Astro22
You would think that after years of playing and loving GTA 4 and countless replays of the original story that I would have played the DLC too, but I never did up until now. I've recently taken interest in playing more GTA content in anticipation of GTA 6 and Episodes From Liberty City was something I wanted to give a try.
I was very excited to see new content in Liberty City. It's like the return of a favorite character that left the show years ago. To be honest, I've tried playing this DLC before but always quit after a few missions. It's because I was so used to seeing Liberty City through the eyes of Niko that I had a hard time enjoying the world from another perspective. But after many years, at last I was open minded enough to give it a try.
The first obvious things I noticed is how they gave the whole game a new coat of paint to match the atmosphere of Johnny's story. Somehow the world seemed even more bland than it already was for Niko. They really try to match the Biker and Metal vibe by adding tons of film grain and more brown yellowish colors to the world. I get what they are trying to do here but the graininess made the game just ugly in my opinion. I also didn't like the color filters they used. Besides that they also made certain UI elements look scuffed and run down. I appreciate what they were trying to do but I personally don't like it when UI and screen visibility is overly themed and reduces visibility is some way.
Now talking about the extra content that it adds... Not much. In fact there are certain features that seem to be missing from the base game. It's possible that I just didn't explore enough but it seems like you can't buy new clothes anymore. At least the clothing stores are no longer marked on the map. I also tried to date women on the LoveMeet website but they don't seem to respond. I guess they are reserved for Niko because they are the exact same options. Bowling also seemed to be absent from activities to do (at least with friends). Too bad because I really liked bowling in the base game. Now talking about what they did add. I was surprised to see that they added air hockey. It's nothing special but something they easily couldn't have bothered with. Besides activities to improve friendships, you also have gang wars. These gang wars were boring and frustrating at times because of the AI of your fellow gang members.
They also added a few new guns but they basically all sucked and were worse than their base game counterparts.
So when it comes to new content, not only is there not much new added but there are also certain base game elements that they stripped away. Because of that, it really felt like there was less to do in Liberty City and the City felt more like a set piece instead of it feeling more alive like in the base game.
Besides the structured activities, the free mode gameplay was not that great either. Because of the story, the game basically forces you to constantly use bikes. Every time you start an activity or mission, the game expects you to ride a bike. Even when you call up a friend to go do something, they expect you to drive besides each other on a bike. So picking them up with a car is not an option. The result is that I barely used any cars and when I did I quickly stumbled into situations where I needed to switch to a bike anyway. Because of this I somewhat missed using a car more often as it's the gameplay that I'm most familiar with. There is basically never a reason to use a car. For a game about cars that is somewhat odd.
The final aspect I wanted to touch upon was the story itself if you can even call it that. It fell completely flat. Everything just kind of seems to happen to you (Johnny) for no particular reason. Nothing feels like it really has much impact and everything significant that does happen is not directly related to Johnny and more something they have to show because it happened in the base game. The story of the Lost and damned is there to serve the main game and nothing else. The only interesting thing that happens has to do with something that happened in the base game that was kind of vague and you get some more information about it. The Lost has it's own plot too but it's very basic and short. The story is predictable and it doesn't feel important at all. Like I said before, everything just sort of "happens" and it's only at the end that Johnny actually takes matters into his own hands and does something interesting. But the actual outcome of the only interesting action that he does is very dull and disappointing. At the end of the story everything you just did feels completely pointless. The point is that the story of The Lost is extremely basic and boring and the only interesting thing that happens is more related to the main game than to the lost itself.
To summarize my thoughts, The Lost and Damned does nothing more than serve the plot of the main game and cannot stand on it's own legs. The story is boring and pointless, the gameplay is inferior to the main game and the visuals are inferior as well in my opinion. The DLC barely adds any extra content and the content that it does add is not that great. If you're a big GTA fan like me I'd still recommend giving it a go if you have played the main story of GTA 4. Other than that, for anyone that isn't that into GTA 4 this game would be very boring and not worth it. I still give it a two and a half starts for it being a game set in Liberty City and using the same fundamental gameplay loops as GTA 4.
