Second GTAIV episode named, detailed

By Tom Bramwell Published 26 May, 2009

Plus: standalone two-episode disc also due.

Rockstar has announced that the second Xbox 360-exclusive downloadable episode for Grand Theft Auto IV is called The Ballad of Gay Tony and is due out this autumn.

As with the first episode, The Lost & Damned, it will set you back 1600 Microsoft Points (GBP 13.60 / EUR 19.20).

What's more, the launch will be matched at retail by a new disc release, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which includes both releases for USD 39.99 and will not require a copy of GTAIV to play.

The Ballad of Gay Tony puts you in the boots of Luis Lopez, "a part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince, aka Gay Tony". You'll have to deal with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and trying to establish who is genuine and who is fake. Rockstar promises "an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime".

"Liberty City is the most vibrant game world we've created yet. The episodic structure has allowed us to interweave stories, gameplay and atmosphere in a whole new way," said Sam Houser, Rockstar founder, to mark the announcement.

"The team at Rockstar North have yet again surpassed themselves, and made something that is both epic and very innovative. This episode's focus on high-end night life contrasts with the biker gangs portrayed in The Lost and Damned, whilst giving us a lot of new gameplay possibilities."

The announcement of The Ballad of Gay Tony also lays to rest rumours that the second episode would be called "Blood and a Four Leaf Clover".

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (51) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • siro #1 3 years ago

    I'd like to know more about episodes from Liberty City. I sold my GTA a long time ago, and if that one would work with the DLC, I might get purchase the downloads as well then.

  • lcmnick #2 3 years ago

    I dunno, GTA IV just feels old now.

  • Cyclone #3 3 years ago

    Slightly disappointed. While I wasn't convinced the "Blood and a Four Leaf Clover" source was accurate, I did like the thought of playing as Packie or one of his brothers. Always another time I guess.

  • GreyBeard #4 3 years ago

    I guess someone at Rock* has been listening to old Rod Stewart records...

  • des #5 3 years ago

    Amazing!

    Liberty City=The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony-standalone expansion,does not require GTAIV disc

  • bad09 #6 3 years ago

    Wow that reminds me, I downloaded TLAD when it hit! Must get on with that!

    Cheers EG! (although being reminded you have a game is not a good sign!)
    Edited by 2 at 26/05/09 @ 21:31

  • cianchristopher #7 3 years ago

    I wonder if this means the disc-based release can come out for PS3 aswell, since it technically doesn't qualify as "DLC". Guess it won't really matter unless you only have a PS3. I just want TLAD on the PC soon. What's stopping Microsoft/Rockstar from releasing it, given that it'd probably go through the Games for Windows Live channel like the Fallout 3 DLC did?

  • Thunderbolt #8 3 years ago

    I thought the the Damned DLC was great much better than the main story so I can't wait. However there is a great deal of homphobia in the gaming world so i'm not sure how this will go down.



  • kendoji #9 3 years ago

    LOL at the title, if this was 1st April I wouldn't believe a word of it. Will probably be excellent, though, just as TLAD was.

  • B0MBJ4CK #10 3 years ago

    I dunno, GTA IV just feels old now

    Thats what you get for getting the PS3 version...:p

  • Domovoi #11 3 years ago

    For a moment there I thought you'd be playing as a gay protagonist. I was amazed at the guts Rockstar would've had to have people play a gay character in this setting, and marveled at wether they'd allow you to date people.

    Then it turned out it's just another gangster who only happens to be the assistant of a gay man. So much for groundbreaking.

  • Markusdragon #12 3 years ago

    More diamond deal schenanegans, then.

  • Spekingur #13 3 years ago

    What would be groundbreaking is if you would be playing as a super-gay heavy accented irish gangster. Much like my character in Saints Row 2... :D

  • the_dudefather #14 3 years ago

    only game/expansion to have 'gay' in it's title?

    Must get TLAD at some point, been hearing good things about it

  • TheNinkyNonk #15 3 years ago

    @bad09

    Perhaps (as you've just been criticising the industry for milking an idea for all it's worth) you'd have found the experience of acquiring TLATD more memorable had you acquired it illegally?

    To quote yourself:

    “Stop playing into the hands of industries who want to scare us on piracy, not to save a handful of (possible) sales, but stick us all into CONTROLLED PAYMENT/MONITORED/DRIP FEED online media”

    Epic Fail.

  • AphoticCosmos #16 3 years ago

    The title is the most epic game title I have *ever* seen.

    Should be good. I loved TLAD - awesome story, great bikes and nice tunes [I'm not even a rock fan], loved GTA IV and hopefully this will be sweet!

  • makeamazing #17 3 years ago

    Title is pants to be honest, its different, I give them that.. but its not very good.

