Review: Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City - PC, PS3

by Steven Williamson on 17 May 2010, 09:34 4.5

Tags: Grand Theft Auto Liberty City, Rockstar Games (NASDAQ:TTWO), Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO), PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Action/Adventure

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qayb5

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The Final Word

Conclusion
All of these additions make the DLC more enjoyable than GTA IV to play, with less irritation and more freedom to do as you wish, and much more interesting protagonists. Despite Johnny’s “nasty piece of work” character, it’s hard not to empathise with him as he struggles to retain his grip on the world, watching his past and future being ripped out from under him. And as Luis watches Gay Tony’s empire collapsing around his ears, his loyalty always in conflict with Tony’s repeated mistakes and poor judgement, again it’s hard to feel completely detached.

The concurrent storylines approach also works very well, lacking the contrived feel of typical “What happened next” expansions, and it means that along the way you’ll bump into Niko, Johnny and Luis, and various acquaintances, through cross-linking plot-points that reveal what was going on behind the scenes of some of the most memorable scenarios in each of the three games.

Whilst they are short, by their very nature, they ultimately represent everything that GTA IV should have been. If you loved GTA IV, you’ll love this – and if you didn’t, you might just find yourself being dragged back into the fold.






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HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Posted by crossy - Mon 17 May 2010 10:51
Whilst they are short, by their very nature, they ultimately represent everything that GTA IV should have been. If you loved GTA IV, you’ll love this – and if you didn’t, you might just find yourself being dragged back into the fold.

Couldn't agree more - I got GTA IV on my '360 and ended up trading it in - my opinion being that the whole thing felt a bit “aimless”. Got Episodes a little while ago and it felt like the learning curve was a lot less steep than the parent game. (Okay, I've only played Ballad of Gay Tony at the moment) Plus the characters seemed a little “deeper” - I could relate to Luis, but not Nico. BTW, I like the way that the two episodes interlink (you see Nico and the Lost in Gay Tony, and the reviews of LATD say that Nico and folks from BOGT turn up in that).

Like the radio shows too - just wish there was the feature from the PC GTA-II of being able to setup your own playlist with your MP3's. I remember chasing that damned pizza delivery boy to the strains of “Ace Of Spades” by Motorhead ;)

Oh and while I'm complaining, a better way to save games than having to visit the apartment (BOGT) each time would be nice. :rolleyes:

Based on what I've seen so far I'd give Episodes a 9/10 rating.

Bob
Posted by Crazytom - Mon 17 May 2010 11:42
crossy
Like the radio shows too - just wish there was the feature from the PC GTA-II of being able to setup your own playlist with your MP3's. I remember chasing that damned pizza delivery boy to the strains of “Ace Of Spades” by Motorhead ;)
You can in the PC version, you just put the music you want in a particular folder on your hard drive, and it plays it on Independence FM or something like that. Tells you how somewhere in the options menu I think
Posted by jim - Mon 17 May 2010 12:32
Yeah, it's Independence FM.

I haven't mucked around with it myself since the GTA III days… never needed to with San Andreas because I loved the radio shows in that game, but GTA IV could've done with it - the stations got very old, very quickly.

Main reason I didn't is because all of my music is stored remotely - and it just isn't worth the hassle of transferring it over or convincing the game to read it from the network. Maybe it would've been if I'd have tried to collect all of the pigeons or something, but I'm not that obsessive :p
Posted by matty-hodgson - Mon 17 May 2010 12:35
Should be a Spotify plug in.. Perfection :D.