I was very excited to see new content in Liberty City. It's like the return of a favorite character that left the show years ago. To be honest, I've tried playing this DLC before but always quit after a few missions. It's because I was so used to seeing Liberty City through the eyes of Niko that I had a hard time enjoying the world from another perspective. But after many years, at last I was open minded enough to give it a try.
The first obvious things I noticed is how they gave the whole game a new coat of paint to match the atmosphere of Johnny's story. Somehow the world seemed even more bland than it already was for Niko. They really try to match the Biker and Metal vibe by adding tons of film grain and more brown yellowish colors to the world. I get what they are trying to do here but the graininess made the game just ugly in my opinion. I also didn't like the color filters they used. Besides that they also made certain UI elements look scuffed and run down. I appreciate what they were trying to do but I personally don't like it when UI and screen visibility is overly themed and reduces visibility is some way.
Now talking about the extra content that it adds... Not much. In fact there are certain features that seem to be missing from the base game. It's possible that I just didn't explore enough but it seems like you can't buy new clothes anymore. At least the clothing stores are no longer marked on the map. I also tried to date women on the LoveMeet website but they don't seem to respond. I guess they are reserved for Niko because they are the exact same options. Bowling also seemed to be absent from activities to do (at least with friends). Too bad because I really liked bowling in the base game. Now talking about what they did add. I was surprised to see that they added air hockey. It's nothing special but something they easily couldn't have bothered with. Besides activities to improve friendships, you also have gang wars. These gang wars were boring and frustrating at times because of the AI of your fellow gang members.
They also added a few new guns but they basically all sucked and were worse than their base game counterparts.
So when it comes to new content, not only is there not much new added but there are also certain base game elements that they stripped away. Because of that, it really felt like there was less to do in Liberty City and the City felt more like a set piece instead of it feeling more alive like in the base game.
Besides the structured activities, the free mode gameplay was not that great either. Because of the story, the game basically forces you to constantly use bikes. Every time you start an activity or mission, the game expects you to ride a bike. Even when you call up a friend to go do something, they expect you to drive besides each other on a bike. So picking them up with a car is not an option. The result is that I barely used any cars and when I did I quickly stumbled into situations where I needed to switch to a bike anyway. Because of this I somewhat missed using a car more often as it's the gameplay that I'm most familiar with. There is basically never a reason to use a car. For a game about cars that is somewhat odd.
The final aspect I wanted to touch upon was the story itself if you can even call it that. It fell completely flat. Everything just kind of seems to happen to you (Johnny) for no particular reason. Nothing feels like it really has much impact and everything significant that does happen is not directly related to Johnny and more something they have to show because it happened in the base game. The story of the Lost and damned is there to serve the main game and nothing else. The only interesting thing that happens has to do with something that happened in the base game that was kind of vague and you get some more information about it. The Lost has it's own plot too but it's very basic and short. The story is predictable and it doesn't feel important at all. Like I said before, everything just sort of "happens" and it's only at the end that Johnny actually takes matters into his own hands and does something interesting. But the actual outcome of the only interesting action that he does is very dull and disappointing. At the end of the story everything you just did feels completely pointless. The point is that the story of The Lost is extremely basic and boring and the only interesting thing that happens is more related to the main game than to the lost itself.
To summarize my thoughts, The Lost and Damned does nothing more than serve the plot of the main game and cannot stand on it's own legs. The story is boring and pointless, the gameplay is inferior to the main game and the visuals are inferior as well in my opinion. The DLC barely adds any extra content and the content that it does add is not that great. If you're a big GTA fan like me I'd still recommend giving it a go if you have played the main story of GTA 4. Other than that, for anyone that isn't that into GTA 4 this game would be very boring and not worth it. I still give it a two and a half starts for it being a game set in Liberty City and using the same fundamental gameplay loops as GTA 4.
