In the Ballad of Gay Tony you don’t play as club owner Tony Prince, but his business partner Luis Lopez – yet another guy trying to do good but hanging out with deadbeats and getting into all sorts of bother which involves fast cars, loose women, guns and of course a high body count.

Whereas Lost and Damned gave us an emphasis on bikes, this time around the emphasis is on taking to the skies, whether it’s in one of the many helicopter missions or base jumping off building and out of planes. You can also try your hand at managing the glitzy clubs and even take to the dance floor in a mini game which plays a bit like PS One title Britney’s Dance Beat. Although the prize for doing this in some instances is going into a back room with one of the ladies and letting her take care of your…accounts.

Once again this story crosses over with the Grand Theft Auto 4 and Lost and Damned stories and mainly concentrates on those diamonds which keep getting everyone into trouble. You’ll meet some new characters along the way including Yusuf, a gold Uzi-touting Egyptian who likes to call everyone the ‘N word’.

The story’s predictable but fun and the dialogue and characters are once again what make the game work so well. Some of the conversations in the cars are laugh out loud funny.

Combat can feel a little bit awkward this time around (especially if you’ve just played Uncharted 2) and the helicopter combat really needs you to have 14 fingers. Still, flying about Liberty City is certainly fun and parachuting above it and trying to hit checkpoints Pilotwings style is also a welcome change to what’s achievable in this huge sandbox playground.

The game does have some difficulty spikes but to be honest, as long as you make sure you have full armour and health when you go into a mission and you keep hold of some of the more powerful guns you’re given on some missions, most missions are actually a little too easy. Thankfully there are generous checkpoints mid mission so if you do die or get busted, you don’t have to go right back to the start and drive over half the city again.

You’ll complete the story in just over 6 hours if you don’t take part in any of the base jumping or drug wars missions but whilst you’re playing it, you are going to have a lot of fun. Oh, and be warned, this is probably the most explicit of all the GTAs I’ve played with lots of sex and even the C word so it’s definitely not something you should play around your kids.

Gay Tony gets an excellent 8 out of 10.

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Related: Episodes from Liberty City PS3 release date, Grand Theft Auto 4, Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony review

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Look at the box or the screenshots for Damnation and it appears pretty cool. It looks like a sort of steam-punk Western complete with alternative technology and weapons that should mix things up a bit. Unfortunately when you play it, it’s plain to see it’s borrowed a few aspects from other games and, unlike, say, Uncharted, doesn’t implement it into the gameplay particularly well at any point.

You play as a guy called Rourke who’s looking for his fiancée. Of course, there’s a bigger picture here and you’re also part of a team who’s trying to stop a military contractor from succeeding in his violent takeover.

The majority of the time you’ll be having shootouts in open areas and also climbing up buildings to access new areas. You’d think if these were the main points of the game they’d be done well, but they’re not. Aiming is really tricky and over-responsive, enemies just stand there anyway waiting to be shot and to reload you have to click in the left stick! Who’s idea was that in the development meeting? And after successful climbing in games such as Prince of Persia and InFamous comes some of the clunkiest climbing since playing Hunchback on the Spectrum. For some strange reason you have to press a shoulder button to jump away from a wall when in other games, simply moving the direction away from the wall is enough to make the character jump where you want him to!

Your team-mates also aren’t much help either. Sometimes they scale buildings to show you the way, then you can’t find them above you and thus don’t know where to go, other times they’ll teleport onto your vehicle if you leave them during a driving stage.

Thanks to your Native American friend you also get a special vision which lets you see enemies through walls and downed team-mates. Again, it’s pretty pointless and only shows you their rough position while you’re using the limited cover system to hide behind a wall.

There are plenty of better action adventure games out there. If you’re looking for something with a Western vibe, wait for Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption, it’s bound to be better.

Damnation gets a damning 4 out of 10.

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Related: InFamous, Prince of Persia, Youtube Damnation review

Tags: Damnation, Steampunk, Westen, Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Red Dead Redemption

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Having enjoyed all the GTA games including the original top-down ones on the PC, I was looking forward to playing it on the DS. I was, however, concerned Rockstar were being a little ambitious squeezing it onto Nintendo’s little machine but the good news is, it’s incredibly enjoyable and uses the hardware perfectly.

