Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned -- Initial Impression.

Next up for me will be the Xbox 360 exclusive download content to Grand Theft Auto IV which goes by the subtitle of The Lost and Damned. The 1.78GB file is a full on expansion to Grand Theft Auto IV. It won't add any new areas to Liberty City, but it does add new characters, missions, weapons, vehicles, collectables, music, and mini-game distractions. In fact Rockstar has made it rather clear that The Lost and the Damned is really a new game separate from Grand Theft Auto IV. It just happens to share the same location of Liberty City and take place at or around the same time as the events of Grand Theft Auto IV. The Lost and Damned begins like any other Grand Theft Auto game and it quickly establishes the main characters and gets you settled into a safe house. You're then free to advance the story or not. In my typical Grand Theft Auto play style, I chose not to advance the story and I've been spending my time checking out the optional entertainment available within The Lost and Damned's version of Liberty City's sandbox. Supposedly the motorcycles have been reworked and controlling and more importantly staying on them has been made far easier. That seems to be true from the brief time I've spent with the game. I'm actually decently excited to be back in Liberty City again, even if it's far sooner than normal. I'm not so excited to see there are fifty seagulls to track down and slaughter. I just hope they're handled better than those goddamned pigeons. We'll see...