2001
GTA is GTA, and it's always is going to be good there's no question in that. GTA III was the first GTA to go 3D and it really revolutionized the gaming industry. It innovated so much and laid the ground work for what a GTA game can be today. Considering that this game released 23 years ago at this point, it's really amazing that it is still a somewhat fun game to play.
I say somewhat because it did become a chore for me to get through. Not counting the 2D games, I think personally that this is the worst GTA. While I can appreciate what the game achieved in it's time and kickstarted the franchise like we know it, it's a very tedious game to play. The physics that they could achieve at the time are in 2024 frustrating to work with. Outside of the frustrating controls and behavior of cars, the story wasn't that interesting either. So the gameplay isn't that great and the story isn't either. Point being that I didn't really enjoy the whole experience. The problem is that it has really started to age and compared to modern games it is tough to connect with. I don't have a nostalgia factor with this game either.
It just got boring after a while. I finished the story but I did not complete all side activities because I couldn't be bothered anymore.
While I did not fully enjoy this game, I can appreciate what it achieved and I can appreciate the iconic moments that it brought.
I say somewhat because it did become a chore for me to get through. Not counting the 2D games, I think personally that this is the worst GTA. While I can appreciate what the game achieved in it's time and kickstarted the franchise like we know it, it's a very tedious game to play. The physics that they could achieve at the time are in 2024 frustrating to work with. Outside of the frustrating controls and behavior of cars, the story wasn't that interesting either. So the gameplay isn't that great and the story isn't either. Point being that I didn't really enjoy the whole experience. The problem is that it has really started to age and compared to modern games it is tough to connect with. I don't have a nostalgia factor with this game either.
It just got boring after a while. I finished the story but I did not complete all side activities because I couldn't be bothered anymore.
While I did not fully enjoy this game, I can appreciate what it achieved and I can appreciate the iconic moments that it brought.
2008
As a GTA fan, GTA IV to me is the most iconic. While this wasn't the first GTA I played, it was my introduction to the series through YouTube video's at the time. Back then all I could afford to play was GTA SA, so I did. Fast forward to today and I played every (non 2D) GTA game multiple times and I can pretty confidently say that this is still either the best GTA or a shared first position with GTA V.
GTA IV and GTA V are great games for different reasons. While GTA V has a better world map and is a return to the more classic formula of a GTA game, GTA IV shines more when it comes to realism and seriousness.
There are several factors that make GTA IV better compared to GTA V.
First thing being the physics. The way cars and pedestrians react to your actions in the world is miles ahead of any other GTA. Personally I think that the realistic behavior makes the game more enjoyable. Shooting people has a lot more impact and crashing into other vehicles does too.
Second of all the amount of detail is unmatched. While GTA V might have a lot of detail in it's world, GTA IV incorporates more detail in how the environment dynamically reacts to the player. You can shoot guns out of people's hands, when you shoot them in the leg they move accordingly, cops don't shoot with one star and try to arrest you alive instead, npc's react more appropriately to the player on foot, etc... I could go on, it's really an endless list. There is a very popular video showing the differences between V and IV that makes the same point. Although it does not mean GTA IV is necessarily the better game, it is a certain aspect that is much better that I care about very much.
Third point: The story is a lot more heavy and serious. GTA IV took a very different approach to it storytelling compared to other games. The story delved into some difficult topics and it was ultimately a very tragic story. While other GTA games are mainly about criminals rising to the top (for different reasons), this game is about a man that is stuck in the criminal life and doesn't really have a choice in that. It's a man with a tragic past looking for closure and a better life but is in some way unable to because of his unfortunate circumstances.
Now to talk about the game without comparing it to it's successor...
The story I just talked about and I don't really need to add anything else. It's a phenomenal character and a touching story.
All I can say is that the game is a very complete package. The city feels alive thanks to it's various activities and realistic features like the subway. The characters, the story, the activities, the world, the graphics and the realistic physics all combine into a real masterpiece that is underrated in my opinion.
I have a lot of fond memories of this game. This game is what got me interested into gaming all these years ago in the first place so there is also a factor of nostalgia.
