Published: Rockstar
Developed: Rockstar North
Genre: Action Adventure
Release Date: October 29th, 2009
Price: $39.99
Reviews
Edge - 9
Included are:
Metacritic: 90
Story
The story begins with Johnny Klebitz and all the members of the infamous biker gang, The Lost Motorcycle Club, driving through the night streets of Liberty City. In a brief cameo, Niko Bellic, the main character of Grand Theft Auto IV, swears at a passer-by on the street as the gang drives past.
Johnny is the vice president of the gang, but has been the acting president for a year because the club's president, Billy Grey, has been in court-ordered rehab after being arrested for narcotics possession. As leader, Johnny has established The Lost throughout Liberty City by making truces and deals after suffering several financial troubles, mainly caused by Billy's poor leadership. The most notable truce is with The Lost's rivals, The Angels of Death, which has allowed The Lost to operate their drug deals and gun running operations more freely.
On being released from rehab, Billy immediately reverts to a life of crime and thus tensions quickly grow between Billy and Johnny, who believe the gang should go different ways. Johnny wants to keep the gang running smoothly, deeming war with other gangs as immature and bad for business, whereas Billy prefers acts of random violence and mayhem. As such, Billy quickly breaks the truce established by Johnny and a gang war erupts between The Lost and The Angels of Death, which serves as the main basis for the game. Along the way, Johnny becomes involved with Ray Boccino and the infamous diamond deal seen in Grand Theft Auto IV. Johnny also has to deal with his ex-girlfriend, Ashley, a drug addict who constantly gets herself into trouble.
Eventually, Billy is arrested after a failed drug deal with the Triads and Johnny takes over as President of The Lost. This immediately sparks a civil war in the gang, one side with Johnny, the other with Brian Jeremy, who is still loyal to Billy and believes Johnny to be responsible for Billy's arrest. Brian stages a coup against Johnny in which most of the Lost are killed, but Brian escapes. Johnny later arrives at Brian's safehouse and kills him along with the last of his goons, ending Brian's own chapter of the Lost. Shortly after, it is revealed that Billy is going to testify against the Lost in exchange for entering the Witness Protection Program. Johnny leads a raid on the state prison in Alderney, where Billy is being held, and personally executes him. Immediately afterwards Johnny discovers that Jim, a married man with a child and a trusted veteran of The Lost, has been killed in retribution for the botched diamond deal earlier in the game. The end reveals that the only surviving members of The Lost are Johnny, Clay, Terry and Angus. Their club and brotherhood destroyed, they decide to burn their clubhouse to the ground. The last shot is of them watching it burn, contemplating what comes next. Ashley promises Johnny that she will go to rehab, with Johnny wishing her luck.
Multiplayer Additions
- Witness Protection - One team is The Lost biker gang and they must try to eliminate a bus carrying witnesses while the other team is NOOSE who try to protect the bus as it delivers the witnesses to police stations around Liberty City.
- Race - Racing on bikes with racers carrying bats and smashing each other, similar to the video game Road Rash.
- Lone Wolf Biker - Free for all ****mode where one player is the Lone Wolf and all other players must chase and kill that player to become the Lone Wolf. At the end of the game, whoever was the Lone Wolf for the longest time, wins.
- Own the City - Try to gain control of the city section by section, based on San Andreas' gang wars.
- Club Business - Like the original Mafia mode in GTA IV, but with a total of 8 players riding together as one gang. You receive calls from Angus who tells you to carry out certain tasks for The Lost.
- Chopper vs. Chopper - Helicopter vs bike. Bike rider tries to get through checkpoints while the helicopter tries to stop the biker.
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Reviews
IGN 9.2
IGN UK - 9.2
IGN UK - 9.5
Story
The Ballad of Gay Tony follows the exploits of a new protagonist, Luis Fernando Lopez, a member of the Northwood Dominican drug dealers and the personal bodyguard of Anthony Gay Tony" Prince. Rockstar Games claim in their press release that this episode "injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime" and that "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."
Multiplayer Additions
Grand Theft Auto IV's newest episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony, won't just build on the game's already strong single-player portions. There are all-new multiplayer goodies coming, including tanks, helicopters and parachutes, as shown in similarly all-new screen shots. Rockstar Games goes far enough to call the additions a "complete overhaul" to GTA IV's multiplayer modes. With new "tighter" deathmatch maps, kill streaks and kill assists on top of choppers and 'chutes, it may be justified in making those claims. We'll know for sure if Grand Theft Auto IV's multiplayer suite is worth revisiting on October 29 (but watch for our review to hit just before that). For now, enjoy the fantasy of parachute enabled multiplayer mayhem.
Trailers Ballad of Gay Tony Reveal Trailer: Yusus Amir Trailer Gay Tony Trailer "There's Always A Girl" Trailer Meet: Armando & Henrique / Brian Trailer Weazel News Trailer Fizz News Trailer
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