GTA4: The Lost and Damned
I’m a pretty big fan of Rockstar’s work. Bully is a game that should be checked out by any teen, and Grand Theft Auto is the pinnacle of, well, the genre best known for Grand Theft Auto. Given the overt sex, gore, violence, drugs, crime, murder, car-jacking, cop shooting, bystanding smashing, other gang killing, corrupt politician bribing, awesome music selection listen … er… listen to-er… okay, I’m done. I’ve been playing The Lost and Damned and boy are my morals tired!
Lost and Damned takes us out of the well worn shoes of Eastern European immigrant Niko Bellic and into the motorcycle boots of a bald biker badass. There’s trouble in The Lost biker gang as your character clashes with leader/lout Jimmy. The story is great, feels like an epic biker film, and the way they weave this story in with Bellic’s GTA 4 adventure is thrilling.
You’ve got to keep the gang happy with social visits, gang wars, and small favors. They’ll gain experience and often will come ride with you on an adventure. See, these guys (heck, maybe all biker gangs) use terms like President, V-P, etc., to denote rank. And you’re a good vice-prez… which means, basically, you’re a very bad man.
Hawgs handle like a dream
KID FACTOR:
All of the above plus really bad language, the emphasis on crime, the fact that the hookers have a heart of lead. Oh and they’ll simulate sex (clothed) all over you for a small fee. Blood sticks to the bumpers, reminders of a reckless run from police that left 40 people killed. The ability to basically just start shooting people and cops until you get 5 stars or they take you down in a hail of bullets. A storyline that involves sex (hetero and homo), drugs, greed, murder, perversion and more. And explosions so cool… it’s fun to cut loose and make ’em happen. Nobody gets hurt and the stress relief is unparalleled.
I found Niko to be rough but generally pleasant company. He had a knowing/mocking way and the mystery of his past and war experiences gave him depth beyond the evil acts he performs. This guy is more shallow, more stupid, less likable and sports a buzz cut. A buzz cut? On a hawg-driving Hell’s Angel type? Excuse me?
Good add-on at a nice price, lots of GTA4 madness and carnage, interesting multiplayer makes for an adult size dose of guilty pleasure.
Liberty City, again, a fun place to visit but you wouldn’t want your kids living here!
I disagree with the ESRB.
Rate this one 18+
KID FACTOR EXCEPTION
Since GTA IV is contains adult themes, so do the movies/TV shows it is based on. If you allow your kids to see movies featuring sex, nudity, drugs, explosions, hookers, bikers (realistically portrayed), mayhem, cop-killing, grand theft auting (auto-ing?), ok that’s enough. If you let your kids revel in the adut stuff at an early age – there’s very little compelling reason to prevent you from allowing this one.
Your Call.
-GamerDad
March 13th, 2009 at 8:04 am
The addition of a penis means that it should be 18+? I looked back at your GTA 4 review (which was a pain to find, BTW,the site would do well to have a search function)and saw no mention of disagreement with the M rating there.
March 13th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Maybe cause there was no full nudity in it?
And it’s Anonymous, Anonononomous.
March 13th, 2009 at 9:29 am
I”m pretty sure I know how to spell my own tag, thanks. And I’d still like to hear the reasoning behind the rating. The review doesn’t explicitly note it.
March 13th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Would it surprise you that GTA 3, VC, SA, all got 18+? Or as I called it then “ADULT”
The reason why 4 is different is because when I wrote 4 I was in negotiations with a company to buy 1000 of our reviews (from the old site) and they wanted me to stick with the ESRB rating ages for that. It was a brief period. I was recovering from a Quadruple Bypass at the time and we weren’t sure what this company was going to buy from us. This is also the reason we’re sitting here at Gamingwithchildren.com not GamerDad.com
The other reason is because false consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. 😉
Does it really make you angry anononononmouse? I’m genuinely curious. See, the age rating is the least important part of anything I write. It’s a suggestion, you see. And as far as search being hard here… yeah… it’s a wordpress thing. And the fact that 1000 reviews had to be forcibly excised.
March 13th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Where do you get the idea that I’m angry? I just was curious why that single addition changed your apparent agreement with the ESRB rating. Now that you’ve explained that you were trying to get paid by omitting your opinions the inconsistency makes more sense.
March 13th, 2009 at 11:28 am
See, I was right, you are angry.