Even though I've played this game many many times and have known it for many years, I keep coming back to it and I'll keep doing so for as long as I can foresee. This game really is one of the best games I've ever known.
The only reason why I can't give it five starts is because of the bad state of the PC port and how Rockstar has left this game in the dust. The issues are well known at this point. The performance is terrible and there are many bugs that have been known for years that never get fixed. It's so bad that this game technically isn't beatable at 60fps. The game itself is a masterpiece and the way the game was intended to be is perfect. But the state that they left it in on PC is a tough pill to swallow.
I could write a whole book about everything I like about this game. I could go into detail about the story, talk about features like the internet, talk about the lore and many easter eggs and myths, the atmosphere, the fact that this game serves as a time capsule at this point... There are many things I'd like to talk about that I just can't put into words in this review.
I think you get the idea.
GTA IV and GTA V are great games for different reasons. While GTA V has a better world map and is a return to the more classic formula of a GTA game, GTA IV shines more when it comes to realism and seriousness.
There are several factors that make GTA IV better compared to GTA V.
First thing being the physics. The way cars and pedestrians react to your actions in the world is miles ahead of any other GTA. Personally I think that the realistic behavior makes the game more enjoyable. Shooting people has a lot more impact and crashing into other vehicles does too.
Second of all the amount of detail is unmatched. While GTA V might have a lot of detail in it's world, GTA IV incorporates more detail in how the environment dynamically reacts to the player. You can shoot guns out of people's hands, when you shoot them in the leg they move accordingly, cops don't shoot with one star and try to arrest you alive instead, npc's react more appropriately to the player on foot, etc... I could go on, it's really an endless list. There is a very popular video showing the differences between V and IV that makes the same point. Although it does not mean GTA IV is necessarily the better game, it is a certain aspect that is much better that I care about very much.
Third point: The story is a lot more heavy and serious. GTA IV took a very different approach to it storytelling compared to other games. The story delved into some difficult topics and it was ultimately a very tragic story. While other GTA games are mainly about criminals rising to the top (for different reasons), this game is about a man that is stuck in the criminal life and doesn't really have a choice in that. It's a man with a tragic past looking for closure and a better life but is in some way unable to because of his unfortunate circumstances.
Now to talk about the game without comparing it to it's successor...
The story I just talked about and I don't really need to add anything else. It's a phenomenal character and a touching story.
All I can say is that the game is a very complete package. The city feels alive thanks to it's various activities and realistic features like the subway. The characters, the story, the activities, the world, the graphics and the realistic physics all combine into a real masterpiece that is underrated in my opinion.
I have a lot of fond memories of this game. This game is what got me interested into gaming all these years ago in the first place so there is also a factor of nostalgia.
Even though I've played this game many many times and have known it for many years, I keep coming back to it and I'll keep doing so for as long as I can foresee. This game really is one of the best games I've ever known.
The only reason why I can't give it five starts is because of the bad state of the PC port and how Rockstar has left this game in the dust. The issues are well known at this point. The performance is terrible and there are many bugs that have been known for years that never get fixed. It's so bad that this game technically isn't beatable at 60fps. The game itself is a masterpiece and the way the game was intended to be is perfect. But the state that they left it in on PC is a tough pill to swallow.
I could write a whole book about everything I like about this game. I could go into detail about the story, talk about features like the internet, talk about the lore and many easter eggs and myths, the atmosphere, the fact that this game serves as a time capsule at this point... There are many things I'd like to talk about that I just can't put into words in this review.
I think you get the idea.
I loved the main game and played it many times so I was hoping that the DLC would add on to this experience but it has some shortcomings. Just like the other DLC, instead of animated cutscenes they show art and pictures to tell the story which I don't like.
It feels very different from the main game, however, this is definitely better compared to the sky ship DLC. This time there is actually a somewhat decent story that takes a while and there are less bugs and the new content that they added like the mechs are actual fun additions to the game.
The DLC is not a must have but it's not disappointing either like the other DLC.
