Review: Episodes from Liberty City: The Ballad of Gay Tony
By Mike Bantick
Sunday, 22 November 2009 03:00
| Episodes From Liberty City: The Ballad of Gay Tony |
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Developer |
RockStar Games |
| Publisher |
RockStar Games |
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| Rating |
MA 15+ |
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| Xbox 360 |
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Well not now, whilst the story line in The Ballad of Gay Tony is still one of sex, violence, drugs and money, it is done with cast members that are – across the board – more fun to play with. This is evident right from the get go, where in an early mission, your character Luiz Lopez, visits the golf driving range, sizing up a local thug for target practice.
The subsequent golf-cart chase and shoot-out is nothing short of hilarious. I spent a good proportion of time traversing Liberty City in that ever reliable golf-cart.
After this somewhat light hearted opening, Luiz gets down to business. Luiz is a connected man; he works for Anthony “Gay Tony” Prince, the main man behind Algonquin’s – if not Liberty Citiiy’s – nightlife scene.
Amongst lots of eye-rolling at the stupidity of his boss, and associates, Luiz is the straight man in the tragic comedy that may see the downfall of Gay Tony’s empire,
You see, Mr Prince has got himself mixed up with some bad folk, people he owes money. Luiz spends his time between doing jobs for the people that Prince owes, and protecting him from them.
Unlike Niko or The Lost’s story however, the hi-jinx of The Ballad take place largely at the top end of town. The story will weave between the Russian drug trade and the ownership of the local hockey team, diamonds and skydiving will be involved along the way as do characters and storylines from the original game and The Lost and Damned in particular.
Luiz can spend his down time fighting in cage matches – these are a little ho-hum when your expectations are raised by the new club-based setting of this episode. Dancing in the club is both fun and titillating, and then there are drinking games and the more drudge work of club management to fill the hours between missions.
Much of the enjoyment gleaned from this episode is down to the story rather than the new mini-games. Early on it does feel as if you are watching one big cut-scene with little interaction between plot moving dialogue, but ultimately the story of Luiz balancing family and professional life in the dangerous Liberty City is enthralling without becoming as dark as previous GTA IV tales, even the hot-pink of the waypoint markers is a nod towards the frivolity of it all.
Over the top, heavily armed encounters and shenanigans at the high end of town (well almost) are the order of the day, and the variety within this episode marks The Ballad Of Gay Tony as a fitting place to leave the Liberty City tale for now (hints in the games manual point to a return to Vice City for GTA V)
The GTA IV engine is still a slightly awkward masterpiece of interaction and presentation. Rockstar Games has been able to wring much from their setting and thanks must go to Tony and his cast of characters, for taking us on a spurious journey through the highs and lows of the fictional club owner’s scene, remember kids, stay away from drugs.
8.5 Man-eaters out of 10
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