GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony - What you need to know

With the second Liberty City episode set to hit XBOX 360 tomorrow, here's a small fact-sheet to fill you in on the little tidbits you need to know when deciding whether or not to get The Ballad of Gay Tony.

The Story

The Ballad of Gay Tony follows Luis Fernando Lopez, an established and well-respected right-hand man in Liberty City. He is a member of the Northwood Dominican drug dealers and the personal bodyguard of Anthony "Gay Tony" Prince, the cities most infamous nightclub owner.

Unlike both Grand Theft Auto IV and The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony is a Liberty City episode set within the established and rich parts of the criminal underworld. As we experience the world with Luis, we don't have to fight to gain respect, but rather fight to keep respect, something both Luis and Gay Tony already have (to a certain degree).

You'll have access to the best cars, the best weapons, the best women and the most money. This isn't a rags-to-riches story. This is a story about how the rich get richer.

This is essentially a story about friends and family, as opposed to Niko's story about the individual and Johnny's story about gang warfare. We'll see what life is like behind the velvet rope of Liberty City.

The Characters

Luis Lopez

A Dominican street gangsta with ties to the Northwood Dominican Drug Dealers, Lopez is also the bodyguard and partner of liberty City nightclub owner Gay Tony.

Tony "Gay Tony" Prince

Nicknamed "Gay Tony" for obvious reasons, Tony is one of Liberty City's most well-known nightclub owners.

Yusuf Amir

Yusuf is a billionaire property developer from Dubai, whose resources come in handy quite often whenever Gay Tony and Luis are in trouble.

Armando Torres and Henrique Bardas

Two of Luis' best friends. The three grew up together and caused a lot of havoc when they were younger. While no longer as close to Luis as they used to be, the three of them still share a strong bond. Henrique is big but dumb, and Armando is small but loyal.

New Weapons

Rockstar have promised that The Ballad of Gay Tony will be the most explosive GTA experience yet. If the list of new weapons below is anything to go by, chances are their promise will come through.

Pistol .44

Gold SMG

Explosive Shotgun

Advanced MG

Advanced Sniper

Sticky Bombs

Assault SMG

Activities

So there are obviously a whole bunch of missions to get through, but what about the new side stuff?

Club Management

Move through a club with Luis to survey for any trouble. Once you see a someone causing a headache, toss their ass onto the sidewalk!

There are also other Management related issues to do with, such as picking up celebrities and bringing them to the club.

Drug Wars

Luis can hook up with Henrique and Armando to intercept shipments, crash deals and find hidden drug stashes. Be careful though: it's a competitive business. Make sure you go packing!

Dancing

Luis can dance the night away on the dance floor of the clubs by moving with the beat. If he fills up the "groove meter", everyone on the floor will join in for a rhythm-based music dancing game.

Multiplayer

New Weapons in The Ballad of Gay Tony multiplayer include: Pistol .44, Explosive Shotgun, Assault SMG, Gold SMG, Advanced MG, Advanced Sniper and Sticky Bombs

New features include "Cash for Kills", where you make $25 for every assisted kill, Kill streaks of 3, 5 or 10 gives the player health and armor bonuses.

New locations for Team Deathmatch include: Global Domination, Battle Station, Funland, Academically Challenged, Ziggurat, Catch Your Wave, Xero In, Auld Reekie, Trespass, Diamond in the Rough and more.

Race and GTA Race modes have now been upgraded with nitrous available in every vehicle.

BASE Jumping is a brand new feature in Liberty City. With the inclusion of the parachute for the first time since GTA: San Andreas, BASE Jumping can be found around the city in single-player, but also in multiplayer during Free Mode.

Each player enters Free Mode with a parachute already in their inventory. There are 9 select timed BASE jump locations scattered across Liberty City that are part of Social Club BASE jump stat tracking.

If you're with friends, you can automatically teleport them to the BASE Jump, allowing you to jump in groups. If you don’t have a parachute, you’ll be provided with one when you reach the top, and it will be automatically selected.

You'll also be able to upload your BASE Jumping stats to the Rockstar Social Club.

The Ballad of Gay Tony will be available as a separate download via Xbox LIVE as part of a simultaneous launch alongside Episodes From Liberty City. However, to purchase and download it via Xbox LIVE it will also require an original copy of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Episodes From Liberty City does not require an original copy of Grand Theft Auto IV or a connection to Xbox LIVE to play.

Tags: 360 andreas auto ballad Belic City episodes games GAY grand IV Liberty Live marketplace NIKO of PS3 Rockstar san the theft tony Vice xbla xbox

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Gaetano 28/10/2009

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