It feels very different from the main game, however, this is definitely better compared to the sky ship DLC. This time there is actually a somewhat decent story that takes a while and there are less bugs and the new content that they added like the mechs are actual fun additions to the game.
The DLC is not a must have but it's not disappointing either like the other DLC.
2023
If you love Harry Potter, this easily could be five stars.
But from the point of view of a gamer playing it's next of many open world games, it's just another open world game.
The game itself is not that impressive from a technical standpoint. It doesn't do anything that games haven't done before. Where it really shines is how accurately it recreated the Wizarding world and how true they are to the source material.
Other than that it's fun like any other open world game can be.
But from the point of view of a gamer playing it's next of many open world games, it's just another open world game.
The game itself is not that impressive from a technical standpoint. It doesn't do anything that games haven't done before. Where it really shines is how accurately it recreated the Wizarding world and how true they are to the source material.
Other than that it's fun like any other open world game can be.
2018
In my controversial opinion, this is one of the most underrated Battlefield games of all time.
The reception of this game was very poor because of multiple factors.
First of all, this game had to compete with it's predecessor Battlefield 1 which is a very difficult task.
The reveal trailer of BFV showed a woman with a prostatic arm on the battlefield which caused a lot of controversie. While BF1 very accurately depicted WW1, people expected that BFV would do the same with WW2 but instead DICE decided that inclusion would be more important and took an offensive position towards fans of the franchise that didn't approve of this decision.
There are many examples like these but point being is that this game was surrounded with controversies. Combine that with the fact that this game launched in a buggy state and the people weren't having it. This game very quickly lost it's playerbase and didn't sell well.
Now here's my actual opinion:
This game is amazing and is some of the most fun I've ever had in a BF game. If you lay aside the poor PR decision they made and fast forward a bit of time so that they patched out the bugs you are left with something incredible.
Compared to BF1 this game improved movement, graphics and added tons of great sandbox elements.
To conclude, this game is very underrated and I'm sad that they ended support early because they couldn't recover from the blunders they made at the start. Very unfortunate.
The reception of this game was very poor because of multiple factors.
First of all, this game had to compete with it's predecessor Battlefield 1 which is a very difficult task.
The reveal trailer of BFV showed a woman with a prostatic arm on the battlefield which caused a lot of controversie. While BF1 very accurately depicted WW1, people expected that BFV would do the same with WW2 but instead DICE decided that inclusion would be more important and took an offensive position towards fans of the franchise that didn't approve of this decision.
There are many examples like these but point being is that this game was surrounded with controversies. Combine that with the fact that this game launched in a buggy state and the people weren't having it. This game very quickly lost it's playerbase and didn't sell well.
Now here's my actual opinion:
This game is amazing and is some of the most fun I've ever had in a BF game. If you lay aside the poor PR decision they made and fast forward a bit of time so that they patched out the bugs you are left with something incredible.
Compared to BF1 this game improved movement, graphics and added tons of great sandbox elements.
To conclude, this game is very underrated and I'm sad that they ended support early because they couldn't recover from the blunders they made at the start. Very unfortunate.
2013
I've always loved the Grand Theft Auto series and GTA 5 is no exception. This is easily one of my most played games ever and that is in large part because of the online mode. I've played the online mode more than I'd like to admit because even though I like it, I do not think that it is what GTA should be.
But talking just single player, this game is amazing. Only bad thing that I could say is that they took away many realistic elements from GTA 4 that I really want back. The physics enige (euphoria), driving and soft body crash physics were just a lot better. The story of GTA 5 is also good but I feel like it's easy to lose track of what the main plot actually is. At certain points you just forget why you are doing what you're doing.
This game has many flaws but even still you can't deny how amazing the world of Los Santos is that Rockstar has created here.
But talking just single player, this game is amazing. Only bad thing that I could say is that they took away many realistic elements from GTA 4 that I really want back. The physics enige (euphoria), driving and soft body crash physics were just a lot better. The story of GTA 5 is also good but I feel like it's easy to lose track of what the main plot actually is. At certain points you just forget why you are doing what you're doing.
