| GTA: The Ballad of Gay Tony; Grand Theft Auto | |
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| Topic Started: Nov 4 2009, 08:09 PM (35 Views) | |
| dscuber9000 | Nov 4 2009, 08:09 PM Post #1 |
Hero of Time
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 Title: Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar North Platforms: Xbox 360 (exclusive) Genre: Action/Shooter Players: 1-Player story, 16-player online ESRB Rating: M for Mature ESRB Content: Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol The Grand Theft Auto series is a huge franchise, and with two epic DLC stories you could even claim that Grand Theft Auto IV alone is a huge franchise. The Ballad of Gay Tony is the second and presumably final piece of downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto and seems to expand on the original Grand Theft Auto IV’s gameplay instead of introducing new concepts like The Lost and Damned. Some of the crazier weapons and vehicles from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are back, bringing with them new ideas for missions. The story of Gay Tony is interesting in that it does not revolve around the character you play as, Luis Lopez. In most Grand Theft Auto games, your character is trying to work his way up to the top of the chain, but Gay Tony starts off with Luis already making a steady income by running nightclubs with his business partner “Gay” Tony Prince. The economic recession has hit them hard, forcing the two to make questionable deals with dangerous people, leading to the usual Grand Theft Auto antics of gunfire and drug deals. Like the first piece of GTA IV downloadable content, the story occasionally crosses paths with past characters Niko Bellic and Johnny Klebbitz, and even reveals a fairly major plot point from The Lost and Damned that was never revealed before.  Tony Prince and your character, Luis Lopez. What really sells Gay Tony as an interesting game and story are the cut-scenes. The voice acting is as superb as I have ever heard from a video game, from the start of the game to the final scene. The writers crafted hilarious and unique characters, and the actors delivered. The animation and scenes were top-notch movie quality, dragging you into the story and never letting go. The story should take most gamers ten hours to complete without doing any side-missions, going after any of the achievements, playing multi-player, or just plain dicking around. So there is a solid amount of replay value, especially for DLC. In terms of gameplay, Gay Tony is about more weapons, more explosions, and more cool action than about bringing in new game concepts. The gang-based missions from The Lost and Damned are gone and almost every mission will be done solo. But when I said more weapons, explosions, and action I was not kidding. Pretty much from the beginning, Luis will be bombing yachts, rampaging through the city in a tank, and skydiving out of helicopters. It would be fair to complain that too many missions are based around these new additions, making some missions feel repetitive. The checkpoints are back from The Lost and Damned, creating longer and more difficult missions without making the game too frustrating.  There are A LOT of explosions in The Ballad of Gay Tony. As for new gameplay additions, there is not too much here. There are a few new mini-games such as cage fighting, dancing, and managing some of the clubs Tony owns, but none of those are very groundbreaking at all. The only change to multi-player is the addition of the new weapons and parachute. If you are looking for a new Grand Theft Auto experience, you will not find one in Gay Tony. If you just want more GTA IV, this should more than deliver. Final Thoughts Rockstar really delivered the Grand Theft Auto experience. While it does not evolve the series at all, it provides an interesting story with fantastic characters, many hours of content, and overall is a great game for only $20. If you beat Grand Theft Auto IV and enjoyed it, there really is not a reason not to pay attention to Gay Tony. Scoring Gameplay: 9 out of 10 The missions overall are crazier and more intense, but there are a few duds here or there. The story is very interesting with a great cast of characters. Once you beat Gay Tony, there is still plenty to do, which is great for DLC. Graphics: 9 out of 10 Grand Theft Auto IV still looks pretty a year and a half later. The cut-scenes look marvelous and are pulled off exactly what Rockstar wanted. However, the same graphic bugs from GTA IV remain, and there is the occasional bad texture that the camera seems to zoom in on for some odd reason. Audio: 10 out of 10 The voice acting is absolutely perfect. With GTA IV, Lost and Damned, and now The Ballad of Gay Tony, there are well over 200 songs on the game’s radio, which is unmatched from any other game… even music games!  Overall: 9.5 out of 10 Pros: - Only $20 for a full Grand Theft Auto experience. - Outstanding cut-scenes mixed with perfect voice acting. - Great writing - Intense missions Cons: - Some missions can be a little dull. - Does nothing to evolve the series. Offensive Material: 5 out of 5 This game really makes me wonder what kind of sick things had to be in Manhunt 2 to get that game an AO rating from the ESRB. I mean, the only thing The Ballad of Gay Tony DOESN’T have is straight-up pornography, and two scenes in the game come pretty damn close to that. Keep this away from kids at all costs! Difficulty: 2 out of 5 The missions are more difficult than the previous Grand Theft Auto IV games, but with checkpoints, any gamer should be able to eventually get through the game. The Lost and Damned or The Ballad of Gay Tony: The Ballad of Gay Tony If you only want to spend $20 on more Grand Theft Auto, I’m sure most gamers would agree that The Ballad of Gay Tony offers better missions and a more interesting story than The Lost and Damned. While I would recommend both pieces of downloadable content to Grand Theft Auto fans, if you can only get one, it is Gay Tony hands-down. |
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6:58 PM Mar 10