  • smelly #18 3 years ago

    I still havent finished gta4 yet.. And I'm totally not at all bothered about doing so either - the missions just got progressively longer and longer to the point i was bored with the whole "drive from a to b, pick up someone, drive to c, pick up someone else, drive to d, kill loads of people, escape from the cops - only to find out that you (unfairly) lose against the cops and now have to go back to a again" and repeat and die of boredom.

    And I hated the vehicle mechanic.

    For me the series has been going downhill since vice city - at least that had a cool 80s sound track to listen to while getting bored on driving missions.

    I think it's also since playing Burnout paradise - any other game with driving in it - just feels "clunky" to me.

    Oh, and the camera was too low down to see where you were going



  • jambii267 #19 3 years ago

    Annoyed, if i had known TLAD would have a physical release i'd have waited for it.

  • FunkyRenegade #20 3 years ago

    Awesome, I'm glad there'll be a disc, I'd much rather have the episodes on a disk rather than a digital version.

  • liverpoolfc #21 3 years ago

    Gay Tony Only on XBOX 360

  • Tomo #22 3 years ago

    I bet this causes a storm in a tea cup for being homophobic or something equally inane.

  • Killian_UK #23 3 years ago

    Smelly

    "Oh, and the camera was too low down to see where you were going "

    Totally agree with you there. It really annoyed me having to hold the right stick up a little just to get a clear view. I wasn't that impressed with TLATD, doubt I will get this new DLC.
    Edited by 1 at 26/05/09 @ 23:47

  • onyx_elite #24 3 years ago

    Am I the only one who just isn't really that impressed with GTAIV? It has none of the humour of the previous games and to be honest 90% of the game world is bland housing and brown shops. The Lost & Damned DLC came too late for anyone to really care seeing as most of us had enough of the game months before we even saw it drop and this is just more drama based in the same grey world.

    I won't be bothering.

  • Ronster1975 #25 3 years ago

    They should model the character on Omar from The Wire - that would be cool.

    I agree about the in-vehicle camera being too low, it drove me up (or most often into) the freakin wall.

  • nedgip #26 3 years ago

    Ha i thought they would use this story for it. When i played through lost and the damned and they were doing the diamond heist level i figured the south american sounding character would be the next downloadable content and I reckon thats exactly what they have done. yay to me.

  • smelly #27 3 years ago

    >Am I the only one who just isn't really that impressed with GTAIV?

    Erm.. did you read my post?

  • Tlaloc #28 3 years ago

    GhenghisNaan asks about the camera positioning in games like GTA. As far as I can see it is to cause more accidents, and consequently more "excitement". I mean, people complain about boring driving missions *now* so imagine how bored they'd be if they could actually see where they were going. Whereas in games like "Burnout Paradise" it is to remind you of how sexy your gas guzzling car is, or was. In both cases I got dead sick of the external angle very quickly. Then again, some people *like* the external camera angles. I go past video arcades every day where I see people who have chosen external camera angles for the car games they are playing... on purpose. I've looked at them a lot over the years and decided that it is something to do with having a lack of imagination.

  • Lukree #29 3 years ago

    No, I'll just stop buying DLC content. Useless to spend too much on the content which will be later cheaper on disc.

  • man.the.king #30 3 years ago

    The term DLC might be a misnomer here if you don't need the disc to play it. "Game" might be a more appropriate term?

  • muscleblade #31 3 years ago

    I loved TLAD a lot more than i believed i would before playing it. Really looking forward to this.

  • Kzin #32 3 years ago

    Totaly agree about the camera while driving.

    GTA is wierd: amazing production values, graphics and gameworld. But they ruin everything with worthless camera, controlls and lack of checkpoints o__O

    By some reason I´ve spent 30 hours in gta (havent finished the last mission), thats more than I´ve spent in any game this generation.

  • AtomicBanana #33 3 years ago

    'I think it's also since playing Burnout paradise - any other game with driving in it - just feels "clunky" to me. '

    Different strokes and all that. I find the driving in paradise to be pretty awful frankly, certainly put me off owning it.

  • collateral89 #34 3 years ago

    y isnt the ps3 gettin this dlc id buy it

  • IronCladChicken #35 3 years ago

    @AtomicBanana
    It's worth pickking up - especially now you can get it for 12-13 quid - The full game feels very different to the demo

  • X201 #36 3 years ago

    Tom, the release date is wrong-ish

    The Q4 date announced by Take Two is a financial year date and not a calendar year date.

    i.e. The game will be released sometime between 1 November 2009 and the 30 January 2010.(Take Two's financial Q4)

  • Apostle #37 3 years ago

    Christmas is beginning to look really good this year.

