 – $60 a pop (Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, Prince of Persia 360/PS3 are good examples) and many saw past that shortcoming because the experience was worth it. For $20, a different romp through the same streets of Liberty City, with a new cast of characters (and some returning), new short story, new activities, a huge world and some unfortunate omissions from IV, there is still enough good to warrant the purchase. As for the beginning of ‘the future of DLC’, it’s a good start. But with a game like GTA IV, it’s really not a struggle to come up with a new and different story when you have a ton of land and characters to work with. If Episode Two can add just a little bit more longevity to the story, and perhaps make us care about it’s next star, then maybe that will be the new and true measuring stick to which other companies will use to expand on their own games.

Recommended? - If you enjoyed Liberty City in general, and the time you spent with Niko and the gang, there’s no reason why you should pass up another visit. Although it’s not the longest experience, it’s still an entertaining and worthwhile one that at 1600 points, isn’t a steal, but a good deal. Johnny Klebitz may become an afterthought in the minds of many GTA fans, but you are given enough to care about taking a trip with The Lost and feel that your money wasn’t wasted.