Review of "The Lost and the Damned."

When I first played Grand Theft Auto 4 it was euphoria. The city, the level of detail, the characters, it seemed that every aspect of the game was near perfect. I bought the 360 version based on its exclusive downloadable content, and now it is here in "The Lost and the Damned." Now that I have played it, not only do I find it lacking, it also has exposed a number of issues with Grand Theft Auto 4 as a whole.

A little background on the game. You play as Johnny Klebitz, or Johnny "the Jew," the Vice-President of the New Jersey, sorry, Alderney chapter of the Lost biker gang. Your president has just been released from rehab and is itching for a fight, which goes against the profitable and peaceful manner in which Johny has been running the gang. Naturally a lot of people die and many things explode.

The graphics are the same except for a film grain filter, which while ugly does do a good job of hiding the aging graphics and gives the story a different feel from Niko's. Most will probably prefer to turn it off though. Overall, the story aspect takes around 8-12 hours and can take longer if you want to complete all the side missions.

Whether you will want to do them is another thing all together. The missions in TLAD are definitely a step down, usually requiring you to go to one place and kill everyone. Nothing comes close to approaching the complexity of the bank robbery mission of GTA 4. One of the best additions though is the changes to the motorcycle, when you get in one the only way to get knock off is to go into a wall at 90 miles an hour. It makes using the motorcycles a breeze and even preferable to a car. However, it still feels stale. With nothing really new, there is always a sense that you've seen this before.

As someone who has played every Grand Theft Auto game, from #1 on the PS1 to even the PSP story titles, I have to say I think GTA 4 was a bit of a step in the wrong direction. The story from a distance is great and offers a completely different viewpoint of the United States, but it suffers from an identity crisis, as does TLAD.

For example, Niko wants to escape the violence of his past world, but throughout the game you kill hundreds of civilians and cops, truly innocent people. Or Johnny, who wants to keep the status quo, but at the drop of a hat goes and destroys rival gangs. Rockstar is trying to add depth and realism to their protagonists, but they exist in an unrealistic world. Furthermore if they want to make it more serious, let there be consequences to my actions. Let the story branch out more, have multiple endings.

In addition the stories are drawn out in ridiculous ways so that more content can be added. It seems that Niko and Johnny are surrounded by the dumbest people, who are incapable of handling their own business. I end up feeling like a tool rather than some dangerous criminal.

The thing that probably bothers me the most is how limited the game feels. I believe that so far either GTA: Vice City or GTA: San Andreas were the best GTAs; Vice City for its incredible personality and ability to capture a time period and San Andreas for just how many things you could do, it felt truly open. GTA 4 captures the look and feel of New York, but it feels confined. Even worse was that the one thing they added, the social life, quickly became a burden and always felt like a waste of time.

TLAD never overcomes any of GTA 4s flaws and even adds to them. I was fairly disappointed and don't really see why a fair number of media outlets loved this add-on pack. Whats worse is that is made me see a lot of bad things in GTA 4. Here is hoping that the next one either goes back to its roots or fully commits to being a serious game. To see whether what I want is more freedom I intend to pick up a copy of Saints Row 2 soon and see if its embracing of the inane works for me.