Playing A Game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony X360

While Lost and Damned attempted to mix up the formula set by GTA4 - a focus on motorcycles, a more outright hostile protagonist, and more optional open-world missions - Gay Tony hews much closer to the original game. It isn't a 100% success story; the game's second mission makes you play another dumb minigame (golf!), and it wasn't long before Luis's friend Henrique was pestering me on the phone to "hang out." But it iterates on and improves Liberty City enough to make up for the few bad traits it brought back.

There are a handful of new cars. Nice cars. Fast cars. There's a new combat helicopter with missiles. There's a tank. There are new guns, sticky bombs, explosive shotgun rounds. As a one-up on Lost and Damned's Gun Van feature (which also reappears in Gay Tony), you can call one of Luis's friend for free cars -- and not just for shitty cars, either. In terms of driving and gunplay, this is simply the best in the series.

There are new things to do in the city, too, like optional Drug Wars missions, Base Jumping, and Club Management. Unfortunately these side missions don't deliver very strongly - they all get pretty repetitive, and don't have much in the way of rewards - but it's an improvement nonetheless.

As for the story, it's, well, GTA4-caliber good. Luis Lopez is a strong character, less foolish than Johnny Klebitz, less naive than Niko Bellic. Gay Tony himself is surprisingly well-presented; rather than being a flamboyant joke, Tony's intellect and personal issues make him seem genuinely human.

TBOGT may not have as much length or narrative heft as GTA4 did, but it's denser with fun driving and shooting action. More so than Lost and Damned, Gay Tony proves that the GTA format can work great for smaller stories.

Better than: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned
Not as good as: the next GTA, I guess? Arguably, not as fulfilling as Grand Theft Auto IV, but at least as fun
The new Vladivostok FM: is a perfect soundtrack for zooming across the city

Progress: Finally got Bulgarin back

Rating: Awesome