This game has many flaws but even still you can't deny how amazing the world of Los Santos is that Rockstar has created here.
This review contains spoilers
The main reason that I bought and played this DLC is because it was on sale and I wanted all the achievements because Just Cause 3 also requires the DLC achievements to be registered as a perfect game in Steam.
The DLC was disappointing. Upon release I heard a lot about it and I saw a lot of Youtubers play it. People said that it was good and the content looked amazing. Futuristic technology, flying fortresses and jetpacks? That must be awesome in Just Cause I thought.
First of all just like the other DLC there are no cutscenes. Instead of creating new body captured scenes they just show drawn art pieces to tell the story. This seems weird to me. Second, the DLC was VERY SHORT. I thought it would be like another chapter but it only added one more region to concur with a few missions and only two challenges. It felt like very little content.
The content that was there was good at times but more like disappointing. If you unlock the reel boost mod on the wingsuit in the main game you can go very fast. This was my favorite way to travel. You would think that the jetpack would be superior but it is way slower. It offers the ability to climb into the air without needing to grapple on to something, it has missiles you can shoot and you can dodge. It's nice to have these abilities but they feel clunky and annoying.
The story was also just meh. Everything that I liked about the main game was not present in this game. Even the destruction felt less fun because even though the objects were fine, the environment (the ship) was just boring set decor so the destruction had nothing interesting to interact with.
Overall I did not enjoy this DLC. It does not compare to the main game at all, is buggy and short.
The DLC was disappointing. Upon release I heard a lot about it and I saw a lot of Youtubers play it. People said that it was good and the content looked amazing. Futuristic technology, flying fortresses and jetpacks? That must be awesome in Just Cause I thought.
First of all just like the other DLC there are no cutscenes. Instead of creating new body captured scenes they just show drawn art pieces to tell the story. This seems weird to me. Second, the DLC was VERY SHORT. I thought it would be like another chapter but it only added one more region to concur with a few missions and only two challenges. It felt like very little content.
The content that was there was good at times but more like disappointing. If you unlock the reel boost mod on the wingsuit in the main game you can go very fast. This was my favorite way to travel. You would think that the jetpack would be superior but it is way slower. It offers the ability to climb into the air without needing to grapple on to something, it has missiles you can shoot and you can dodge. It's nice to have these abilities but they feel clunky and annoying.
The story was also just meh. Everything that I liked about the main game was not present in this game. Even the destruction felt less fun because even though the objects were fine, the environment (the ship) was just boring set decor so the destruction had nothing interesting to interact with.
Overall I did not enjoy this DLC. It does not compare to the main game at all, is buggy and short.
2015
I completed this game once on PS4 and three times on PC.
What I love the most about this game is Medici. As someone that loves going on vacation in southern Europe (Italy, Southern France, Spain) this game reminds me of summer and summer vacations. The villages, crickets, vegetation, blue water, colors, ... create the perfect atmosphere that I can walk around in for hours.
Other than the atmosphere the game is really fun. The destruction is satisfying and the characters are very likeable. The story is nothing really special but it really compliments everything else. Whenever I play this game I just really enjoy my time for multiple reasons.
What I love the most about this game is Medici. As someone that loves going on vacation in southern Europe (Italy, Southern France, Spain) this game reminds me of summer and summer vacations. The villages, crickets, vegetation, blue water, colors, ... create the perfect atmosphere that I can walk around in for hours.
Other than the atmosphere the game is really fun. The destruction is satisfying and the characters are very likeable. The story is nothing really special but it really compliments everything else. Whenever I play this game I just really enjoy my time for multiple reasons.
There are more than enough reviews that describe what makes this one of the best single player games of all time.
I love single player games so this is a no brainer. This is one of my most favorite games in recent years and is my most relevant current favorite game.
I love single player games so this is a no brainer. This is one of my most favorite games in recent years and is my most relevant current favorite game.