Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned
Posted by icebreakz on January 25, 2009
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned is the first of two planned episodic expansion packs to be developed for the Xbox 360 
version of the sandbox-style action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North. The first episodic pack is to be released on Xbox Live on 17 February 2009 , retailing for 1600 Microsoft Points.
The Lost and Damned features a new protagonist, Johnny Klebitz, who is a member of Liberty City’s biker gang The Lost, a gang which is featured in several missions throughout the course of Grand Theft Auto IV. Dan Houser, vice president of creative development at Rockstar Games, claims the episode will show “a different side of Liberty City”.Jeronimo Barrera, Vice President of Product Development for Rockstar Games, has said that the episodes are experiments because they are not sure that there are enough users with access to online content on the Xbox 360.Take-Two Interactive’s Chief Financial Officer, Lainie Goldstein revealed that Microsoft was paying a total of $50 million for the first two episodes.
Synopsis
The Lost and Damned follows the story of Johnny Klebitz, a member of the motorcycle gang “The Lost” based in Alderney, a state adjacent to Liberty City. Johnny is the vice-president of the gang and is currently in charge while their leader, Billy Grey, is in rehab. In his time as leader, Johnny has pursued truces and civil relationships with the other motorcycle gangs, believing it most beneficial for the gang and an opportunity to maximise profits in drug deals, but Billy is soon released and resorts to his violent tactics, believing that slaughtering their enemies is the way forward. Johnny and Billy clash over the leadership and direction of the gang, while having to defend themselves from attacks by rival gangs, such as the “Angels of Death.”
At several points throughout the course of the game, the story intertwines with events from Grand Theft Auto IV and are seen and played out from Johnny’s perspective.
Gameplay changes and additions
The Lost and Damned features much of the same gameplay as Grand Theft Auto IV. Additions to the game include new weapons, such as a grenade launcher, pipe bombs and sawn-off and automatic shotguns; new vehicles such as Johnny’s exclusive motorcycle, which cannot be replaced when stolen or destroyed.
