Grand Theft Auto 4 Episodes from Liberty City (XBOX 360)

Gamecow’s Price	RRP $69.95     Save $6.00 $63.95
Availability
Genre	Action Adventure
Platform	XBOX 360
Release Date	29/10/2009
Rated

Grand Theft Auto 4 Episodes from Liberty City (XBOX 360) Product Information

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City delivers two games on one disc -- the all-new episode The Ballad of Gay Tony and the first episode, The Lost and Damned -- together on disc for the first time.

THE LOST AND DAMNED -- Johnny is a veteran member of The Lost, a notorious biker gang. Johnny has been creating business opportunities for The Lost in Liberty City, but his first loyalty must be to the patch he wears on his back and to Billy Grey, the club's President. However, when Billy returns from rehab hell-bent on bloodshed and debauchery, Johnny finds himself in the middle of a vicious turf war with rival gangs for control of a city torn apart by violence and corruption. Can the brotherhood survive?

THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY -- Grand Theft Auto IV's second episode injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime. As Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (aka "Gay Tony"), players will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price.

Grand Theft Auto 4 Episodes from Liberty City (XBOX 360) Review

We’ve experienced a hell of a lot in Liberty City. Rockstar have done a superb job of expanding its life by showing gamers different worlds within the city. With Grand Theft Auto IV we were told the story of an individual through Niko, a Russian immigrant with nothing to his name. With The Lost and Damned, we joined Johnny as he fought his way through gang warfare on the rough streets of LC. Then, with The Ballad of Gay Tony, we see the rich take on the rich in an exclusive world of friendship and family through the eyes of Luis Lopez. Are the travels through the city worth it and will we want to visit again?

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is essentially a full GTA game. While it is, at its core, two separate stories, you’re going to get roughly 40+ hours of gameplay when you combine the two. When you compare that to Grand Theft Auto IV, you’re spending about the same amount of time roaming the streets of Liberty as you were in our adventures with Niko. Consider the fact that you’re getting Episodes at a discounted price and you have one of the best value-for-money games on the market. Yet game length and price shouldn’t determine whether or not you buy a title. It ultimately comes down to the gameplay, the experience, the replayability, the accessibility and the depth.

Each of the three Liberty City experiences are substantially different from one another. If that’s not obvious through which protagonist you’re controlling, then it’ll be through the people you meet and the missions you take part in. Rockstar have been able to create three completely different plots that somehow mesh together to form one unified narrative. It’s not at all necessary to play any of the three to understand the others, but for the sake of the characters and the city (which is a character in itself), you should do yourself a favour and play GTA IV followed by the two episodes in order.

If you’ve played GTA IV, you should do yourself a favour and get Episodes from Liberty City. Both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony aren’t barebones GTA experiences. It’s quite clear that Rockstar had a planned method of attack for telling the Liberty City story and they’ve done it with precision and innovation. While GTA IV might be the most narrative and character driven experience in this story, The Lost and Damned is the most intriguing and The Ballad of Gay Tony the most exciting. There’s a fluid progression from one story to the next and it really helps make Episodes more than just an expansion pack, but instead its own genuine, full-blown continuation.

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is a great way to experience both of the great Liberty City episodes. They are two very different experiences that tell two very different stories. Both have their own level of enjoyment, and when you factor in that you’re getting roughly 20 hours of gameplay with both episodes, you’ve got the potential for 40+ hours of gaming, not including multiplayer. The revolutionary gameplay returns with new weapons, new activities, new multiplayer modes, new characters and a whole new way to see Liberty City.

Full review MY360