And judging from your last line there, fairly presumptuous and simple-minded too! But, and I’m serious, that’s no big deal to me man, I’ve never minded being challenged. I hope you stick around.
March 13th, 2009 at 11:35 am
hey! anyone can be annnonahmeese! its easy and helps when youre trolling. dude, welcome to gamerdad, you’re 5 years late. This guy has done more for you than you know. he’s influenced the ESRB to change ratings (in kids favor) he’s faced and argued down some of the fiercest critics. Jack Thompson not only knows gamerdad, he posted at gamnepolitics that he thought GDs heart attack was caused by games!
Dude, for real ghamerdad was never and is not about age scores. check it out, he often doesn’t use them at all. This isn’t a review site, not since, like late 2007. Dude just writes about games now. I guessed I’d be peeved too, if I was 17 like you.
March 13th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Um look guys. I don’t want to see this get meaner. Anon has a good point and I’ve thought about it some. Does Age Rating consistency matter? I don’t use a checklist. I review, as a parent, from the gut.. I don’t think it helps to have me play the game and then mentally compare it to other games and then check scores to make sure everything adds up.
But this is all beside the point. I posted this so we could talk about GTA Lost and Damned. There’s a shlong in it. Male nudity, frontal. A first for the series. Discuss?
March 13th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
I If I were 17 and afraid that a parent would read this and keep me from playing the game, then possibly I might be angry. f I were angry I would not have asked the question. I would probably have just flamed you. As it is, I’ve been reading this site for years since I like to see the viewpoint of someone who is working to inform parents and keep inappropriate games out of the hands of kids without making laws and just was genuinely curious about the disagreement with the rating as the only other recollection I have of your doing so was with Halo.
But hey, good for you having a white knight there. He is well versed in ad hominem but could use some brushing up on his writing.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
That last post was made before I saw your latest one, btw.
Regarding the schlong, oddly not explicitly mentioned in the write-up, I thought it was perfectly appropriate. Stubbs was showing dominance and making Johnny uncomfortable, it would make sense for the player to be made so as well. I alsothought it was well done where Johnny saw him for the whole exchange but the player was left in suspense, curious as to how far the game would go, whether they would maintain the above the waist angle or give the player the view that Johnny had.
March 13th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
“Oddly not written in the write up”
See? Checklist. I’m not ticking off detail boxes here and I never really have. With the Stubbs scene I remember thinking “brilliant! Hilarious!” Great bit of character work there and yeah, your interpretation is dead on. He’s swinging pipe literally. I don’t find that offensive, but it did enter into the 18+ decision. My overall impression after sitting back in my chair watching the credits roll is that I’d just played a great game that should probably get an ADULT ONLY rating. 18+ then?
I apologize, I can see I’m no longer good at explaining myself.
Oh and other times I’ve disagreed with the ESRB
Oblivion (this was more me backing my reviewer)
GTA 3
GTA VC
GTA SA
Halo
Halo 2
Halo 3
Super Smash Bros Melee/Brawl
Sid Meier’s Pirates
House of the Dead 1 & 2
It’ll start moving again, I bet. No Hobgoblins here. I’m constantly reading and altering my opinion. Time is a factor. Released today I’d give Mortal Kombat, Doom, House of the Dead 1&2 a T rating.
August 17th, 2012 at 1:33 am
The problem I have with The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony is they’re inconsistant with the main story. In the main story, the bridges linking New York City together are closed until after the NYCPD bust the deal with Niko Bellic, Trey Stewart, and Johnny Klebitz in the Bronx. Johnny’s already on Niko’s side of the bridges. Trey lives in Harlem on Manhattan Island. Either he has a Visa, he takes a speedboat, the bridges linking New York City open up during the cutscene, or he’s staying with Elizabeta Torres until they open up. Either way, the bridges and tunnels linking New York and New Jersey are closed which means Johnny and his Outlaws can’t get to their Club House in New Jersey on their bikes without a Visa until after Niko and the McReary’s rob the Bank of America on Manhattan Island. Johnny and his gang can’t get from New Jersey to New York on their bikes unless they stop to show their Visas which by being Outlaws they don’t have when the bridges were closed. The idea of them having Visas is stupid because they’re Outlaws. That guy finds the diamond in New Jersey. There’s no way they could find their way into the Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Rockstar really screwed up. It would’ve been so bad if the restrictions wouldn’t been in the original game but because they were it really didn’t make any sense.