Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony AU Review - IGN

Contents:

• GTA IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY REVIEW
• GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY REVIEW
• GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY
• GTA: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY REVIEW: OUT WH A BANG
• GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY
• GRAND THEFT AUTO: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY UK REVIEW
• GRAND THEFT AUTO: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY AU REVIEW
• GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY – REVIEW
• GRAND THEFT AUTO: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY
• GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY – REVIEWS
• WOT I THK: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY
• GTA IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY HANDS-ON

GTA IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY REVIEW

Ri off to the sunset your new GTA IV saga clos out wh The Ballad of Gay Tony, an over-the-top, explosive $20 downloadable episo.

Like the first episo, The Lost and Damned, you'll need a py of GTA IV to play the downloadable versn of The Ballad of Gay Tony. Tony Prce, owner of the biggt straight and gay nightclubs Liberty Cy, took Luis unr his wg and ma him somethg.

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY REVIEW

Luis' rise to the top happens before the begng of Gay Tony and jt about every actn he tak the game is tied to Tony's story, not his own.

Though there are a few early missns that tie to Luis' old life, they are throwaways and very quickly the story foc on the problems of Gay Tony. Of urse, bigger jobs mean bigger toys to play wh and The Ballad of Gay Tony is packed wh weapons that give a big bang.

There's also Tony's gay club, Hercul, where you n dance wh some shirtls studs if that's your thg. And now the The Ballad of Gay Tony, which is beg released both as a downloadable episo and as part of the Episos om Liberty Cy stand-alone retail product, you play as nightclub owner Tony Prce's bs partner and nfidant, Luis Lopez.

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY

If you'd rather tt the expand arsenal agast other players than agast street gangs, you n hop to The Ballad of Gay Tony's multiplayer sue at any time via an optn on your -game cell phone.

As you'd expect, there's no shortage of humor The Ballad of Gay Tony, and while plenty of the form of phone nversatns durg gameplay, a great al of is ftly livered durg cutscen that are noticeably longer than those prev gam. Both Lopez and the tular "Gay" Tony Prce are wonrfully voiced and animated, but 's tough to ll them standouts bee there are so many other characters who are every b as imprsive.

GTA: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY REVIEW: OUT WH A BANG

The Ballad of Gay Tony wouldn't be difficult to remend as a full retail product, so at 1, 600 Microsoft pots this downloadable ntent really is a steal. You might be disappoted that this episo don't brg much the way of new multiplayer ntent to the table, and 's te that one or two of the optnal activi aren't as much fun as they might have been, but the credible value offered by The Ballad of Gay Tony is unniable.

Available as a Xbox 360 download or bundled on a disc wh another episo(as Grand Theft Auto: Episos om Liberty Cy), GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY livers new game-play to the ntroversial tle, along wh new weapons and vehicl that n be ed multiplayer mos. You play as Luis Lopez, a ltle-known and seedy assistant to Anthony \"Gay Tony\" Prce, a nightclub owner and associate of the Ancelotti crime fay the fict Liberty Cy. Like The Lost and Damned before , The Ballad of Gay Tony ref expectatns of downloadable ntent, but this new episo do so much more bi.

A top-notch expansn that nearly surpass GTA IV self for sheer fun and replayabily, The Ballad of Gay Tony puts a ftgly explosive, over-the-top da on the story that Niko Bellic started.

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY

The Ballad Of Gay Tony is the most enjoyable by simply uppg the ante a notch, remdg that even a cy 'where the money is makg the plan', you n still have a ltle fun. Time and expectatns have taken a certa toll on Grand Theft Auto IV, but all that asi, the bottom le for The Ballad of Gay Tony is that 's jt not as good as the GTAIV experienc that preced . Netflix's One Piece Live-Actn Trailer Has A Treasure Trove Of Anime Easter EggsOffEnglishGrand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony arriv this week as the fal planned release of the GTA IV saga that began the sprg of 2008.

