Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Developer(s)	Rockstar North[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)	Rockstar Games
Distributor(s)	Take-Two Interactive
Series	Grand Theft Auto
Engine	RAGE
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	Xbox 360 WW: 29 October 2009[2] PlayStation 3, Windows NA: 13 April 2010[3] EU: 16 April 2010[3]
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City is a standalone compilation of the episodes for the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Created by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games, it contains both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony on one disc.^[4] It was released alongside the DLC release of The Ballad of Gay Tony on 29 October 2009 for the Xbox 360 and released on 13 April 2010 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3, along with the DLC releases of both packs.

Unlike the downloadable versions of the episodes, the compilation does not require a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV to play, nor is an Xbox Live or PlayStation Network account necessary (except for multiplayer). The content is also played straight from the disc, and does not need to be installed on a hard drive to play, like various other disc-based expansions for other Xbox 360 games that have been released in the past. Available exclusively on the Episodes from Liberty City disc are three new in-game radio stations – Vice City FM, RamJam FM and Self-Actualization FM.^[5]

Content

The Lost and Damned

The Lost and Damned features similar gameplay to Grand Theft Auto IV. It tells the story of Johnny Klebitz, Vice-President of "The Lost" motorcycle club, and how he tries to maintain control of the club while its leader, Billy Grey, spirals out of control. Additions to the game include new weapons, such as a grenade launcher, Automatic Pistol, half of a pool cue and pipe bombs, as well as sawn-off and automatic shotguns and new vehicles, such as Johnny's custom-made motorcycle. The player is also able to telephone various members of the Lost to provide assistance. Johnny's friend Terry, for instance, will drive to a location near to Johnny and sell him weapons and armour, while Clay can deliver a bike of the player's choice to a nearby area. Another addition to The Lost and Damned is gang wars. Once the player has completed a certain amount of them, weapons spawn in either the clubhouse and/or safehouse depending on how far the player has progressed in the story, and every subsequent 10 gang wars up to a limit of 50, a new weapon will spawn.

The Ballad of Gay Tony

Differences from downloadable episodes

There are differences in how the disc content is experienced compared to the downloadable content versions of the same Grand Theft Auto episodes.

The DLC episodes add music to the existing radio stations in Grand Theft Auto IV and music from the original game is available while playing the DLC episodes, enabling all three games to play a combined soundtrack of over 300 songs. Episodes from Liberty City does not contain the original radio music included with Grand Theft Auto IV, nor does installing both discs on an Xbox 360 hard drive combine their soundtracks. However, Episodes includes the radio stations from both DLC episodes, plus additional stations that are exclusive to the disc.

The gameplay content of the newer episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony, is identical to the Episodes disc and the DLC version, and the multiplayer features of Gay Tony are compatible regardless of version. However, because of updates to the map of Liberty City shared by both games on the disc, the Episodes version of The Lost and Damned cannot be used to join multiplayer sessions with users of the older DLC version of that game.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

• Official website
• Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City on Grand Theft Wiki