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Australia, October 28, 2009 - You've got to hand it to Rockstar; the mighty developer knows how to chase a headline. From the outset, putting 'gay' in the title raised eyebrows even though it shouldn't have. But it did it grabbed players and begged to be investigated further. As it turns out, Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony isn't some unabashedly obtuse grab for attention but a one-two punch that aims to surprise the ultimate set-up for one of Rockstar North's finest dozen or so hours of recent years.
The familiar structure is in place; Luis Lopez is a likeable thug working for nightclub owner and underworld figure Anthony 'Gay Tony' Prince. Luis has a heartfelt professional admiration for his boss and, as the story progresses, this relationship is strained by Gay Tony's unfortunate financial predicament.
Luis has his apartment, missions to complete, women to liaise with in toilet cubicles, mini-games and events to participate in (including a hilarious dance-off at a gay nightclub). While also the most outlandish of the three GTA IV scenarios this iteration, Gay Tony is also arguably the most heartfelt and endearing.
Unlike The Lost and Damned's Johnny Klebitz , who was an unlikeable mess of a lead character, Luis is at heart a good guy, more along the lines of Carl Johnson in GTA: San Andreas. Luis is a family man, running missions to help his mother and to keep his dysfunctional family on the right side of the thin blue line. His allegiance to Tony is touching at times, scooping him off the floor of a stress-induced drug binge, splashing water on his face (well, dropping his head in a sink and flushing it with water). As a character, he's compelling and it makes the action moments all the more surprising.
The dog has been let off the chain: things explode with pleasing frequency in The Ballad of Gay Tony. The gameplay we've been craving since Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is back and by the gods, it makes a big difference to the tone of the tale. Without spoiling things, take this one mission as a good case-in-point.
You're thousands of feet above the Statue of Happiness, taking part in the ultimate triathlon. Diving from the helicopter, you spiral towards the earth below. Activating a parachute, you weave between three other competitors, each vying for a speedboat below. After landing on the boat, you race through a series of checkpoints, skimming between a wrecked ocean liner and a sheer cliff face. Sliding onto land, you race by foot to a lethally-fast sports car, equipped with a gutbustingly-fast nitro kit, and slam into the turns in a cross-city street race to the finish line.
Oh hell yes.
Whether it's defending a tank that you've just plucked out of the sky while it was being airlifted or scaling the tallest building in the city and fending off choppers with an explosive-shell-equipped shotgun, the action bar has been raised yet again in Gay Tony, addressing the overall lack of big-ticket action thrills in the first two games.
The ***** is back.
As a direct result, we had a heck of a lot more fun with Gay Tony than The Lost and Damned. Of course, these two releases couldn't be more different tonally and from a storytelling standpoint; whereas The Lost and Damned told a story of respect and violence in the context of a bikie gang, The Ballad of Gay Tony is almost exclusively a glamorous, well-funded and excessive affair. You never struggle for cash and weapons, the women (and men) are beautiful, the drugs are plentiful and the characters are amongst the most unhinged and entertaining in the GTA catalogue.
Remember Brucie? The hyperactive, muscle bound sometimes-buddy of Niko from GTA IV? He has a brother and, incredibly, he's more offensive and egotistical than Brucie at one point, reducing him to tears over a game of Chess. Oh how we laughed.
The characters are complimented by greater mission variety than you might expect; the typical 'ridin' dirty' missions are in there, as are the straight-up gun fights. But the aerial battles add a new playing field to tackle, the BASE jumping points are endlessly entertaining and the city has a newfound verticality that you can really take advantage of. It's never been easier or more fun to rack up that six-star wanted level.
Australia, October 28, 2009 - You've got to hand it to Rockstar; the mighty developer knows how to chase a headline. From the outset, putting 'gay' in the title raised eyebrows even though it shouldn't have. But it did it grabbed players and begged to be investigated further. As it turns out, Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony isn't some unabashedly obtuse grab for attention but a one-two punch that aims to surprise the ultimate set-up for one of Rockstar North's finest dozen or so hours of recent years.
The familiar structure is in place; Luis Lopez is a likeable thug working for nightclub owner and underworld figure Anthony 'Gay Tony' Prince. Luis has a heartfelt professional admiration for his boss and, as the story progresses, this relationship is strained by Gay Tony's unfortunate financial predicament.
Luis has his apartment, missions to complete, women to liaise with in toilet cubicles, mini-games and events to participate in (including a hilarious dance-off at a gay nightclub). While also the most outlandish of the three GTA IV scenarios this iteration, Gay Tony is also arguably the most heartfelt and endearing.
Unlike The Lost and Damned's Johnny Klebitz , who was an unlikeable mess of a lead character, Luis is at heart a good guy, more along the lines of Carl Johnson in GTA: San Andreas. Luis is a family man, running missions to help his mother and to keep his dysfunctional family on the right side of the thin blue line. His allegiance to Tony is touching at times, scooping him off the floor of a stress-induced drug binge, splashing water on his face (well, dropping his head in a sink and flushing it with water). As a character, he's compelling and it makes the action moments all the more surprising.
The dog has been let off the chain: things explode with pleasing frequency in The Ballad of Gay Tony. The gameplay we've been craving since Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is back and by the gods, it makes a big difference to the tone of the tale. Without spoiling things, take this one mission as a good case-in-point.
You're thousands of feet above the Statue of Happiness, taking part in the ultimate triathlon. Diving from the helicopter, you spiral towards the earth below. Activating a parachute, you weave between three other competitors, each vying for a speedboat below. After landing on the boat, you race through a series of checkpoints, skimming between a wrecked ocean liner and a sheer cliff face. Sliding onto land, you race by foot to a lethally-fast sports car, equipped with a gutbustingly-fast nitro kit, and slam into the turns in a cross-city street race to the finish line.
Oh hell yes.
Whether it's defending a tank that you've just plucked out of the sky while it was being airlifted or scaling the tallest building in the city and fending off choppers with an explosive-shell-equipped shotgun, the action bar has been raised yet again in Gay Tony, addressing the overall lack of big-ticket action thrills in the first two games.
The ***** is back.
As a direct result, we had a heck of a lot more fun with Gay Tony than The Lost and Damned. Of course, these two releases couldn't be more different tonally and from a storytelling standpoint; whereas The Lost and Damned told a story of respect and violence in the context of a bikie gang, The Ballad of Gay Tony is almost exclusively a glamorous, well-funded and excessive affair. You never struggle for cash and weapons, the women (and men) are beautiful, the drugs are plentiful and the characters are amongst the most unhinged and entertaining in the GTA catalogue.
Remember Brucie? The hyperactive, muscle bound sometimes-buddy of Niko from GTA IV? He has a brother and, incredibly, he's more offensive and egotistical than Brucie at one point, reducing him to tears over a game of Chess. Oh how we laughed.
The characters are complimented by greater mission variety than you might expect; the typical 'ridin' dirty' missions are in there, as are the straight-up gun fights. But the aerial battles add a new playing field to tackle, the BASE jumping points are endlessly entertaining and the city has a newfound verticality that you can really take advantage of. It's never been easier or more fun to rack up that six-star wanted level.
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