Lost and Damned Previews and Screenshots
The big gaming magazines have already tried out the Lost and Damned DLC, so here are their impressions (in English, of course):
More than thirty new screenshots from the game have arrived. Because of our hosting problems I can't upload them here, but you can browse The GTA Place's gallery here:
Here's a brief(?) summary of the news for those who don't speak English:
-The episode is roughly as long as the original story.
-Johnny runs the biker gang called the Lost together with his brother Billy, but Billy has been sent to rehab to avoid being locked up.
-The story is closely tied to the base game: we'll meet Niko, Playboy X and Elizabeta, and we'll replay a few earlier missions too, but this time from Johnny's point of view.
-The Lost are feuding with the biker gang called "The Angels of Death".
-There's a lot of friction between Johnny and Billy over who leads the gang.
-The first mission is called "Angels in America". In it, Johnny hunts down a few members of the rival gang with a sawn-off shotgun before they can tell their buddies that the gang war is back on.
-Plenty of new vehicles have been added to the game, including several special Lost bikes. Johnny's bike is unique, and if we lose it, it can't be recovered.
-The episode's big new feature is riding in formation, and you can even strike up a conversation with the other gang members while doing it. To do that, you have to keep your bike inside a Lost emblem floating behind the leader of the convoy.
-Holding down the bottom button of the d-pad brings up the roster and stats of the gang members. Talking to them, and protecting and saving them in fights, boosts their Ability meter, which makes them stronger. If one of them dies, a rookie takes his place, so it's worth looking after the veteran brothers.
-There are new weapons too: a grenade launcher, an automatic 9mm, a sawn-off shotgun, an assault shotgun and pipe bombs, which you can even use from a bike.
-New interiors become available.
-Minigames are coming to the save points: a card game at the bar and an arm-wrestling machine. There are new shows on TV, and the in-game internet has new sites too. You can still order weapons from Little Jacob.
-The radio stations were left alone, only Liberty City Hardcore got a bunch of new music and a new host who hasn't been named yet.
-Johnny's phone is different from Niko's, much more beat-up.
-The game also got a new effect, but Rockstar isn't sure yet whether it will stay in the final version.
-The game will save during missions too, so for example in a long mission you won't have to start over completely if Johnny or another important character dies, or you fail the task for some other reason.
That's pretty impressive. Honestly, when I heard "episodic content" I only expected something like 4-5 extra hours of play time. Rockstar, Rockstar über alles...