You play as a rich guy called Huang Lee who’s come to Liberty City to deliver a family heirloom in the shape of a sword to your uncle. Unfortunately you’re robbed and left to die at the beginning of the game and so go about trying to get the sword back, doing jobs for your uncle and other unpleasant characters along the way.

Missions are what you’d expect from a GTA game. There are races, deliveries, assassinations and even salvage missions which constantly vary to keep the interest levels up. There’s also a drug dealing aspect which is important to earn money to in turn buy weapons, safe houses and cars with.

Like the old school games, the view is top-down but it’s also in 3D. Once again the city feels like it’s living and breathing around you and it’s amazing how playing in this way again feels so good. Rockstar have taken what worked with the newer 3D titles and applied it here. All the 3D action takes place on the top screen and all the 2D cut scenes and mini games are on the touch screen. Most of the time you’ll be using the touch screen to view the GPS. You can set routes by touching hyperlinks from emails containing missions and then these show up on your GPS. It all works great, my only gripe is you sometimes crash when you take your eyes off the top screen to look at where to go – something which can lead to mission failure if you’re chasing someone or have a time limit.

The touch screen is also used for filling molotovs at gas stations, assembling sniper rifles, searching skips and wallets and hotwiring cars. Of course, it’s also tightly written and very funny in places and there’s multiplayer modes both locally and over Wi-Fi.

There’s so much to do in here and technically it’s up there with Zelda and Metroid Prime Hunters. Chinatown Wars gets an almost perfect 9 out of 10.

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Tags: GTA Chinatown Wars, GTA, Chinatown Wars, DS, Nintendo DS

Rockstar have just released this new video of the forthcoming GTA Chinatown Wars. The latest instalment in the Grand Theft Auto series lands on the Nintendo DS and takes full advantage of the stylus to enhance game play. You won’t have long to wait before getting your hands on the game as the GTA Chinatown Wars release date is 20th March 2009 UK and 17th March 2009 US.

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Related: GTA Chinatown Wars release date, GTA Chinatown Wars DS version

Tags: GTA, China Town Wars, Chinatown Wars, Nintendo, DS, Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar, gameplay, videos

So you’re done with Nico Bellic and you’re itching for some more GTA action. Well thank the Lordy Lord for some truly decent downloadable content from Rockstar in the form of The Lost and Damned. This extra gameplay is absolutely huge, delivering over 10 hours of story gameplay, along with extra street races, gang wars and mini games to enjoy – as well as new music and TV shows to keep you amused if you’re fed up with shooting.

So what’s going on this time? Well, in a story running alongside Nico’s antics, you play as Johnny Klubitz, vice-president of biker gang The Lost. Since your big boss Billy’s been in rehab the streets have got safer and the gangs have been getting on pretty well. Of course, at the start of the game Billy’s released back into the community and the usual sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll antics begin.

The great news is that straight away, I was more engaged with these leather-clad thugs than I ever was with Nico. The conflict between Johnny and Billy bubbles like a pressure cooker and Billy reminds me of an intimidating Dennis Hopper when he’s being his most scary. Facial animations are superb and there’s a real sense of drama and pathos throughout.

So enough about the story and action, what’s it like to play? The good news is, as tight as ever. Most of the time you’ll be riding bikes around Liberty City and Rockstar have made them even smoother to control. They’re actually my number one choice of transport in this expansion and that’s definitely new for me. There’s also some cool new weapons, such as the sawn-off shotgun and a very tasty grenade launcher to scare your enemies witless.

When it comes to missions, there’s a variety of where and how you fight but it’s what you’d expect in terms of GTA. Ride somewhere, kill loads of people or nick something or blow something up, then go to the next mission, escape the cops or follow someone to a new location. Most of the time, you’ll have your gang with you to back you up who actually improve in combat as they go on missions with you without dying. Another great new addition is mid-mission checkpoints, something that will have you cursing less if you’re between locations in a mission and accidentally drive off a cliff or into the water.

