Lost and Damned is Right

Published February 20, 2009

The Grand Theft Auto IV™: The Lost and Damned™ add-on, exclusively on Xbox 360®, is now available on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace. This is no mere two-hour game extension, but a fully-realized storyline that rivals the length and breadth of many a retail game.

Johnny's ready for the spotlight.

The Lost and Damned is very much its own standalone product, as Rockstar switches gears from Niko Bellic to The Lost biker gang member Johnny Klebitz, using its award-winning Liberty City to delve into an entirely new criminal lifestyle. The game comes complete with an all-new cast of characters, a few familiar faces, side-missions, brand-new activities, new multiplayer offerings, 250 new Gamerscore worth of achievements, and more.

Billy's outlaw exuberance is not so easily tempered, despite his assurances to Liberty City's finest.

Wild Bill
The Lost and Damned begins with the beer-swilling, drug-abusing, sociopathic wildman leader of Liberty City's The Lost biker gang chapter, Billy Grey, turning over a new leaf, swearing off temptation and murder so he may lead a life of quiet sobriety in his post-rehab years. Well, not really.

Billy's outlaw exuberance is not so easily tempered, despite his assurances to Liberty City's finest, and with his newfound freedom comes a raging hunger to taste the illicit pleasures denied him behind bars. This isn't good news for the add-on's main character, Johnny Klebitz. Klebitz has spent the last few years leading The Lost biker gang away from random chaos and into criminal profitability.

The story follows the explosive events after Billy's release from jail, events that shake the foundation of the gang and shatter Johnny's world. In short, Johnny's saga grabs you by the throat with the same mixture of unforgettable moments and thrilling intensity as did Niko's journey.

You mess with Johnny, you mess with The Lost.

Gang Mentality
Unlike Niko, Johnny is a member of a gang, and this band-of-brothers mentality touches nearly every facet of the expansion. Whether it's the gang's clubhouse, filled with fellow gang members in the midst of oft-humorous debauchery, the way gang members ride in V-shaped formation through the streets of Liberty City, always careful to fall behind the "ride captain," or how even ancillary gang warfare finds Johnny on the rumble, this story is as much about The Lost gang as it is about Johnny.

This mentality spills over into new game mechanics as well. For example, when riding with gang members during missions, a badge will appear on the ground. Ride on the badge and you'll earn a health boost. Your fellow gang members each have their own stats, and if they survive a battle, they'll earn bonus "Toughness," allowing you to build up a more powerful complement of allies.

Extracurricular Mayhem
In addition to The Lost Clubhouse, where Johnny can watch brand new TV shows created exclusively for this add-on, engage in arm wrestling, play card games and, of course, sleep to advance time and save the game, Rockstar has added plenty of additional activities and side missions.

• Racing with bats: Not long after starting the add-on, you'll earn access to a series of twelve motorcycle races. Unlike the standard race to the finish line affairs in GTA IV, The Lost and Damned mixes things up by granting Johnny a bat with which to bash opponents off their ride mid-race. There are few things more satisfying than hitting a slow-motion stunt jump in a race and thumping a rider in mid-air.
• Gang war: In addition to Johnny's story-related duties, he must also stave off the Angels of Death motorcycle gang in a series of twenty-five Gang War battles. Trigger these side missions to roll with your buddies, hunt down the often mobile Angels and rip them to shreds. This also works great for building your fellow gang members' Toughness ratings.
• Stealing bikes: It just wouldn't be GTA without a little, well, grand theft auto, and sure enough, Johnny can unlock a series of side missions to liberate a number of exotic bikes from their owners and return them safely to his illicit contact for a tidy finder's fee.

Stop staring, and start riding!

Niko Connection
Dedicated Grand Theft Auto IV players may recall Niko's run-ins with The Lost, including a botched drug buy with Johnny Klebitz himself. The connection isn't lost on Rockstar, and while this is very much Johnny's story, the developers have woven bits and pieces of Niko's saga into the story. Seeing Niko's influence on Liberty City from a fresh perspective is a rewarding experience.

New Tunes
Music has always cut to the heart of the Grand Theft Auto experience, and Rockstar has taken the opportunity with The Lost and Damned to inject a new helping of tunes into the game. This includes six songs developed exclusively for GTA from DJ Statik Selektah. Beyond Selektah's contribution, the new music follows a more hardcore line, befitting the new biker theme. Expect more metal (death metal included), punk, and even more aggressive hip-hop.

New Gear
The add-on also introduces new weapons and vehicles, nearly all of which fall in line with Johnny's more grizzled, ruthless nature, not the least of which is his one-of-a-kind chopper. By the way, you won't have to worry about permanently losing his ride should you blow it up on accident or dump it in the water. It always reappears during the next mission.

Whoops, muscle cramp!

Additionally, Johnny has access to a fully automatic pistol, sawed-off double barrel shotgun (perfect for blowing rival gang members off their bikes), pipe bombs, and even a grenade launcher. Of course, a number of new bikes have been added to fit the biker gang theme. And, you can call Clay at any time to deliver these motorcycles to your location.

Cars, trucks and the like haven't been forgotten, either. You'll get your hands on a prison bus in one memorable mission, as well as a few cars inspired by or directly imported from previous GTA games not available in GTA IV.

Standbys
It's worth noting that The Lost and Damned offers no limitation on Johnny or Liberty City. Nearly everything you could do with Niko, Johnny can do too. This includes going drinking, playing darts or pool, hitting up a strip club, patronizing gun shops, taking advantage of Pay N' Sprays to avoid police detection and the like. There's even new landmarks to visit, and an air hockey mini-game to play while hanging out with friends.

New on Xbox LIVE
While Johnny can certainly find more than his fair share of activities to participate in with his virtual friends, Rockstar has added substantially to the multiplayer offerings you can take advantage of with your real buddies on your Friends List over Xbox LIVE.

Billy's just a shade unpredictable.

• Club Business: This cooperative game finds you and your friends traveling all over Liberty City, completing missions for The Lost gang member Angus.
• Lone Wolf Biker: One lone biker attempts to avoid a whole pack of enemies focused on bringing him down.
• Chopper vs. Chopper: This bike versus helicopter game mode has one player dodging and weaving through the streets in an attempt to clear checkpoints before a gunship helicopter shoots them from on high.
• Own the City: This territories-based game requires each team to find, capture, and hold territories in a quest to take over the city.
• Witness Protection: Similar in theme to Cops n' Robbers, Witness Protection pits one team of gang members against a team of N.O.O.S.E. officers trying to protect a witness protection bus.
• Races: These motorcycle races play out just the same as Johnny's offline counterpart, but with bats!

Standard deathmatch and team deathmatch modes are available as well. Grand Theft Auto IV introduced multiplayer to the franchise, and Lost and Damned helps cement that multiplayer commitment from Rockstar.

The Lost and Damned for Grand Theft Auto IV, available exclusively on Xbox 360, has set a new and remarkable standard for downloadable game add-ons, delivering what amounts to another standalone GTA game. This is the bright new future of downloadable content. Now get ready to romp through Liberty City like never before. The Lost are waiting.

Article by Ryan Treit