GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

[Egg]

The trailer really magnifies how terrible humans look in this game in comparison to everything else. It's like a living, breathing city populated by horrible puppets.

[Alex Riviello]

http://chud.com/articles/articles/20...ADS/Page1.html

[BillyG]

Awesome. Looks a lot more over the top than GTA4 or (most) of Lost and Damned. I for one am all for GTA getting back to the balance of silliness that San Andreas had.

[Spike Marshall]

Saints Row 2 is essentially San Andreas 2.

Looking forward to this, I'm the biggest GTAIV apologist on the boards so I was down with the DLC anyways but that was a really well cut trailer.

[whiskey tango foxtrot]

No apologies needed. I'm playing through GTA IV again and I think it's the best in the series. Nothing quite like plowing my Patriot through traffic while listening to LCHC.

[Alex Riviello]

New trailer featuring the titular character- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZfZDVS2ciQ

[A-Pathetic]

Originally Posted by Alex Riviello

New trailer featuring the titular character- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZfZDVS2ciQ

What an awful trailer.

[Alex Hill]

Got this from GTA4.net, which is supposedly from Xbox 360 World magazine. Some of it is spoiler-ish, I guess. Approach with caution.

The HUD (Heads-Up-Display) is a "Parma Violet-style pink/purple".
The Ballad of Gay Tony should feature around 20 missions (roughly the same as The Lost and Damned).
Missions get scored out of 100% depending on your style and efficiency. You can re-play missions at any time in order to improve your scores.
Three nightclubs are accessible - Bahama Mamas, Hercules and Maisonette 9. Luis is tasked with managing Hercules and Maisonette 9 - the two clubs which belong to Gay Tony. Hercules was off-limits during this preview.
The golf course in Algonquin behind Memory Lanes is open for business! A golfing minigame is available.
New websites have been added to the in-game internet.
A new car based on a Bentley continental Convertible is called the Super Drop Diamond.
One of the new random character missions involves "a mental ex-girlfriend of Luis' who places a bomb in his car, leading to a race to disarm it."

Good to see Rockstar have added the replay mission feature. It was the logical next step. I'm getting pretty excited about this DLC now. It sounds like we're getting the crazy missions of San Andreas mixed in with with the decadent glamour of Vice City.

[Dr Syn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-dyX8LJeXA

Weasel News report trailer, featuring weapons! and awesome!

where do terrorists come from? featuring STOCK FOOTAGE OF CAVES!

[Dr Syn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja3dt3wSeW4

Yusuf Amir is getting Arab Money.

[Alex Riviello]

Second trailer for the set- http://chud.com/articles/articles/21...GTA/Page1.html

[thecallahan]

Rockstar makes such great trailers, I'm going to have to try and squeeze this in between all the other games I'm playing.

[Dr Syn]

Bought the disc today, time to play.

[Alex Riviello]

Last trailer is up here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7AHZSrxpiw

[BillyG]

This DLC came out at the wrong time. Two weeks earlier, and I would have been all over it.

[Spike Marshall]

Originally Posted by BillyG

This DLC came out at the wrong time. Two weeks earlier, and I would have been all over it.

Exactly. I love GTA 4, but I won't be touching this til at least November due to Borderlands and Left 4 Dead.

[Ken Savage]

I'm having way to much fun with Saints Row 2 to order this yet, plus I still havent finished The Lost and The Dammend. I will pick it up though as it looks way more fun than GTA4

[Dr Syn]

SO far, the Ballad of Gay Tony is a blast.

The new guns, have so much 'oooomph' in them.

Dicked around in Free Mode last night, and base jumping is excellent, and you never run out of parachute.


Now to see if I can parachute after a Swingset GLitch.

[jmub]

After Gears 2 and Uncharted 2, the cover system in this thing feels incredibly clunky and slow.

[Dr Syn]

Okay, that has to be the best fucking ending mission in a GTA game.

[jameson]

Originally Posted by Dr Syn

Okay, that has to be the best fucking ending mission in a GTA game.

Well shit, I was going to put this off...

[Jake]

ARGH. I might download this today. Maybe. Damn it, people.

[Dr Syn]

Plus once you finish you can use the replay mission function that appears on the phone, and try for a better %, which appears on your Rockstar profile if you have one.

Compare with friends!

