The Ballad of Gay Tony – MMOMFG review

Recently released in a two pack of add-ons for Grand Theft Auto IV, The Ballad of Gay Tony is the second installment of Rockstar Games’ Episodes from Liberty City.  The first of which, Lost & The Damned, accompanies BOGT in the $20 two-pack.  A GTA fan for years, we tapped MMOMFG co-editor Andrew’s roomate, Joe Wiggins to pen a review of the latest piece of downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV.

As the opening credits rolled, I knew I was in for another great installment in the GTA universe. I watched with excitement as our main character, Luis Lopez, strutted down the streets of Liberty City, bumped into Nico Bellic from GTA IV, nearly got ran over by The Lost & the Damned’s Johnny, and checked out gorgeous new cars and women, exclusive to the Ballad of Gay Tony. Written cut scenes open the game, introducing the player to the comical title character, Liberty City club owner/promoter Gay Tony (think of him as a gay version of Robert Downey Jr), I felt the familiar feeling of being home…in Liberty City.

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What’s Good

Cut to the chase – As the clever (and cool) opening credits roll, the player gets a clear understanding of the game’s protagonist, Luis, and the kind of person he is.  The Ballad of Gay Tony wastes no time when it comes to mission intensity and difficulty – within 10 minutes of booting up your console Luis is armed with a machine gun and presented with about 50 Asian gangsters to take out.  By the second mission you’re destroying a yacht with an army helicopter.  Say Goodbye to the slow, boring, and easy missions of GTA IV; BOGT throws you into battle and never lets up.

Bang for your buck – While some action titles these days tap out around the 10-hour mark, BOGT presents you with roughly a 12 hour campaign, plus plenty of extra hours devoted to side quests.  As a DLC package, this game is really little more than an add-on – yet in many ways it provides a richer experience than some stand-alone titles. If you think about it, by buying BOGT in a package with The Lost & The Damned for $20 you’re getting 12-hours plus of Luis at only ten bucks. It’s a steal.

I need some new toys – The material additions to this game are quite noticeable, namely a host of new weapons that make the player feel unstoppable amidst intense and drawn out police battles and escapes.  new weapons like the shotgun with exploding rounds.  New to GTA is parachute/base jump feature that’s introduced early on.  . What’s cooler than blowing up an enemy truck with exploding shot gun rounds, stealing a helicopter, and parachuting off before a rocket locks on it?

Look at me, I’m dancin’ - The introduction of dancing and drinking games make club/bar life in Liberty City a bit more fun. This scene presents some lucrative side missions as well: you can work security at some of Tony’s nightclubs, breaking up fights and stopping drug deals. There is even a “happy ending” for Luis after a hard night’s work. Some of the more daring mini games include cage fighting, drug wars, street racing (with nitro boost), and parachute base jumping.

Change the station – If you ever got sick of GTA IV’s radio, not to worry; there is a shit load of new songs and stations. BOGT brings back the classic 80s tunes from Vice City, in “Vice City Radio,” my favorite of the new stations.

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What’s Bad

We need to move - By now, the graphics of Liberty City just aren’t as impressive as they used to be.  Same world, same environments, same…everything. GTA IV was an amazing looking game, and BOGT is as well, just don’t expect any upgrades in graphical quality.  While this piece of DLC is a new story, it’s set in the very same game world as GTA IV was and it’s important not to forget this.

Well, this is a challenge – Some of BOGT’s early missions might be a bit too difficult for newcomers.  The game really expects the player to be experienced in GTA IV, and while that’s probably a safe assumption, newbies beware. BOGT wastes very little time with tutorials and expects you to survive a huge shootout within a few minutes of popping the game in. Further, flying the new helicoptes and firing their weapons is hard, even for the experienced gamer. Make sure you have played the original if you want to avoid frustration early on in the game.

Someone needs new threads - Luis has a terrible haircut and there is nowhere in town to buy him a hat, let alone a new suit. I miss Perseus.  Although a very interesting and compelling character, Luis does not look as “badass” as Nico. Also, the map no longer shows where clothing stores are, forcing you to pick from a few of Luis’ lame outfits from his apartment closet.

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Worth Forgetting

Some of Ballad of Gay Tony’s cut scenes run entirely too long.  While the early introductory cut scenes are clever, funny, well written, towards the end one is tempted to skip them due to boredom.

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Worth Remembering

While cruising the streets of Liberty City one will notice many minor, yet noticeable upgrades in the city itself; drunks puke outside the clubs, people pull over to fix their overheating cars, and wittier dialogue and expletives are expressed by pedestrians depending on what is happening around them.

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For the GTA fan, The Ballad of Gay Tony is a satisfying slice of Liberty City content.  Game play hasn’t exactly changed as much as it’s been made more challenging. The title knows it’s an add-on  and is definitely geared for gamers who are experienced with the latest iteration of Liberty City. The City’s new features and tweaks are refreshing, and help to make it well worth the price.

*Images via Rockstar Games.

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