GTA4- The Lost and the Damned (Now with more full frontal nudity and reviews!)

News-

2/16/09-

Kikizo is also confirming that there is full frontal male nudity in the game. Rockstar has never been shy about creating controversy.:P

2/12/09-

There is another new trailer out for the game:

Business is Business

1/30/09

Gametrailers has a new trailer for The Lost and the Damned called "Johnny".

Release Date: February 17th

Reviews:

Eurogamer gives it an 8/10

Kikizo gives it a 9/10

Team Xbox gives it a 9.7.

Achievements:

A bunch of hands on impressions for GTA4's The Lost and The Damned DLC are out today. It is sounding pretty great.

IGN-GTA IV: The Lost and Damned Hands-On

Depending on skill level and amount of time you spend messing around, Rockstar expectsThe Lost and Damnedto take anywhere from 12-20 hours to complete. And that's just the single-player story. For $20 (1,600 MSP), L&D offers a full-fledged campaign, new locations, new mini-games (arm wrestling!), refined gameplay mechanics, new vehicles, new weapons, a hefty new soundtrack, new DJs, new TV shows, new Internet sites, and new multiplayer. One thing's for certain: Rockstar isn't ****ing around with horse armor.

To access The Lost & Damned, boot up a copy of GTA IV and start a new game. You can now choose between GTA IV and L&D. Though both take place in Liberty City, the two are separate stories and separate game worlds, meaning you don't gain access to the new interiors in L&D if you're playing GTA IV. You can't take Niko into The Lost clubhouse to kill a bunch of bikers, sorry. Aside from the initial download, you won't need an Xbox Live connection to play L&D. Unlike some downloadable content, there's no online verification required. So if the 'net goes down, you can still take L&D for a spin

IGN

Kotaku-Hands-On With Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost And Damned

What's Unique About It?
Johnny's already established in Liberty City. He won't be building relationships with the burg's low-life. Johnny and The Lost already have reputations, they already have safehouses to squat in. And they already have enemies.

The Lost And Damned's most obvious changes are new bullet point additions like new weapons, new vehicles, new interiors, and new radio, internet and television content. Johnny has access to weaponry previously unavailable to Niko, including an automatic 9 MM pistol, a sawed off shotgun, an assault shotgun, a grenade launcher and pipe bombs. You'll get access to the fun-to-fire grenade launcher in the mission "Action/Reaction," in which Johnny does serious damage to his rival's clubhouse, thanks to a stream of grenades.

Rockstar reps pointed out that some of the game's new music and radio chatter will be tailored toThe Lost And Damnedexperience. That translates to new music for the game's rock, hardcore and metal radio stations and a little less so for the jazzier, more world beat stations. Think more "Ace of Spades" by Motörhead, less Dizzy Gillespie.

There are even new mini-games (arm wrestling!) and still unannounced multiplayer additions on top of the already revealed changes, neither of which we got a chance to play during our hands on time.

Less obvious additions help to differentiateThe Lost And Damnedfrom Niko's trip through Liberty City. Menus have a distinct, grungier look, with a new grittier film-grain effect giving Johnny's story a more appropriate visual styIe. Even his cell phone looks more bad ass. Rockstar has also added more weight to the expansion's motorcycles — all of them, not just the choppers — to make riding a little easier on the player.

Kotaku

Gamespot

We grabbed the controls at this stage and set about walking Johnny around to see how different a character he was to Niko. He certainly acted differently onscreen, exhibiting a unique set of mannerisms from what we were used to with Niko. The first mission we took on was called Action/Reaction, in which Billy ordered the Lost to attack the Angels' clubhouse in retaliation for the supposed murder of a young Lost member (fans of GTAIV, however, will remember that it was actually Niko who capped that biker in the No Love Lost mission). Johnny starts the mission off with a grenade launcher, pegging an explosive through the Angels' clubhouse window to start the pain. Plenty of Angels then stream out of the building, starting a large firefight with the five or so members of the Lost who are acting as backup. After the opposition is cleaned up outside, Billy and Johnny make their way into the clubhouse to finish off the remaining Angels. In the basement, Billy orders another Lost to take the Angels' stash of heroin, prompting Johnny to suspect that revenge was never Billy's motive for the attack.

GS

Kikizo

Eurogamer

Games Radar

Gametrailers has a new trailer for The Lost and the Damned called "Johnny".rragnaar

You linked to a Quicktime file. That's even worse than linking to GameVideos.com.

[QUOTE="rragnaar"]Gametrailers has a new trailer for The Lost and the Damned called "Johnny".UpInFlames

:cry::cry::cry:...blah blah blah...:cry::cry::cry:

Deal with it.:P

Deal with it.:Prragnaar

I went and watched the old trailers for the first time now. Wow, this feels like a completely different game. I didn't get a 'this is just more Grand Theft Auto IV' at all. It's incredible how a theme change can potentially change everything.

[QUOTE="rragnaar"]Deal with it.:PUpInFlames

I went and watched the old trailers for the first time now. Wow, this feels like a completely different game. I didn't get a 'this is just more Grand Theft Auto IV' at all. It's incredible how a theme change can potentially change everything.

