Opening words:
When these came out for the xbox 360, I never thought I would play them, I boycotted the system due to the red ring of death and all the anti trust stuff Microsoft did back in the day before george bush pardoned them and dropped the charges. I still don’t like microsoft for that very reason to this day. Finally they came out for the ps3, I never thought it would happen. Timing was great as well, when there was nothing else to play. So glad microsoft didn’t own the rights forever. If you think you have to own the original GTA4 to play these games, you don’t, you can download from psn, or buy them both on one blueray disc for $39.99. works fine with out GTA4.

Presentation: 9.1
Amazing, in both games they put you in their world. The art direction, acting, stories, everything is spot on. This is why I play these games, the characters usually rock. Menu system is like gta 4, phone works the same as well.

Single Player: 9.5
These games are not as deep as the main GTA4 story, and that is a good thing, it does not drag on like GTA4 did. I honestly liked these expansions even more than the main game. This game plays exactly like GTA4, the vehicles control the same, with exception to the bikes which the really refined for lost and the damned. To me, these games are what is lacking in modern rpgs and why I tend to like the sandbox games better now than the jrpgs of today. Interesting characters and good story telling is in these games, and not to be found for miles and miles in any rpg these days. In this game, you will be parachuting out of planes, drive by shootings, chasing down people on bikes and shotgunning them in the back, the missions are insane in both episodes. Epic, so Epic in parts. You can still hang out with your friends and go drunk driving, you can roam the city doing stunts or just randomly kill people for fun and try and evade the cops.

Lost and the Damned: 9.6
Seriously one of the best sandbox stories I have played in a long time. You play a dude from a biker gang, the old boss gets out of jail and starts acting like a jack ass, all kinds of drama ensues. There are a lot of great missions, great acting, with good story telling. I love driving the bikes, love the driving formations that you have to hold when going to some missions. The bike racing to missions was a really nice touch. I loved the double barrel shot gun when you were riding the bikes, so much fun to drive around and blow people away. Over all this is worth ever penny of the 20 dollars it will cost you to download it off the playstation network. This game me feel like white trash, and I loved every minute of it. Most of all what made the lost and the damned so special was the new sound track, sure you had the standard 70s butt rock that defaults on every harley you get on, but honestly switch the station to the right a few times till you hear DEATH METAL! Holy shit, some of the best death metal too, it totally got me back into bands I had forgot about like Deicide and Bathory. WOW, mowing down people on my bike with death metal blasting, that really speaks to my soul.

The Ballad of Gay Tony: 9.4
Almost as good as lost and the damned. I played this 2nd. You basically play the bodyguard of a gay club owner who has a long history in the nyc club nightlife. His businesses are dwindling, Its up to you to help him get on his feet again and save the clubs. It’s funny, you can go to the clubs and schmooze and help the clubs because your personality is revered in the night life scene by the female patrons. I really liked the helicopter missions in this game, better than the ones in gta4. I really liked some of the characters, Yusuf made me shit my pants on how over the top and silly he was. I really liked most of the missions in this game. The night life theme is funny as hell, going into gay clubs and watching the people dance was great fun, so was getting in there and dancing as well. The dancing mini game was funny, its how you could win a female over and go fuck in the bathroom, LOL. I did not spend a lot of time doing that, did it once and was like WOW WTF. but it helps the clubs be packed and make money so its something you have to do in the game, be a whore. LOL

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Visuals: 7.0
This game engine looks very dated now compared to other sand box games on the PS3 like infamous and just cause 2. Still it is good enough to tell the stories in a grand fashion and get the points across in the GTA gritty way that works very well. There is pop up and slow down when a lot of action happens in some cases. There is a ton of detail in the world, it looks the same to me as GTA4 over all from what I can remember. They did add detail for the themes of each games in the night clubs and the biker gangs.

Audio: 10
MotherFucking DEATH METAL! Great voice acting is really amazing like all the games rockstar does these days. They hire quality people. The sound fx are great as well. The music and they way the do it in these games is just amazing.

Game mechanics: 9.0
It’s the same as GTA4 exactly. I did notice that the bikes did handle better than in gta4. I noticed the boats being a tad different as well, and the different helicopters really add a different feel as well. I think there a few new cars as well that drive a bit different.

Replay: 8.0
The online modes really can bring you back into the game even months afterwards. Even playing through the missions twice is fun, also, there is a points system on the ballad of gay tony to complete missions with better stats.

Online: 8.0
It has all the same modes as GTA4 With the addition of Witness Protection and Chopper vs. Chopper. In Witness Protection one team plays as the NOOSE officers escorting a witness to one of the police stations in Liberty City, while the other team plays as The Lost, trying to kill all of them. Very cool.

Total score: 9.2
This is worth the 40 bucks you will pay for both. Seriously the most fun I have had gaming this year. I wish I had gotten to play these way back when they were first released on the xbox 360, but honestly, now is fine too, right in the middle of a drought.

Click here to buy GTA4: Episodes of Liberty City on ps3 blueray. Or you can buy them from the PSN online. I highly recommend this to people who like the GTA games.