You must be doing something right if episodic downloadable content for a game that was already certain to be included on a must-play games list is, itself, a must-play game. That's exactly what Rockstar did, not once, but twice with Episodes from Liberty City, two new stories for Grand Theft Auto IV, the first of which is The Lost and Damned.
Johnny Klebitz leads the Lost MC in the absence of its president Billy Grey, and the two are not quite seeing eye-to-eye on how it ought to be run, and when a game is set in Liberty City, you just know that means something violent and illegal is about to occur.
Saddle up and get ready to experience an even grungier side of an already pretty miserable city.
Fun Times
According to my PlayStation Trophy list, I never bothered to play Episodes on my PlayStation 3. It was released as a standalone game, a complete package of more GTA IV stuff for you to sink your teeth into, but for whatever reason, I didn't find myself buying or playing it.
As such, it would be late 2017 when I first came around to playing The Lost and Damned, because I knew it was on this 1001 list, I knew it'd be pretty good, and I guess I was finally in the mood to see what it was about.
You play as Johnny, the VP of the Lost MC, welcoming the return of Billy from prison, if I recall, only he doesn't have a bike anymore. We probably should have been on top of things, but in true GTA fashion, this allows us to see the sights of the city through the dirty brown filter of a motorcycle club, covered in oil and beating the shit out of anyone who looks at you funny as we try to find Billy's bike.
Like GTA IV, those problems are of your own making as much as they stem from the city you live in and the company you keep. Johnny would prefer to ally with other biker gangs and just sell a load of drugs, but Billy is more concerned about the Lost's standing and making sure they're top dog.
And so, shotgun in hand, you get busy trying to solve your problems in whatever way is appropriate, at any cost.
For once in GTA, it will cost. Gang members can level up, sort of, and become more useful to have beside you in missions, in the thick of the fight, but they can also wind up dead as a result of the over-the-top activities you engage in.
On the whole, though, you're still doing much of the leg work yourself. You can't really sit back and let the gang get on with things. You are their Vice President, though, so you ought to set some examples and lead from the front.
As the story goes on, which weaves in and out of the story of GTA IV, such that you'll recognize a few moments and even interact with Niko from time to time, you'll find yourself doing more of the same. The Lost and Damned does offer something new to GTA in terms of the biking side of things, but off the bike, there's nothing too revolutionary going on here. If you like how GTA IV plays, you'll like how The Lost and Damned plays.
Frustrations
Having last played this in 2017, I have very little idea what's going on in any of my screenshots from the time. I recognise Johnny, obviously, but there's another controversial Johnny that steals this scene with Tom Stubbs, a corrupt politician (is there any other kind in GTA?) who somehow gets involved with our biker gang.
Not perverse sex acts, not even flashing in public, just a politicians penis swinging in comfort behind closed doors. Won't someone think of the children?
The problem you might face is that GTA IV does have its own feel when it comes to how it controls - a little sluggish, a little weighty. It takes a little bit of time to get on top of its quirks, and if you're trying to get on top of it while riding a bike that exposes you to the ragdoll crash physics in an instant, it might take a longer time than you might want.
Having said that, these bikes are at least weighty enough to not go too wild and kill you at every corner, and as the game goes on, you'll definitely find yourself in a rhythm when it comes to assaulting folks from a bike seat, rather than out of a car window.
I, of course, was all too familiar with the black and white filter of the Wasted screen, succumbing to all kinds of injuries and incidents, some of my own making for sure. That's the way it goes sometimes. Rock up to an objective unsure of what you're doing, die, hope you've triggered a checkpoint to try again quickly, then try to not do the same thing this time around.
It really is like GTA on two wheels. Explosive, entertaining, annoying. A lot is going on.
But I've no idea what's going on with the plot. These screenshots were taken too long ago to live in my memory, my notes, as ever, too vague to be useful. Save for the final sentence or so: "Got a bit fed up at the bloody sticky bomb controls. Just throw it at the massive van like I want, eh?"
My last screenshot must have been one that accompanied that frustrated point of view.
So far as my recollection goes, I don't think I've played The Lost and Damned since. Therefore, I don't think I've finished its shorter storyline. I don't know what happens to the Lost MC, to Johnny or Billy or whoever else is left standing when the credits roll.
I guess, then, I've got a reason to dive back in and find out...
Final word
But I haven't. Not yet, at least, though I'm not sure when I will.
I said that GTA IV was a game I'd like to go back to and explore again. I was wowed by how it looks, even this long after its release, and having two sizable but manageable side-stories following entirely new characters is a reason to explore another side of Liberty City, and the main GTA IV story from another perspective.
Unfortunately, I don't really like anyone in The Lost and Damned. I know they're not quite supposed to be likeable, being law-breaking arseholes and all, but at some point, you need to like who you're driving through the story so that you can continue engaging with the story. Liking the main character will help you to push past gameplay irks like throwing sticky bombs at vans so that you can see what happens to them.
Back in 2017, the gameplay beat the story, but for the wrong reasons - my lack of ability with the gameplay got in the way of finding out where the story was going. In 2021 and beyond, what will I do? Try again? Watch it on YouTube? Don't worry about it?
I don't know. I'd like to think I'd try it again. It's still installed and ready to go back to, but do I want to experience the story of the Lost MC, or just ride around and enjoy the sights of Liberty City - grimy and depressing though they may be?
If you want more GTA IV, The Lost and Damned and Episodes from Liberty City, in general, is a no brainer. You're going to get two great chunks of the GTA IV experience, with their own twists on gameplay and views on the story. Of the three GTA IV and both Episodes, I think The Lost and Damned is clearly the worst, but it still doesn't feel skippable.
Indeed, you might even be able to make a case that you should play both Episodes before playing GTA IV itself, or, if you're really dedicated, try and play them all chronologically, as though you're playing a pseudo-GTA V, with its three protagonists.
However you play it, though, you know what you're going to get, and it's going to be as polished and pointed as you've come to expect from the GTA series. Just like Tom Stubbs' preference for massages.
Fun Facts
Rockstar saw downloadable episodic content as a bit of an experiment as they weren't sure that enough Xbox 360 owners would have the Internet connectivity required to get them in the first place. Microsoft saw it as a risk worth investing $50m into. It's GTA, after all.
The Lost and Damned, developed by Rockstar North, first released in 2009.
Version played: Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, PC, 2010.