Given my usual situation, I haven't heard the audio yet, and have just watched the trailer, but I'm excited for this. I think the motorcycle combat should provide some hilariously good times.

[QUOTE="rragnaar"]Deal with it.:PUpInFlames

I went and watched the old trailers for the first time now. Wow, this feels like a completely different game. I didn't get a 'this is just more Grand Theft Auto IV' at all. It's incredible how a theme change can potentially change everything.

Yeah, they are totally raising the bar on downloable content. Of course, Microsoft paying for the whole thing might have helped, but seems like they could have sold this stuff on a disc and it wouldn't seem like a total rip-off.

When is this going to be available guys? I want it nao!GodModeEnabled

February 17th...

There is another new trailer out for the game:

Business is Business

This is coming out tomorrow, who else is picking it up? I'm a little surprised at how few people I know in the real world actually know about this. I was talking to some of my 360 owning buddies the other day and I mentioned how much I was looking forward to this, and they had no idea what I was talking about.

There is another new trailer out for the game:

Business is Business

This is coming out tomorrow, who else is picking it up? I'm a little surprised at how few people I know in the real world actually know about this. I was talking to some of my 360 owning buddies the other day and I mentioned how much I was looking forward to this, and they had no idea what I was talking about.

rragnaar

[QUOTE="rragnaar"]

There is another new trailer out for the game:

Business is Business

This is coming out tomorrow, who else is picking it up? I'm a little surprised at how few people I know in the real world actually know about this. I was talking to some of my 360 owning buddies the other day and I mentioned how much I was looking forward to this, and they had no idea what I was talking about.

SteelAttack

Word. I don't have my XBL Gold account yet, but apparently GTA4 online play will be free for everyone for the rest of the week.

Eurogamer gives it an 8/10

With a fulsome single-player campaign that will soak up somewhere in the region of fifteen hours of your time while threading in a genuinely memorable story, and a pile of new distractions, there's no question that Rockstar has raised the bar on what players should expect from downloadable content. This isn't the short burst of simulated history that Operation: Anchorage offered Fallout 3 fans, or the quirky asides of Fable II's Knothole Island. Instead, it's approaching the kind of package most developers would have few qualms about boxing up and selling to you full-price as an entirely new game.

While the company's talent with stories suggests the day may be approaching when GTA runs up against the inevitable limits of openworld titles - a Scorsese-quality narrative, where characters are happy to spend their time driving around in klutzish dodgem cars - for the moment, the trade-off still works. That's why, for now at least, you'll be more than happy to come along for the ride.

Eurogamer

Kikizo gives it a 9/10

I can't say I like The Lost as much as I adore the Bellics, and in single player I would like to have seen some of the AI a little sharper on occasion, but really there's not much to complain about with The Lost and Damned, and we've not even touched on other additions like new music, new DJs and new TV content. Even the pesky grain effect that covers the screen in thepreview version we played last monthis something that can now be turned off. It's without a doubt one of the best downloadable game expansions ever made, and a truly worthy addition to one of (if notthe)defining titleof this generation to date.

Kikizo

Team Xbox gives it a 9.7.

Overall,Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost & Damnedsets an amazing standard for what downloadable content can do. It doesn't just extend theGTA IVexperience, but actually builds upon it while feeling fresh and different. If you're aGTAfan it's a must-play, and will only get you excited about what Rockstar has up its sleeve for the next episode in the compelling saga of Liberty City

TeamXbox

Kikizo is also confirming that there is full frontal male nudity in the game. Rockstar has never been shy about creating controversy.:P

IGN has impressions of the singleplayer campaign.

They say the story and the grain filter are not so good, and that everything else is fantastic, as someone who loved the bikes in the old games, this tidbit got me really really excited.

Several crucial gameplay tweaks were made for L&D. The most notable is a major tweaking of the motorcycles. Anyone who playedGTA IV can tell you that the bikes can be a **** to handle and that it's easy to get unseated from your ride. Because L&D stars a biker, things needed to change. Every bike handles better in L&D and a healthy number have been added so that there's plenty of variety available in Liberty City. More importantly, it's incredibly difficult to be thrown from your bike now. You pretty much need to run head-on into a wall to get tossed. You can bounce off medians, smack against other cars and pretty much run roughshod over Liberty City with little concern for being unseated.

What many found an annoyance, is now a great asset. Not only are the bikes easy to handle and fun to ride, but they are so quick and nimble that the very thought of jacking a car in L&D makes me ill. In fact, I just threw up in Greg Miller's lunchbox. This, of course, has to be exactly what Rockstar wanted (for bikes to be more appealing than cars, not for me to chuck all over Miller's Lunchables). You are, after all, playing a biker. Being in a car is like being in a coffin.

IGN

is also confirming that there is full frontal male nudity in the game. Rockstar has never been shy about creating controversy.:Prragnaar

[QUOTE="rragnaar"]is also confirming that there is full frontal male nudity in the game. Rockstar has never been shy about creating controversy.:PSteelAttack

I do think developers need to start pushing the limits of what they can do in games. If a game has a 'mature' rating, it should be able to hang out with its wang out. If this industry is ever going to be taken seriously, it needs to be able to do the things that film and literature have been doing for decades. I'm not saying I want full on porn in my games, but developers need to have the same freedoms that film makers have.

