Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City

Quite how it's taken so long for this to be released on PS3, I cannot understand, but after the long wait, you won't be left disappointed.

Although the game plays exactly like GTAIV (there was never going to be a major upheaval on this front), there are enough additions to make the two included games feel new. Plenty of new, more fun weapons (grenade launcher anyone?), and a sprinkling of new vehicles around the streets.

Liberty City is opened up completely from the start, and a lot of the weapons you may have taken several days to earn in GTAIV are available within half an hour of playing this one. But that's a good thing; I imagine most gamers buying this will have completed GTAIV, so there is no need to go through the same process of slowly earning better weapons as you progress.

If you're like me and you love the radio stations on GTA games, you'd be pleased to hear a totally new radio soundtrack to complement the game. My favourite by a country mile would be Vice City FM - being an 80s music fan, I am of the opinion that Vice City had the greatest soundtrack to a game ever. Fernando Martinez hosts, and hearing an excellent selection of not-so-obvious 80s tracks playing in Liberty City just brings back a little bit of that "Vice City feeling" when playing this one.

The Episodes are notably shorter than GTA, with around 25 main story missions each. Looking on the bright side of this, you won't end up with the ridiculous unspendable amounts of money Niko had in GTAIV, which I suppose makes money a little more valuable.

Difficulty wise, there doesn't seem to be much difference between IV and the Episodes; I would say the Episodes are maybe slightly more challenging (the harder missions naturally come along a lot quicker with there being fewer missions overall). The missions themselves offer more variety to the gameplay, you'll have heard about the parachuting etc in Gay Tony for example. For those who like this sort of thing, missions interweave with Niko's progression in IV, adding depth to the original plot and providing interesting background to some of the tasks you carried out as Niko.

All in all, Episodes from Liberty City are two superb games if you loved GTAIV, and whilst not entirely new games, they are just new enough to be well worth the money.

GTA: Episodes from Liberty City is, as you probably are aware, 2 separate games set in Liberty City, the bustling metropolis where we first met Niko Bellic from GTA IV. I call them games, rather than episodes, because even though they are set in Liberty City, as the Lost and Damned takes at least 9 hours to complete (not inluding all the side missions) and the Ballad of Gay Tony even longer, these episodes are full of more gameplay than some full price releases. The fact this was released with an RRP of £29.99 (and can be found even cheaper) makes this release even more appealing.

So, what of the games then? Well, if you know GTA IV you know what to expect, but both games have their own treats in store for you. I won't go into too much detail as I'm sure most people looking to buy this game are fully aware of the basic outline of the episodes, but I will try and explain why this is (for me) a worthwhile purchase.

Firstly we have the Lost and Damned, which centres on a lovely chap named Johnny Klebitz. He's in a motorcycle gang (The Lost) and his story slightly intertwines with those of Niko and also Luis from TBOGT (more on that later). The major difference with TLAD is that you will be riding bikes throughout (you can drive cars, but generally you'll have your bikes). The good news is that Johnny's bikes handle like GTA IV cars, they're quick, mobile and chances are you won't be falling off! A nice touch is the motorcycle race side missions, where you can attack fellow riders with a bat to gain an advantage over them. In missions you will also have the opportunity to get back up from your 'brothers' and there are cheap weapons and free bikes that are easily obtainable from your contacts.

The Ballad of Gay Tony was the second episode released and it certainly takes a leaf out of San Andreas's and the PSP GTA's books, while retaining the gritty realism of GTA IV. As another review stated, the missions are more fantastical and on more than one occasion I had a real sense of how I felt when I played San Andreas. You are Luis Lopez, the right hand man of Gay Tony, a smart young individual who lives it up in a nice apartment and has a way with the ladies. Aside from the fantastical missions, you also have a neat idea whereby at the end of a mission you get a percentage rating clocking your score, for which there are trophies for getting all missions above 80% and also all at 100% (to do this certain criteria must be met for each mission, for example completing a mission in a good time, or not taking a lot of damage). Talking of trophies, this is probably my main disappointment, in that they are merely add ones for the main game (TLAD has 5 trophies!) However, this does also mean that many trophies are interlinked, for example if you never got round to flying a 'copter under all 14 bridges in the original, you can gain this trophy in either episode. Another introduction in TBOGT is in its multiplayer - when in free roam online you can base jump off numerous Liberty City buildings. Aside from that, both games feature similar online modes as GTA IV, however there are a few bonus vehicles in each that you don't get elsewhere.

As mentioned, both episodes, while standalone stories, do intertwine with Niko's story. I'll refrain from giving plot away, but we do see Niko and Roman throughout both episodes, and if you go back to GTA IV you will now notice both Johnny and Luis in certain missions. In fact, the beginning of TBOGT starts with Luis right in the middle of one of the best missions from GTA IV!

As in GTA IV, the story in both episodes is good, if not amazing, the voice acting is incredible and the main characters are strong - however the star of the show is and always will be the city itself. Returning to Liberty City was like going back to where you used to live, I found myself noticing little places where I'd been with Niko back in 2008 and smiling. A lovely touch is the dynamic weather in GTA and here it is used to full effect - In TLAD the daytime weather is, when it isn't raining, a lovely 'golden hour' hue, with golden skies and blinding late-afternoon sun. In TBOGT the daytime weather is again sunny, but it's bright blue skies all round, suiting the bright and fun ethos of the episode. It's at night where the city looks best though, for a game that originally came out a few years back, there's still never been a place like Liberty City - a drive through the Times Square influenced Star Junction is testament to how alive Liberty City feels, and there's nothing quite like stealing a helicopter and going for a tour of all the islands from up high. While some of the character models may look a little dated compared to the delights of Uncharted 2 and FFXIII, the city still impresses.

So, Liberty City is done and dusted, where will the next installments take us? Vice City? San Andreas? Or will we see a massive shift and have more than one city, or a country, or the world?! Maybe even, dare I say it, the mighty Norwich?! Who knows, all I know is that it'll be pretty exciting to see what Rockstar can come up with next.

I bought the PS3 hoping for a great version of GTA, and when GTA IV was released, I was not disappointed.

This addition to the franchise is a superb step in the right direction. GTA IV is given several nods within the first few minutes, which made me smile lots.

The Liberty City map was never fully utilised, in my opinion, in the original game - and already I can see that Liberty City Stories extends the use of this virtual playground. Add this to having the same controls as before (minus the dancing skills!) and it's like you're back at the beginning of your favourite game, but with 2 complete and seperate stories to explore.

I'm hoping that the guys and girls at Rockstar are working hard on a release date for GTA V, because I'm guessing that I'll have finished this great game soon!!