The first, which I had no idea about going into the game and was thrilled to discover, is a series of 12 bike races in which you can use a baseball bat to attack opponents on either side of you. In addition to the story missions, there are a number of optional missions that you can undertake for characters old and new, and two new activities that are very much in keeping with the biker theme. I didn't spend nearly as much time riding alongside the rest of the Lost gang as I was expecting to in the story missions, but I did take advantage of the option to call brothers in for backup once or twice when things got tough. The quality of the missions varies somewhat, as does their difficulty, but there are some really great ones in the mix, and if you fail one at any time, you can restart from a checkpoint within the mission rather than from the very beginning-an option I'd have welcomed in the original game. Obviously none of this stuff really impacted my enjoyment of the game, but it's worth mentioning nonetheless. Another time, shortly after parking the Hexer outside the gang's clubhouse and going inside to save my progress, I walked outside to find two of the "unique" bikes parked next to each other. I parked a completely different bike outside a Burger Shot one time, and after I was done eating, I walked outside to find that it had been replaced with the Hexer. Based on my own experiences with it, I suggest you not worry about it too much-not only are there plenty of better bikes in Liberty City, but Johnny's custom Hexer has a habit of finding its way back to you anytime you lose it. While we're on the subject of bikes, much is made at the start of The Lost and Damned about the fact that Johnny's ride is unique and that, supposedly, it can't be replaced if you let it get destroyed. Bikes are a lot easier to ride with Johnny at the handlebars than they were for Niko, but they're still prone to getting thrown up into the air unrealistically if you hit a curb or another small object at the wrong angle and speed.
Where gameplay is concerned, the new missions aren't radically different from those in GTAIV, but there are some great new weapons to play with (the grenade launcher and assault shotgun are favorites), and you'll find that a number of them-including pipe bombs and the sawed-off shotgun-can be used while riding a bike. Obviously I don't want to talk too much about Johnny's story, but what I will say is that it's 20 or so missions took me the best part of 10 hours to play through and that the narrative was every bit as compelling as Niko's. It could also be said that Niko spoils some of Johnny's surprises of course: The Lost and Damned doesn't just acknowledge that you've likely already beaten GTAIV, but it also delights in it and affords you an opportunity to see key events and characters from a different perspective. That's because the two protagonists' paths cross on occasion, and Johnny could conceivably spoil some of Niko's surprises for you. The first thing I think you should know about The Lost and Damned is that it's best played after you've already beaten (or at least played a long way through) Niko Bellic's story in the original game. I had an opportunity to play through the entire Johnny Klebitz storyline using an advance copy of the DLC on one of our debug consoles last week, and I promise I'll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum.
If you want to know exactly what's included in the download, then keep reading. If you've come here looking for a recommendation on whether or not you should buy The Lost and Damned, the short answer is that if you enjoyed GTAIV, I can't think of a better way for you to spend $20 when it hits Xbox Live tomorrow. The Lost and DamnedDownloadable content isn't something that we review right now, but that doesn't mean that we don't have anything to say about a release as significant as the first downloadable episode for Grand Theft Auto IV.
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