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Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

User Reviews about Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

This Game Is Extremly Fun To Play! Ride The Subway, Steal A Car, A Boat, Or A Helicopter! Shoot, Runover, Blow Up, Stab, Punch, Kick People, Its Fun! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!! BUY IT!!! NOT FOR KIDS!!! -- VIOLENCE? HELL YEAH!

Well written stories and great graphics partner up with well evolved game play to provide one of the best game experiences to date. If you don't like violence, play a different game... otherwise purchase without fear. -- GTA continues providing fun

"Episodes From Liberty City Stories" is comprised of two games that were originally only available via downloading. They both use the world, gameplay, and story of "Grand Theft Auto IV". If you can stomach some of the problems with these two games, then this will be a fine addition to your collection.

The Two Games included:
* The Lost and Damned
* The Ballad of Gay Tony

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The Premise
* Both games take place during Niko Bellic's criminal activities from "GTA 4". Although both have their own unique story, they will often center around what happened with the diamond heist that went horribly wrong in "GTA 4".

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The Story
* "The Lost and Damned" chronicles the turmoils of a biker gang, currently led by Johnny Klebitz. However, when gang president Billy comes home from prison, Johnny clashes with Billy's more violent, care-free way of doing business.
* "The Ballad of Gay Tony" tells the story of Luis Lopez, a man who was saved from a lowly life of crime by Tony Prince, owner of the hottest nightclubs in Liberty City. But Tony's indiscretions and personal demons force Luis to get involved with some dangerous people to keep the businesses - and his personal & working relationship with Tony - stable.

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Gameplay
* "The Lost and Damned" is heavily based around running with the biker gang. You often ride with other gang members to complete missions, your home is the L&D bar, and several members are available to call for backup or sell you weapons. Most of the missions take place in the state of Alderney.
* "The Ballad of Gay Tony" is mostly based in Algonquin, since that's where Tony's businesses and dealings are. You have your own safehouse and more fanciful wardrobe, and the gameplay is more similar to "GTA 4" where you tend to be more of a solo operator with some friends on the side.

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Side Activites
* Both games feature unique mini-games outside of the main story. Because "Lost and Damned" is mostly based around the gang, your side activities revolve around them. You can fight Gang Wars, where your crew will try to take out some competing gangs. The biker hangout allows you to arm wrestle, gamble on a hi-low card game, and just hang out.
* "The Ballad of Gay Tony", on the other hand, allows you to fight in an underground fight club, do some baseline jumps off the skyscrapers, shoot at the golf driving range, help a couple of old friends with Drug Wars (take out the competition), and watch over one of Tony's nightclubs.

Either title's minigames are good and bad. It's nice to watch over a nightclub, but it gets repetitve. I love playing hi-lo, but you can't increase your gambling wage. The Gang and Drug Wars are very fun, but they don't do much except increase your completion percentage.

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Which Game Is Better?
* I prefer "The Ballad of Gay Tony" in almost every way. I think controlling a motorcycle in any of the "GTA 4"-based games is annoying (though it's probably more realistic than past "GTA" games). I love doing missions in Algonquin (the Manhattan-inspired city), but pretty much hate doing missions in Alderney (the Jersey-inspired state). "Ballad of Gay Tony" is a more colorful story and world overall, whereas "Lost and Damned" features a more grungy, hardrock kind of backdrop. I had a hard time telling the L&D gang members apart; in "Ballad", I never once forgot who anybody was. I enjoyed the minigames in "Ballad" more than the activities available in "Lost".

Overall, I thought "The Lost and Damned" was a pretty good, whereas "The Ballad of Gay Tony" was even better.

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OVERALL
* Now, I want to be clear about this: Both games are good, and both are worth playing. I just thought that "Ballad of Gay Tony" had a more compelling lead character in Luis Lopez, and the story flowed smoother from start to finish, especially since many characters play a part in the main story. In "Lost and Damned", I knew where the gang's infighting would lead, and I wasn't terribly surprised by the conclusion.

The great thing about "Episodes From Liberty City" is that both games are unique enough that there will fans of both. The bad side is that I believe players are gonna really like one, and feel indifferent towards the other, just like I did.

The sad part about this is that even when you combine the games together, there still isn't much to do compared to "Grand Theft Auto IV". The characters were deeper, the story more surprising, and the things to do to kill time more plentiful. These two expansions had a lot to live up to, and for the most part, they're satisfying add-ons.

I recommend picking this two-pack compilation up. Both "The Lost and Damned" & "The Ballad of Gay Tony" are good games. Just don't expect the masterful epic that was "GTA 4". They weren't meant to surpass that game in the first place.

THE LOST AND DAMNED = 8.0 / 10
THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY = 8.5 / 10 -- A Worthy Companion Piece To "GTA 4"

Great addition to an GTA collection. I wish i could have got this for the ps3 but i ordered the item when it was only released for the 360. -- Awesome game...

hello my Name is George I am from Georgia my friends when they are coming in the home they all are playing this game because it's interesting and best cualite
thanks. -- Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City