So single player is typical GTA fodder with a little extra spit and polish, but there’s also so much more with new multiplayer additions. There are new street races on bikes where you fight on the move Road Rash style, new multiplayer battles titled ‘Witness Protection’ and ‘Own the City’ and a ‘Chopper vs Chopper’ mode where a bike takes on a helicopter.

There are some minor annoyances such as your team mates getting in the way in combat and on the road but these won’t spoil your fun in a major way. This has to be one of the best DLC packages there is – some would say it could have been released as a full price title all on its own so it can’t get any less than a great value 9 out of 10.

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Related: GTA 4 Episodes from Liberty City PS3 version release date, GTA 4 The Lost and The Damned release date, GTA Chinatown Wars release date, Youtube GTA IV Lost and Damned review

It’s good news for GTA fans who own a Nintendo DS. Rockstar have said that Grand Theft Auto China Town Wars is far bigger than any of the PSP games they’ve made so far. There are more missions, odd-jobs and there’s more over-the-top action. You can get all touchy-feely with GTA China Town Wars on 17th March in the States and 20th March in the UK.

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Related: GTA Chinatown Wars release date , GTA Chinatown drug dealing minigames

Tags: Grand Theft Auto China Town Wars, GTA Chinatown Wars DS, GTA China Town Wars, DS, GTA DS

Rockstar have finally revealed the juicy details for first episode in the upcoming exclusive downloadable content for the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto 4. Entitled The Lost and the Damned you take control a new lead character and will have a bunch of new missions set in Liberty City to complete. New multiplayer modes as well as extra weapons and vehicles will see your dusty old copy of GTA4 brought to life for another few weeks. Hopefully you didn’t trade your original GTA4 game disc as you’ll need it to play this extra content. The Lost and The Damned release date is February 17th 2009 – the GTA IV PC release date is a few days away for those wanting to visit Liberty City at work.

UPDATE - 4 Feb 2009

Xbox 360 has lost exclusive rights to GTA 4 Lost and Dammed – see our GTA 4 Lost and Damned PS3 release date blog post for more details

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Related: Episodes from Liberty City PS3 release date, Buy GTA IV and get GTA Vice City free, GTA IV PC release date

The results of the yearly Golden Joysticks are in. This year Rockstar won best developer, Activision won publisher of the year and Call of Duty 4 won game of the year and online game of the year.

Call of Duty 4 won game of the year

Related: Call of Duty 4, Rockstar

Tags: Golden Joysticks, Rockstar, Activision, Call of Duty 4

GTA Chinatown Wars is going to have a drug dealing mini-game. Never ones not to court controversy, Rockstar Games say it will be an integral part of the trading mechanic of the game. I can see the headlines on the front of The Sun newspaper right now.

Related: Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars, GTA DS version

Tags: GTA Chinatown Wars, DS, Grand Theft Auto, children dealing drugs

• Rockband price drop
• Duke Nukem movie
• Free Mercenaries 2 petrol
• Monster Madness Grave Danger
• Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS
• Facebreaker
• Fifa 09

If you’d like to win Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS then check out our competitions page before 29 September 2008. Always great to hear from you, our email address is gamesweasel@btpodshow.com. Don’t forget to read the articles on the Gamesweasel blog including PES 2009 release date, Nintendo DS Korg DS10 Synthesizer, Rockstar Presents Table Tennis review and Spore Creatures for the DS.Want to see the games we’ve been talking about? You can also watch Gamesweasel TV episode 065 direct to your desktop, plus watch the Facebreaker review and the Monster Madness Grave Danger review on Youtube.

This episode of Gamesweasel is brought to you with GoDaddy and offers you fantastic discounts on hosting and domain names. Use one of the following Gamesweasel GoDaddy coupons September 2008 to save you money – weasel1 gets you 10% off domain name purchases and weasel2 gets you 20% off orders over $50 or £25. Some restrictions may apply, see the GoDaddy web site for more details.

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• Rockband price drop
• Duke Nukem movie
• Free Mercenaries 2 petrol
• Review of Monster Madness Grave Danger
• Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS
• Review of Facebreaker

If you’d like to win Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS then check out our competitions page before 29 September 2008. Always great to hear from you, our email address is gamesweasel@btpodshow.com . Don’t forget to read the articles on the Gamesweasel blog including PES 2009 release date , Nintendo DS Korg DS10 Synthesizer , Rockstar Presents Table Tennis review and Spore Creatures for the DS .