And holy shit, I got Luis rather shit faced after many free shots, and he vomits and passes out, and wakes up in a random place in the city, so far i've woken up in the Rubbish Skip ramp in Star Junction and in the small Island in Middle Park.

I cannot spoil anything, I can't even go into the missions, but the game does tie up many of the dangling threads (those Diamonds being the main one) and teases with future GTA possibilities.

The Weapons kick a lot of ass, and Freemode is insane with them.

[Anderson]

I just like mowing people over to the sounds of "Disco Inferno".

[Spike Marshall]

Despite the creaky engine I’m loving this game. Love the new soundtrack, love the new weapons, I really like the new characters and it feels like the tightest GTA in terms of mission structure. It’s also a lot more goofy than the previous instalments, one of the first missions is wanging golf balls into a Union Leader, whilst maintaing some seriousness. If any of you gents want to try some multiplayer, just send me a message.

[Alex Riviello]

I don't like it quite as much as Lost and The Damned, but it's really fucking good. Both of them on the disc might be a better package than GTA IV itself.

[thecallahan]

I'm impressed with Rockstar. I liked GTA4 a lot and then thought the first expansion was better than the main game and now Gay Tony is better than LaD. The style of it is vastly different than the first two but still the same in some regards and I'm loving it, also, Tony and Luis' relationship is cool, they handle that aspect well and the secondary characters are great so far, I've only done one Mori mission but I love Yusuf. I'm also a fan of the new guns, in particular the new submachine gun and auto shotgun w/ exploding shells.

[Alex Riviello]

The ending mission wasn't nearly THAT good. But it was fun.

Pretty great game though, and there's a still a ton of stuff I have to do- drug missions, new multiplayer modes, etc. Great package once again from Rockstar.

[Spike Marshall]

Originally Posted by Alex Riviello

I don't like it quite as much as Lost and The Damned, but it's really fucking good. Both of them on the disc might be a better package than GTA IV itself.

I like it WAY more than the Lost and Damned, just because it feels tighter and more fun. I also don’t hate EVERY character in the game like I did with TLAD (barring Stubbs). Heck, I kind of like some of the guys in this game. I have no idea how far I am in the game, I’ve done the quests for Armando and Henrique (got about 6 drug wars done), done about eight missions for Tony (the last one was buying the diamonds from the cook) , I’ve done one for Mori, and I’ve just completed the first mission for Yusuf.

I kind of hope I’m only halfway through the game, because I’m loving being back in Liberty City and I’m loving the missions. Even the standard shootouts seem to have been given some chutzpah (the one in the rivals nightclub was really well done).

[Dr Syn]

Originally Posted by Alex Riviello

The ending mission wasn't nearly THAT good. But it was fun.

Pretty great game though, and there's a still a ton of stuff I have to do- drug missions, new multiplayer modes, etc. Great package once again from Rockstar.

In terms of GTA end missions, compared to say GTA 3's on the Dam, the Mansion defense in Vice City and that Godawful one in San Andreas, those sucked and the controls only made it very very very very very frustrating. The GTA4's with the chase and jump into the chopper was okay, great when it works, but can be rather argh inducing, and they hadn't implemented the replay function with checkpoints yet.

Now Lost and the Damned's final mission was excellent.

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall

I like it WAY more than the Lost and Damned, just because it feels tighter and more fun. I also don’t hate EVERY character in the game like I did with TLAD (barring Stubbs). Heck, I kind of like some of the guys in this game. I have no idea how far I am in the game, I’ve done the quests for Armando and Henrique (got about 6 drug wars done), done about eight missions for Tony (the last one was buying the diamonds from the cook) , I’ve done one for Mori, and I’ve just completed the first mission for Yusuf.

I kind of hope I’m only halfway through the game, because I’m loving being back in Liberty City and I’m loving the missions. Even the standard shootouts seem to have been given some chutzpah (the one in the rivals nightclub was really well done).

I'd say you're about halfway. But remember, you can go back post game to any mission you want either for a better score or shits and giggles.

But the real question is, have you danced the Bus Stop?

[Spike Marshall]

Originally Posted by Dr Syn

I'd say you're about halfway. But remember, you can go back post game to any mission you want either for a better score or shits and giggles.

But the real question is, have you danced the Bus Stop?

I’m like 100% sure I’ve danced perfectly in both Maisonette and Hercules, but the achievement doesn’t seem to trigger.

