Groovin' with The Ballad of Gay Tony

By Joe Dwyer     11/5/09 6:00pm

Gamers, grab your baseball bats. It's time to beat some more hookers.It's been a little over a year and a half since Rockstar Games blew the lid off the gaming world with its highly-anticipated installment in the venerable Grand Theft Auto franchise, Grand Theft Auto IV. Mothers covered their children's eyes, politicians worked themselves into yet another completely unfounded hissy fit and gamers the world over took to the streets of Liberty City, the living, breathing, tongue-in-cheek parody of the modern-day Big Apple.

The Ballad of Gay Tony is the second and final chapter of Rockstar's downloadable content that expands upon the GTA IV storyline, putting players in the shoes of Luis Lopez as he navigates the fast-paced lifestyle of Liberty City's elite. It's a changeup from the previous expansion, The Lost and Damned, which followed the exploits of Johnny Klebitz and his low-life biker gang.

Gamers yearning for a return to the over-the-top mania that defined Rockstar's 2004 epic, GTA: San Andreas, will readily scoop up this expansion. Not only does it add more outrageous vehicles and weapons - tanks and sticky bombs, anyone? - but the missions themselves are a series of adrenaline-pumping explosion-fests. (If action isn't quite your thing, rest assured: There are dancing and champagne drinking minigames too.)

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The biggest draw and most interesting aspect of The Ballad of Gay Tony is the intersection of its storyline with that shared by GTA IV and The Lost and Damned. Both Luis and Johnny were minor characters in the original game, and their respective episodes flesh out each man's story. It is hugely satisfying to see key moments from the original game, such as the McCrearys' smash-'n-grab bank robbery, play out from an entirely different perspective, especially if you didn't recognize Luis lurking in the background while playing through the mission in GTA IV.

The changes the new game brings are more in the realm of aesthetics than functionality. Gameplay is unaltered from the previous titles: The cars drive the same, and combat is still handled the way it was in GTA IV. The Ballad of Gay Tony adds new music throughout the game's radio dial and a plethora of new side missions - drug running, club management and BASE jumping, for example - as well as hilarious new TV programming for the game's television stations. Rockstar even brought back DJ Fernando to helm Vice City FM, a radio station exclusive to Episodes from Liberty City compilation disc.

For those who enjoy testing their mettle online, there are new BASE jumping and car racing multiplayer options, in addition to the standard deathmatch and team-based gameplay from GTA IV.

Depending on level of focus, the game can take players around 10 to 15 hours to complete, though less if they are set only on the story missions. Toss in a new batch of achievements, and you've got a winner.

The Ballad of Gay Tony is available as a download from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 1,600 Microsoft points, or alternatively bundled on a disc with The Lost and Damned under the Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City moniker. The original GTA IV is not needed if you purchase the disc version.

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