The trailers and talk issued by Rockstar Gam prr to the release of Gay Tony implied that this third stallment, this new adventure starrg bodyguard Luis Lopez mtg crim for Liberty Cy's most warped and wealthy cizens, would return GTA to the dam-tonatg, beach-partyg gameplay eccentrici of Grand Theft Auto: San wildns appears durg some glor moment but never que tak over Gay Tony, which prov to be closer tone and style to GTA IV than San Andreas. The new episo troduc some strong new ias to the seri, monstrat Rockstar's medium-leadg sophistitn character creatn and mak a se for no GTA ever havg a sgle lead character I Know The People: I don't thk I know any ld-blood killers or pill-poppg gay nightclub owners who have crossed the mob, but I know suave players who get all the girls and I know people who are cshed wh strs about money.

GRAND THEFT AUTO: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY UK REVIEW

Rockstar's characters Gay Tony — like so many of their GTA hero, villas and passers-by — feel fascatgly unreal both bee they are lorful and bee they stand out om most vio game characters by exhibg regnizable human tras. In Gay Tony I was assigned jt one missn to parachute onto a buildg — one that was a repli of a skyscraper I ed to work . In another missn I was brought to a nearly perfect recreatn of Manhattan's Chelsea Piers drivg range and ma to stand almost the same spot where I wnsed Tiger Woods drive trick shots, except that Gay Tony, I was dog the golfg and the goal was more btal than promotg an EA golf if you're not someone who would regnize the hundreds of New York Cy landmarks recreated Liberty Cy — not jt the signature skyscrapers but the slop of certa streets and style of certa signs — you will hopefully feel the ways Rockstar Gay Tony to once aga explo the emotn of real geography.

A leap om the equivalent of the Empire State Buildg — or a nervo wa to see whether the r that ped your helipter by drivg to a tunnel unr the Hudson River emerg on the other si New Jersey — still has the texture and tensn of somethg that feels realer than what so many other gam offer, whout feelg any ls The Sky: Of the two most mendable gameplay enhancements that Gay Tony offers to the GTA IV stcture, the affairs the air are the more likely crowd-pleaser. You've got the edgs of ocsnal sexual terlus while you go about this, bt of all, you've got the wng twist: The seemgly random ll om a -worker that assigns you an emergency tougher management task that might have you racg to Tony's gay nightclub to rcue a rapper om beg outed by the paparazzi or to the Bronx (aka Bohan) to get a sandwich for the do-nothg starlet whose assistant lls you for an update every mute. The llisn of pop culture, crazy people and termtently bawdy and vlent ntent is GTA a psule — or this se, a Right Zans: The hyped return of a able ary tank may have thrilled the GTA fans lookg for San Andreas wildns, but Gay Tony's armed vehicle feels like an obligatory throwback rather than a joyo retroductn.

But even better than seeg Rockstar me om their past — and sometim they do splendidly as is the se wh the group dance-numbers the clubs that briefly turn Gay Tony to a Bollywood flick — are the new attempts at lorful chaos. I wele the missns that riff about Twter or that threaten the life of — gulp — a And Niko: Few moments The Ballad of Gay Tony are as powerful as the appearanc of Niko Bellic, this man who, GTA IV players know well, has a history, a life that sawed eply through the streets of Liberty Cy. To see Niko jt standg a scene — on the si of a Gay Tony enemy — hts at the power of a GTA game that enpass multiple playable liv.

GRAND THEFT AUTO: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY AU REVIEW

Here is my magic moment Gay Tony, one of my favore random GTA experienc ever: A missn that I won't spoil left me acced of a murr I did not m. Everythg was gog to be all right and those sirens, if I jt gaed enough speed on the highway, would fa Delivery: You've been readg a review mostly of $20 The Ballad Of Gay Tony, which you n download to an Xbox 360 and play njunctn wh the base disc.

And his neighborhood iends were tertg too, but the game's early promise to tug Luis between the high-roller life of rich people crim and poor people stggl too quickly evaporated when the mom missns abptly Multiplayer: GTA IV multiplayer is changed small, good ways for The Ballad of Gay Tony, addg kill-streak benefs of extra money won athmatch and fuelg r rac wh ightengly fast Nro boosts.

