Review: GTA IV The Ballad of Gay Tony (X360)

Naming the latest Grand Theft Auto episode the Ballad of Gay Tony was certainly a provocative move. There's a large demographic of Xbox owners - often found playing Call of Duty or Halo - that exist in a world where bigotry is perfectly acceptable. Offering this audience its latest hit of a drug they love, but painting it pink, is a gutsy move by Rockstar Games.

Alas the developer didn't go the whole way, we play as Gay Tony's hired muscle Luis rather than Tony himself and despite some ribald humour Tony's sexual preference is neither here nor there. Neither is Tony as a whole to be honest, there are much more entertaining characters that appear in your adventure.

As usual Rockstar lets you play a relatively tame character who lives in a world of larger than life figures. Take for example Brucie's brother Mori. He is the very definition of short man syndrome and his appearance in the game is one you'll remember. The real star of the show though is Yusuf Amir, beautifully portrayed by British comedian Omid Djalili. This turn as a billionaire playboy is a real delight and shows why the writing in Grand Theft Auto is consistently of a higher calibre than many other games.

That's not to say the script is perfect. There's still too much reliance on profanity and casual racism. Rockstar would no doubt argue it's trying to be gritty and real. But do we need that level of realism in a world of cartoon violence and over the top missions? This is a videogame, not a Mike Leigh movie.

Qualms over some of the dialogue aside, we're left with another funny, brutal and entertaining slice of life in Liberty City's underworld. The Ballad of Gay Tony is a world away from the squalor of The Lost & Damned's biker gangs. This world is more reminiscent of GTA's finest hour - Vice City. This is a neon-lit world of nightclubs, glamour and coke-fuelled excess. Rockstar's ability to make this seem like a new city with each episode is certainly very impressive.

In gameplay terms The Ballad of Gay Tony is something of a slow burner. For the first hour or so it doesn't quite grab you in the way that The Lost & Damnded did. But patience is rewarded by some remarkably entertaining dialogue, cutscenes and most importantly missions.

Grand Theft Auto IV felt like a wasted opportunity at times, all that space but too few ways to really explore Liberty City's verticality. Here were thrown into plenty of missions that make use of forms of transport other than road vehicles and the episode's many helicopter based missions are a real treat. Among the missions are some real thrill rides - one involving a skycrane (which I won't spoil for you) and Yusuf is a delight.

The addition of parachutes and base jumping side missions are very welcome, though you may find some of the new side missions such as managing nightclubs not quite what you got in this game for. The GTA franchise may be one of the best written games around but Saints Row 2 still feels like a game packed with more mechanics directly related to making the player have fun.

That said, the Ballad of Gay Tony rarely sets a foot wrong after the first lacklustre hour or so. Once you've got your hands on the silly but hugely entertaining explosive shotgun and get to play with helicopters you'll realise this was what was missing from the original Grand Theft Auto IV. The fun is back in the franchise and you won't have to spend all your time going bowling with deadbeat relations.

There are two way to pick up The Ballad of Gay Tony. Owners of Grand Theft Auto IV and The Lost & Damned download are better served by downloading TBoGT via Xbox Live. For those of you who haven't got either additional episode it's worth investing in Episodes from Liberty City. Here you get both add-on episodes on one disk and you don't need the original GTAIV to jump in. The disk version also benefits from an expanded soundtrack featuring some great 80s songs.

There's plenty to admire and enjoy in The Ballad of Gay Tony. Once again Rockstar has squeezed plenty of new life out of Liberty City, despite this being our third visit in the last year or so. In fact despite this being our last adventure here we could happily stay for another game. The whole ferry criminals around and shoot things mechanic is getting a little old, as is the graphics engine and frankly the reliance on the criminal underworld for all the stories (about time for a tale from the other side perhaps?) but for the ten or so hours it will take you to get through this episode you'll be mostly smiling.

The Ballad of Gay Tony brings enough new content and gameplay mechanics to the table - which pay off into the multiplayer modes too - that it's an easy recommendation to make. If this really is goodbye from Liberty City for now then it's an apt and worthy way to finish what has been mostly a very impressive trilogy. While Niko's adventures were drab and often lacked thrills, The Ballad of Gay Tony is a return to classic over the top Grand Theft Auto destruction.