This is a compilation of two side-stories set in the world of Grand Theft Auto IV, exclusive to Xbox 360 even though the game is out on many platforms.
The first part - The Lost And Damned - had been available as downloadable content for GTA IV for quite a long time, but the second part - The Ballad Of Gay Tony - only became available at the same time as this compilation.
The compilation is out as a standalone game, available on discs in shops. I decided to buy my copy this way as I could find a better price this way, and because there is limited space available for DLC on my Xbox 360 hard drive.
I played it last year, before Christmas, but only decided to do a write-up today. ^_^
My opinion:
The Lost And Damned (TLAD) was horrible to play. It's all about a biker gang and its members. I didn't find the story interesting, I hated the way those big American Choppers (i.e. motorcycles) handle (it's realistic! They handle like armchairs! Armchairs with broken wheels!), I didn't like the scenario, I didn't enjoy the random abusiveness of characters, and after the main GTA IV game it was just depressing to play another protagonist whose life just gets worse and worse as you play the game. The additions to the main game are not too good, and a lot of things seemed like they were made deliberately inconvenient. By the end of the episode, 10 in-game hours had passed and I was thinking "60% done? Oh no! there's so much more to go!" :( That sums up my feeling about the game.
Tips about TLAD: the moment you get a chance, switch off the movie camera effect, and the game is far more playable - you will actually be able to see well enough to aim! Also, use handbrake turns everywhere and the bikes become a little more bearable.
The Ballad Of Gay Tony (TBoGT) however, was a lot of fun. Maybe even more fun than even the main game (GTA IV). It's got an overall more uplifting story, much much funnier side characters, and I got to like the cool music a lot more than the biker's rock station, which was a surprise to me. In TBoGT, you play as a man who works for a nightclub owner, in fact, he's more of a business partner. You're the straight man; the one who keeps Tony from going over-the-top, as his personality leads him to. That's not to say you are boring; you're his man for driving, racing, piloting, skydiving / base jumping, gunfights and other exciting action type things. Plus as pastimes you can be a cage fighter, or get drunk and dance with women and have casual sex with them... which might not be your thing but it's a lot better than what they gave you in TLAD: arm wrestling and playing a card game which I can only think of as "Play Your Cards Right" after the TV game show. ^_^;;
There's also a system in TBoGT where you can go back and replay levels after you've finished the game, in order to get a better score. I thought that was a good idea.
Overall: I really like the way that a lot of the stories in the main game and these episodes are interlinked and woven together. However, I could honestly have done without TLAD. TBoGT is definitely a star game though, and I think it made up for the price of the compilation (NB: I got it half price!)
