GTA IV: The Lost and Damned Hands-On

Well I'll be damned. In-depth, hands-on preview of the first of two huge, episodic follow-ups to Grand Theft Auto IV.

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The final mission we checked out, Shifting Weight, is a return to the classic GTA on-rails chase mission. One of Johnny's pals rides while Johnny fends off wave upon wave of pursuing cops - some in regular cop cars, others in armoured vans and even a few choppers. Fortunately, Johnny's armed with unlimited rounds in an assault shotgun, which makes tidy work of taking out pursuing vehicles. The chase lasts a good few minutes, and sharper shooting skills take out drivers more quickly than hammering the vehicles themselves.

It's also good to see that Rockstar's introduced mid-mission check points, starting with this mission, so the player has the option to restart from the half-way point if they fail. The Lost and Damned doesn't offer 'Trip Skip' in the way that Chinatown Wars introduces, nor can you replay missions you've already completed like you'll be able to in the DS title, but you can argue that these features suit the handheld outing more than they would here. After smashing through the glass of a car showroom to escape, some light banter finishes the mission. We didn't get to check out the pipe bomb, which is the fifth of the new weapons added to the episode.

Front-end presentation has changed subtly on the whole, with the clean face of the pause menu options now replaced with a ripped up, rubber-stamped effect in red lettering when highlighted, and in-game, the health and armour gauges have changed to white and blue respectively. It's a reminder that this is not the same GTA IV we're used to; even Johnny's cellphone is stylised with a sort of grungey new look. There's also a grain effect filter on the screen, but Rockstar's not sure if this will be in the final build. To be honest, we found it a bit unnecessary, so hopefully it'll at least be optional.

We've also got new music in the mix - there are all the same stations as before, but now with a lot more metal and thrash added to Liberty City Hardcore, as well as a new DJ known in the genre who can't be revealed yet. Other stations may have some additions, but it's mostly about metal, and there are some big name additions who we've been asked not to name.

Although this downloadable content is Xbox 360 exclusive for now, it wouldn't surprise us to see it turn up for PS3 and eventually PC at some point. Sony execs have dropped hints - albeit very cryptically - and pretty much all third party 'exclusives' these days are really just 'timed exclusives'. In fact, if the top-secret second episode doesn't take too long to see release (we asked - Rockstar has no news for us at this stage), perhaps the supposed GTA 'retail release' that hit the rumour mill earlier this month is actually a boxed edition of Episode 1 and 2.

Who knows. Fact is that come February 17, you'll only get it on Xbox 360, for the very reasonable sum of 1600 Microsoft points - as little as $17.96 and £9.40 based on Amazon and Amazon UK pricing. Considering Rockstar told us that, in terms of the number of missions, The Lost and Damned is around one-third the size of the colossal GTA IV, that is pretty good value, however you look at it.

If shooting pigeons isn't your thing and your PC's not up to much, then there's no doubt that The Lost and Damned will be the excuse you've been looking for to go back to Liberty City.

Stay tuned for our verdict.

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