[QUOTE="rragnaar"]is also confirming that there is full frontal male nudity in the game. Rockstar has never been shy about creating controversy.:PSteelAttack

That's territory that could have stayed unexplored as far as I'm concerned. *Shrugs* But I don't even have an X360, so I'll never see the content in question and videogame makers should face no more limits than movie makers (there has been full frontal male nudity in R rated movies) so I support Rockstar's move in principle.

Too bad LatD is X360 exclusive. It looks like a really incredible piece of DLC that will add a lot to the GTA4 experience.

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the clip of the actual male nudity on 1up.com. I just don't understand why they would still cover female strippers breast yet have no problem showing male genitalia.martialbullet

It's sad that sexism still exists in our society. I'm expecting the feminists groups to stage a rally in Times Square protesting the censorship of something as pure and as beautiful as a stripper's breast.

[QUOTE="martialbullet"]I couldn't help but laugh when I saw the clip of the actual male nudity on 1up.com. I just don't understand why they would still cover female strippers breast yet have no problem showing male genitalia.S0lidSnake

It's sad that sexism still exists in our society. I'm expecting the feminists groups to stage a rally in Times Square protesting the censorship of something as pure and as beautiful as a stripper's breast.

The new content sounds and looks awesome, can't wait to get it. Also kudos to Rockstar for pushing the envelope like that. While I haven't seen the nudity in question for The Lost and the Damned I know the nudity in the movie Eastern Promises in the "shower scene" didn't offend me nor did it diminish the film's quality so I don't think games should be any different.Archangel3371

To me, that shower scene only ENHANCED the film's quality.

This is actually not unprecedented even in video games. In Manhunt, you can see Piggsy's genitalia dangling about which only adds to the character's completely grotesque and disturbing appearance (picture a naked fat middle-aged man with a pig's head wielding a chainsaw...and you face this beast completely unarmed). It's not totally explicit, but visible.

I will also echo the sentiment of showing full frontal male nudity but covering up strippers as being completely mind-boggling.

This just is more of the same damn thing over and over again...

Sights and Production Values, always stellar. But missions = same old scripted chase and shoot. Why couldn't there be more unique missions like kidnapping that girl who tries to drive you off the road, or picking up the diamonds in the trash bag?

[QUOTE="Archangel3371"]The new content sounds and looks awesome, can't wait to get it. Also kudos to Rockstar for pushing the envelope like that. While I haven't seen the nudity in question for The Lost and the Damned I know the nudity in the movie Eastern Promises in the "shower scene" didn't offend me nor did it diminish the film's quality so I don't think games should be any different.S0lidSnake

To me, that shower scene only ENHANCED the film's quality.

The new content sounds and looks awesome, can't wait to get it. Also kudos to Rockstar for pushing the envelope like that. While I haven't seen the nudity in question for The Lost and the Damned I know the nudity in the movie Eastern Promises in the "shower scene" didn't offend me nor did it diminish the film's quality so I don't think games should be any different.Archangel3371

To me, that shower scene only ENHANCED the film's quality.

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"][QUOTE="S0lidSnake"]

To me, that shower scene only ENHANCED the film's quality.

smerlus

[QUOTE="smerlus"][QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"] Translation: I enjoy looking at naked guys! :D Anyways like others I find it out that showing a breast is considered taboo but full on male frontal is ok. Uh.. alright. Regardless this DLC looks badass, who dosent want to see part of a biker's wang? Im so in on this.SteelAttack

The day that a ******** and labia (the female equivalent of a penis and testicles) is shown in a game, or even the theaters for that matter, will be a cold day in hell. A few films have attempted it (Harold and Kumar 2 for instance) and were immediately slapped down by the MPAA and forced to censor.

To give you an idea of how taboo the female genitalia is, the word "********" is actually automatically censored here while penis is not.

Moderator Note: While I am aware of the point you are trying to make, please don't bypass the censor. Thanks.

It's an awesome game but unstable as hell. It's already frozen up on me several times, causing me to have to reset the system and lose progress. I've run into people having the same issue so hopefully they patch this ASAP.

It's an awesome game but unstable as hell. It's already frozen up on me several times, causing me to have to reset the system and lose progress. I've run into people having the same issue so hopefully they patch this ASAP.

Grammaton-Cleric

It is a little frustrating to see that Rockstar released a buggy game again. I'm glad developers can patch games, but I think it allows for too much lazyness. I don't like paying full price to be a glorified beta tester.

[QUOTE="Grammaton-Cleric"]

It's an awesome game but unstable as hell. It's already frozen up on me several times, causing me to have to reset the system and lose progress. I've run into people having the same issue so hopefully they patch this ASAP.

rragnaar

It is a little frustrating to see that Rockstar released a buggy game again. I'm glad developers can patch games, but I think it allows for too much lazyness. I don't like paying full price to be a glorified beta tester.