  • Monkey_Puncher #38 3 years ago

    I wonder how many idiots are going to be put off by the fact it has gay in the title...

  • kinky_mong #39 3 years ago

    The announcement of The Ballad of Gay Tony also lays to rest rumours that the second episode would be called "Blood and a Four Leaf Clover".

    And this is exactly why you shouldn't report something that appears on Twitter as fact.

  • bad09 #40 3 years ago

    @ TheNinkyNonk

    What are you on about quoting my posts on piracy in here? I'm not exactly sure what piracy has to do with TLAD TBH.

    Just move on, your wrong on piracy and you know you are ;)

  • GamesConnoisseur #41 3 years ago

    Piracy is immoral whatever the position!

    However almost spilled my tea when I saw the title! People will just see the title before they see the blurb and will indeed judge the book by the cover.

    Now I m for T2/R* to break ground and raise awareness of the oppressed minorities, Gay marriage is a massive issue in US and elsewhere, but I cannot help but believe that actually the motive are a lot more pragmatic!

    Raise hue and cries, and get free publicty and when Fox news etc challenge T2/R* and they will say 'no you are not playing as GAY character but you are assisting him'..... to Stonewall/Gay rights groups 'We are raising awareness of Gay issues at the same time'.

    Yet they will also make the Gay character so camp and people just laugh at him rather than with him.

    However after playing TLAD I m certainly one of the first to queue up to get this as I m sure it would equally be as good in productiion and gameplaying values, and I applaud the naysayers for their free speech but just not going to put me off.

  • X201 #42 3 years ago

    @GamesConnoisseur

    Its what Rockstar are good at though. Right from the fake stories planted in newspapers for the first GTA 12 years ago, Rockstar's PR dept. have known exactly which buttons to press to get the right results.

  • Spekingur #43 3 years ago

    Wow. Lots of whambulance cases in this thread.
    Seriously, camera angle? Camera behind the car complaints? You do know that you can actually move the camera, right? It's not somekind of a static being hellbent on you mowing down as many innocent bystanders as you can. No, that would be all on you, making your own fun.

  • 8bitMofo #44 3 years ago

    Excellent! I was hoping for this.

  • Moribundman #45 3 years ago

    I'm not gay... (honest) ...nor am I a biker, eastern European, Italian or African-American, a hitman or a drug dealer. But I like playing GTA.

    All the redneck homophobes who don't want the game to involve a gay character can fuck off (hint: he's not even the guy you play in this episode, who is revealed to be straight after the bugging mission in TLAD).

    I think this is quality R* impishness, and look forward to seeing what they do. I am sure it will be more in the vein of risque affirmative action than gay bashing, and I'm sure they chose the title specifically for all the controversy it will cause among immature and judgemental audiences.

  • Burkey123 #46 3 years ago

    All the DLC will come to PS3 at some point.................... won't it?
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/09 @ 15:16

  • Domovoi #47 3 years ago

    The term DLC might be a misnomer here if you don't need the disc to play it. "Game" might be a more appropriate term?

    You still need the GTA4 disc for the downloadable version. So DLC is absolutely correct.

  • X201 #48 3 years ago

    @Burkey123

    If 29 years of video gaming has taught me anything, its that "Exclusive" means nothing when it comes to third party video games.

    "Street Fighter II only on SNES"
    /looks at Mega Drive version

    "Viewtiful Joe only on Game Cube"
    Except for the PS2 version

    "Fallout 3 DLC only on Xbox 360"
    /What? Oh it'll be on the PlayStation Store in June.

  • Andreas2402 #49 3 years ago

    I don't think Rockstar gives a sit if some people don't buy the expansion just because it includes "gay". They sold 6 million copies in the first week.

    Funny though how someone says GTA was going downwards since Vice City. You were playing other games than everyone else, right? GTA 3 is laughable in comparison to GTA 4.

    My opinion: I want to buy it physically, not virtually. I want to be able to hold it in the hands and put it on the shelf. Good news then! Although I'll have to wait a few months..

    I bet my 360 that both expansions will be released on PS 3 too.

  • minimong #50 3 years ago

    Domovoi
    "For a moment there I thought you'd be playing as a gay protagonist.
    Then it turned out it's just another gangster who only happens to be the assistant of a gay man. So much for groundbreaking."

    What the the fuck were you looking for, full on arse sex.
    Mind you, the way they had that cock waving about in the last episode your wish may come true.

  • man.the.king #51 3 years ago

    @Domovoi

    I think I might have not been clear in my first post. I was referring to this in the main article:

    "What's more, the launch will be matched at retail by a new disc release, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which includes both releases for USD 39.99 and will not require a copy of GTAIV to play. "