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(More customer reviews)I, along with many others, was ultimately kind of disappointed with the original GTA IV. The removal of the staple elements of the GTA franchise was not good; the side service missions such as paramedic/fire/taxi, the wee remote control vehicles, the crazy cars along with the mini tracks for go karting, triple stunt points gone, and so on... and of course the loss of the planes. Heck even give me back the dodo R*! It was a big surprise to see all that gone and not a pleasant one. But when playing GTA IV you kind of felt that they had more planned for Liberty City in the future. Maybe that golfing range might be able to be used, that skateboard park might come into play and perhaps we'll get to ride on the ferris wheel too at some point.
So with the release of TLOD and TBOGT we're getting somewhere. Now for full disclosure I played The Ballad of Gay Tony through first even though it's episode two, primarily because I wanted to base jump! And in TBOGT I can see Rockstar finally giving us back some of what they took away. You can indeed now play golf in that floating driving range, you can base jump off specific buildings as a challenge or indeed just buy a parachute and jump off anything you want. Tanks are back too! Rockstar are slowly making LC a more fun sandbox and I hope that continues with the release of more episodes. With regards to these two episodes, well you can't go wrong. Both are typical GTA fare with varied missions and great story lines. I won't go into the plots of each - do I need to? There's some nice cross-over moments in the stories though that will make you smile!
With TBOGT you have specific optional targets to do in each mission such as a time limit or how much damage you take. The nice thing about the way this works are the new very extensive mission checkpoints, something massively lacking from GTA IV. But there's a penalty for using a checkpoint - if you use a reload then your mission objectives aren't saved. You can still complete the mission and continue with the story but there's an actual incentive to replay each one and do better each time. It's a great game mechanic that satisfies both players who prefer to blast through the game and those who wish to fine tune each play-through. Nice.
It also seems that LC's code and graphics were fine-tuned somewhat because there's considerably less little glitches and popups in TBOGT over TLOD and the original. But do install the game to the HD if you buy the disc version regardless of which episode you play.
All in all very satisfied that I got my money's worth here. I'm now playing through TLOD although I still have some side mission (drug wars) to complete in TBOGT. It took me 18 hours to complete the second episode and I expect about the same for TLOD. So for about a dollar an hour entertainment this hits the mark. If you felt, as I did, that GTA IV was a step in the wrong direction for GTA then I recommend this compilation; GTA is heading back to its roots.
R* should also be commended for not allowing folks to play the episodes without the need for the original GTA disc if you buy the disc version (you'll need the original if you DL the episodes from XBL). Helpful for those of us who put GTA IV on ebay shortly after completing it!
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Product Description:
Get ready to experience the Liberty City of Grand Theft Auto IV like never before. Originally created and released as episodical content for Grand Theft Auto IV and only available as separate downloads through Xbox LIVE Marketplace, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City introduces new characters, new weapons and two new stories for players on Xbox 360 to enjoy on disc. Available as standalone games, they don't require the original GTA IV, a Xbox LIVE account or even an Xbox 360 hard drive to play.
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