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY – REVIEW

(Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony was veloped by Rockstar Gam and published by Take Two Interactive for the Xbox 360 on October 29.

HowLongToBeat9 hrsMa Story12 hrsStory + Sis24 hrsEverythg11 hrsAll StylGame HelpGTA 4 GuiTop Gui SectnsBasicsWalkthroughSi QutsPigeonsThe Lost and DamnedThe Ballad of Gay TonyCheats and SecretsThe CyImag & ScreenshotsLoadgPlayGTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony Review9.

GRAND THEFT AUTO: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY

Rockstar's send downloadable add-on for Grand Theft Auto IV may be known as The Ballad of Gay Tony, but anyone who go expectg a radil social msage om the world's most ntroversial veloper will be disappoted. If anythg, the homosexualy angle is superfluo to Rockstar's agenda: the GTA gam have always monstrated that actg outsi the law is the great equaliser, and The Ballad is yet another story of how crime begets crime no matter your class, creed or sexual preference. While the first episo, The Lost and Damned, foced on Liberty Cy's biker gangs, The Ballad of Gay Tony is rooted the glzy party districts of Algonqu, where nightclub imprar Tony Prce and his bs partner and player character Luis Lopez pri over a pair of night spots.

Rockstar's virtual metropolis, one of this generatn's digal wonrs, bows out wh The Ballad of Gay Tony, a ftgly explosive fale to the saga started by Grand Theft Auto IV that turns s foc on the cy's nightlife, s glter-balls, dis beats and dance floors amg what's an astoundgly exuberant send-off. They're not the only troductn, and each one of Gay Tony's addns is imbued wh a wonrful flamboyance – whether 's the medley of superrs and mcle rs that have been add to the vehicle roster or new weapons such as the to shotgun and s explosive ammunn.

The Ballad of Gay Tony starts off wh bombast and succsfully ups the ante wh each succsive missn, buildg up brilliantly to a climax that's as thrillg as any set-piece the seri to date.

GRAND THEFT AUTO IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY – REVIEWS

Missn sr also tie to Rockstar's Social Club, though as far as other onle featur go The Ballad of Gay Tony is relatively threadbare what brgs to the table. The Ballad of Gay Tony's exuberance is reflected a story that, while cut om faiar Rockstar cloth, is told wh a breezy humour that's backed up one of GTA's greatt sts.

WOT I THK: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY

Tony's an engagg character too and 's to Rockstar's cred that has flown the face of all the tterg that met the announcement of this game's tle wh a take on homosexualy that feels like a first for a game of this libre. Not that there's ever any doubt of Luis's sexualy, which is signposted om the off and is a factor one of The Ballad of Gay Tony's bt mi-gam.

While the ighteng pace of velopment viogam over the last 18 months has dulled some of Liberty Cy's she, 's still a creatn beyond pare and 's ttament to the appeal of The Ballad of Gay Tony that 's unnventnal addns and blisterg story make seem as h as did last year. VerdictLike The Lost and Damned before , The Ballad of Gay Tony ref expectatns of downloadable ntent, but this new episo do so much more bi.

As turns out, Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony isn't some unabashedly obte grab for attentn but a one-two punch that aims to surprise – the ultimate set-up for one of Rockstar North's ft dozen or so hours of recent years. The faiar stcture is place; Luis Lopez is a likeable thug workg for nightclub owner and unrworld figure Anthony 'Gay Tony' Prce. Luis has a heartfelt profsnal admiratn for his boss and, as the story progrs, this relatnship is straed by Gay Tony's unfortunate fancial prediment.

GTA IV: THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY HANDS-ON

Luis has his apartment, missns to plete, women to liaise wh toilet cubicl, mi-gam and events to participate (cludg a hilar dance-off at a gay nightclub). While also the most outlandish of the three GTA IV scenars this eratn, Gay Tony is also arguably the most heartfelt and enarg. Whether 's fendg a tank that you've jt plucked out of the sky while was beg airlifted or slg the tallt buildg the cy and fendg off choppers wh an explosive-shell-equipped shotgun, the actn bar has been raised yet aga Gay Tony, addrsg the overall lack of big-ticket actn thrills the first two gam.