DLC-ya

Went a bit stir crazy last week and, fuelled by cheap white wine, splashed out substantially on Microsoft points which I then blew on Peggle, Fallout DLC and Lost and Damned for GTA IV.

I've picked up a few bits of DLC in the past, but mainly these were functional expansions (new maps for Halo, the new weapons and vehicles in Crackdown and expanded multiplayer content in GRAW). This is the first time I've bought extra campaigns for existing games and, at present, have the zeal of the convert. In the case of Fallout I'm still tip-toeing around the new content, currently making the most of Broken Steel's lifting of the level cap by polishing off the various incomplete missions from the original campaign, but am looking forward to the mutant hillbillys of Point Lookout. Lost and Damned is instantly gripping however, and particularly exciting for the way it forces a reassessment of GTA IV as a whole.

I was a little disappointed with the game, it lacked the scale and anarchy of San Andreas and the gritty seriousness of Niko's story clashed with the neon silliness of Vice City. However Lost and Damned really brings home the idea of the game as a vehicle for storytelling. There's something compelling about the same setting with completely different characters and - crucially - a totally different storyline. In a sense narrative is the one thing to have radially changed about GTA (compare the Liberty City of IV with that of III, then compare Niko Bellic with the unnamed protagonist of the original) and it seems the one thing that Rockstar are genuinely interested in. They've built their stage, now they can change the players. I've not got too far into the missions, but doubt they are radically different from all other GTAs but the sense of playing as part of a biker gang certainly adds something to the gameplay.

I deliberately avoided the Mass Effect DLC as it sounded lacklustre and slapdash - a new planet is not the most thrilling prospect once you've landed on the first twenty or so in the original game. However what Rockstar has done really seems to push the potential for new content (and even at about 15 quid doesn't feel like too much of a rip-off).