This show is made especially to be added to your psp rss channels videos – see our PSP videos page for full instructions on how to get the mp4 automatically to your PSP. You can also watch the Youtube Monster Madness Grave Danger review and Youtube Facebreaker review videos, as well as streaming episode 065 of Gamesweasel direct to your desktop.

This episode of Gamesweasel is brought to you with GoDaddy and offers you fantastic discounts on hosting and domain names. Use one of the following Gamesweasel GoDaddy discount codes for September 2008 to save you money – weasel1 gets you 10% off domain name purchases and weasel2 gets you 20% off orders over $50 or £25. Some restrictions may apply, see the GoDaddy web site for more details.

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Rockstar Presents Table Tennis was a hit on the Xbox 360 with its normal 20th Century joypad – so how will it fair up with Wii Motion controls? Head over to Wii Game Review to check out our review of Table Tennis for Wii and find out.

Related: Table Tennis review

Tags: Table Tennis, Rockstar Presents Table Tennis, Rockstar, Table Tennis, Wii

As previously rumoured, Rockstar have now confirmed that GTA4 is coming to PC and is a Games for Windows Live title. So with higher resolution, higher framerate, 360 control pad compatibility and extra exclusive online play – GTAIV on PC is looking to be the best version to own. The GTAIV PC release date in Europe is the 21st November and in the November 18th in North America.

Related: GTA DS version, GTA IV PC release date

Tags: GTA IV, PC, GTA IV PC version

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A visually stunning new Midnight Club Los Angeles trailer from Rockstar San Diego has been released and what can we say apart from wow. Just imagine putting Burnout, Need for Speed and GTAIV in a food blender for thirty seconds and the delicious result is Midnight Club Los Angeles for 360 and PS3 this Winter.

Related: Midnight Club Los Angeles trailer on Youtube, Burnout Paradise review

Tags: Midnight Club, Midnight Club LA, Midnight Club Los Angeles

Related: Grand Theft Auto 4 cheat codes, GTA IV PC release date

Tags: GTA IV crashing, GTA IV locking, GTAIV locking, GTAIV crashing, PS3, Xbox 360

According to the press release “RockStar 08 open to everyone, young old, groups or soloists, with the only stipulation being that any entrant must be unsigned and ready to lay everything on the line in the pursuit for ultimate victory”.

Tags: RockStar, RockStar 08

Michael Hollick in negotiations with Rockstars Sam Houser

The Grand Theft Auto actor needs to get some perspective when using the words ‘only’ and ‘$100,000’ in the same sentence, that’s a lot of money for a career with no real outgoing expenses other than Lemsip and cigarettes. The 35 year old actor went on to complain “Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies”.

Rockstar did pretty well with the original GTA III where the main character didn’t even speak, but lets hope the 2009 GTA IV sequel doesn’t get cancelled because they can’t afford the diva demands of Hollywood’s finest.

Related: Calling all GTA IV fans, GTA IV PC release date, GTA IV sales figures, GTA IV review

Tags: Ungrateful, Sourpuss, GTA IV, Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar, actor, Michael Hollick

Related: GTA IV downloadable content, Free Microsoft Points with GTA 4, GTA 4 release date

Tags: gta 4, GTA 4 game rating, gta iv latest news, GTA 4 BBFC

We’re not sure exactly what it will show but it’ll probably be another mix of geezers waving guns at each other, shouting, driving cars and shooting people.

And if you fancy getting yourself 1000 free Microsoft points, pre-order your game at HMV.co.uk, you’ll also get a voucher booklet saving you a further £130 off selected items in-store.

Related: GTA IV downloadable content, GTA IV release date

Tags: gta iv sequel, gta 4 sequel, gta 4, gta iv, gta4, gtaiv, grand theft auto iv

And remember, pre-order your copy with Game and you get 500 Free Microsoft points with which to check out some of the online content. Wicked!

Related: Free Microsoft Points Codes, GTA IV release date

Tags: GTA IV downloadable content, GTA IV Xbox Live, GTA IV, GTA 4, Free Microsoft points, gaming