[thecallahan]

How do you get different dances? I've only gotten the Bus Stop (and completed it successfully).

[Alex Riviello]

I've only gotten the bus stop myself. Do it in both clubs and you get that achievement. If you dance perfectly you can end up banging a girl in the bathroom.

[Rusty Oysterburger]

I bought the double pack so I've only played LaD so far and I really like it. The massively improved bike handling, new guns (auto shotgun is the tits) and most of the missions are really fun. Can't wait to get stuck into Ballad... if it's even more OTT and fun.

[thecallahan]

Originally Posted by Alex Riviello

I've only gotten the bus stop myself. Do it in both clubs and you get that achievement. If you dance perfectly you can end up banging a girl in the bathroom.

Wait, what other club? The one that's your competitors with the disco floor? As for banging chicks after dancing, that's happened to me twice and that was before doing the group dance. Anyone else get picture msg from one of the girls in lingerie asking for a visit? I thought that was a cool little addition.

And Rusty, wait until you get to Ballad, they have exploding shells for the shotgun. It's fun hitting someone point blank in the face with one of those.

[Alex Riviello]

No, Tony's other club down the street! Forget the names, but he's got the straight one and the gay one... it's pretty obvious which is which.

[Brad Millette]

What, is one called Drinky's, and the other is Buttfuckavaganza?

[Alex Riviello]

Yes. The funny thing is that he finds the one (apparently real) woman to dance with in the gay club.

[Alex Hill]

Has anyone had the dance-off with the gay guy yet? Man was that funny.

[Dr Syn]

I do so love these little random Club management events at the end of the job.

I've just encountered Cloe Parker, who has featured on I'm Rich. She keeps going on about her Puss-puss and even tries to grab the wheel. Luis smartly declines the invite to come in to her home.

[jmub]

So I just finished The Lost and Damned a few days ago and started playing ballad yesterday.. and I can say right off the bat that the missions in Ballad are much much more memorable and fun. I can barely remember any of the lost missions outside of the backseat biker police shooting gallery and final prison mission.
So far Ballads had me making golf cart getaways and sticky bombing getaway boats. Really digging it.
And is it just me or does the game engine look a little better since GTAIV?

[Rusty Oysterburger]

Originally Posted by jmub

And is it just me or does the game engine look a little better since GTAIV?

I thought that as well when I jumped straight from LaD to BOGT, when you step out of Luis' apartment for the first time in bright sunlight I thought everything looked a lot sharper and nicer. It's probably because LaD is quite dull and has the grey/brown/grim colour scheme that's so popular these days.

BOGT really is a lot more fun, within 5 minutes of starting the game I'd nailed some chick in the club toilets, got her number and rang her for a "booty call", heh.

Who is it doing Tony's voice by the way, it sounds really like Bill Fitchner but some places say it is D.B. Cooper who is either this woman or some sort of joke about the infamous criminal. I can't do much searching at work but the IMDB page for the game doesn't even list Tony Prince in the cast

[jmub]

The thing to keep in mind is TLAD has a bullshit noise filter on it by default. I played the game with the noise filter switched off and TBOGT still looks better to my eyes.

[Spike Marshall]

I love that they added parachutes to the free mode. Me and Eric must have spent an hour yesterday just doing all the parachute jumps and trying to see how long we could freefall.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by jmub

The thing to keep in mind is TLAD has a bullshit noise filter on it by default. I played the game with the noise filter switched off and TBOGT still looks better to my eyes.

Yeah, this. I ended up just putting the noise filter back on because everything looked so fucking grainy no matter what. I'm sure they tweaked this one in some places to make it more shiny.

[Rusty Oysterburger]

I turned off the noise filter as soon as I started LaD, looked like it was snowing. Is it possible the engine had a spit polish for the latest game? The draw distance when you are flying at high altitudes seems remarkably better than it was in GTAIV.

The jump in insanity/fun from LaD to BoGT is huge, definitely feels a lot more like San Andreas. I had a big stupid grin on my face and was laughing to myself during that mission on top of the Empire State Building, blasting helicopters out the air with the explosive shotgun, don't think I ever did that during GTAIV.

The club management game is boring as fuck though, you don't even get to beat up incapcitated and vulnerable people like a real bouncer! I usually end up getting hammered on shots instead.