The Lost and Damned

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned is the first of two post-launch expansion packs for Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. The update was first released for the Xbox 360 on February 17, 2009, before being bundled with the second expansion as part of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City for the PlayStation 3 and Windows on April 13, 2010. The main theme of the update is the gritty world of outlaw motorcycle clubs.

The expansion introduces a new protagonist, Johnny Klebitz, the vice-president of The Lost Motorcycle Club. The story runs parallel to the events of the main game, offering a new perspective on Liberty City and intersecting with Niko Bellic's journey at key moments. It added a significant amount of new content, including a full story campaign, new vehicles, weapons, multiplayer modes, and side activities centered around the biker lifestyle.

Overview / Description

The Lost and Damned presents a darker, grittier side of Liberty City through the eyes of The Lost MC, a notorious biker gang operating out of Alderney. The narrative focuses on an internal power struggle within the club. The protagonist, Johnny Klebitz, has been acting president while the club's reckless leader, Billy Grey, was in rehab. Johnny has established truces and focused on business, but Billy's return threatens to undo all of Johnny's work, sparking a violent war with their rivals, the Angels of Death, and creating a division within the brotherhood itself.

Dan Houser, then vice president of creative development for Rockstar Games, stated, "Johnny is a very different character than Niko, with a very different background... the story will show you a different side of Liberty City."¹ The plot explores themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the declining relevance of the outlaw biker lifestyle in a modern world. The storylines of GTA IV, The Lost and Damned, and The Ballad of Gay Tony were written to intertwine, with events from one story often being seen from a different perspective in another, explaining "tons of details and mysteries from the main story."

New Content

This section details all the new items and activities added in the expansion.

New Features / Systems

• Gang Warfare: A new repeatable side-activity where Johnny and his fellow gang members fight rival gangs to control territory.
• Convoy Riding: When riding in formation with other members of The Lost MC, a club insignia appears on the road. Staying within it can trigger unique dialogue and regenerate Johnny's health and bike armor.
• Toughness: A gameplay mechanic that functions as a form of armor or damage resistance for Johnny.

Properties

• The Lost MC Clubhouse: Located in Alderney, this serves as the gang's primary headquarters and a hub for activities like arm wrestling, card games, and mission starts. It is destroyed at the end of the story.
• Safehouses: The expansion includes new safehouses for Johnny Klebitz, distinct from those used by Niko Bellic.

Missions / Jobs / Activities

• Story Missions: The expansion features a completely new set of story missions following Johnny Klebitz and the internal conflict of The Lost MC.
• Bike Races: New street races are available, where players can use a baseball bat to knock opponents off their bikes.
• Random Characters: New random characters with their own side-missions are introduced.
• Adversary Modes: The expansion added new multiplayer modes. Thematically, a later Adversary Mode in GTA Online called Lost vs Damned was named in allusion to this DLC, featuring a conflict between angels and demons. This mode was featured during Halloween events.

Vehicles

A variety of new vehicles were added, with a strong focus on new motorcycles befitting the biker theme. Johnny can request bikes to be delivered by fellow gang member Clay Simons.

Weapons

New weapons were introduced, including the Pipe Bomb, Grenade Launcher, Assault Shotgun, and Sawed-off Shotgun. These can be acquired through missions or delivered by gang member Terry Thorpe.

Character Customization

While not as extensive as later online updates, the expansion offered new clothing and items centered around the biker aesthetic of The Lost MC.

Collectibles

• Seagulls: The expansion introduced a new collectible activity, requiring the player to find and shoot 50 seagulls hidden throughout Liberty City.

New Characters / Contacts

• Johnny Klebitz: The playable protagonist and vice-president of The Lost MC, who struggles to balance loyalty to his club with a more rational approach to leadership.
• Billy Grey: The reckless and violent president of The Lost. His return from rehab serves as the catalyst for the story's main conflict.
• Jim Fitzgerald: The Treasurer of The Lost and Johnny's closest friend. He is depicted as one of the more mature and responsible members of the gang.
• Clay Simons & Terry Thorpe: Loyal members of The Lost who provide Johnny with bike and weapon support, respectively.
• Brian Jeremy: A member fiercely loyal to Billy Grey who opposes Johnny's leadership, causing a civil war within the gang.
• Ashley Butler: Johnny's ex-girlfriend, whose struggles with drug addiction create numerous problems that Johnny is forced to solve.
• Thomas Stubbs III: A corrupt congressman who employs Johnny and The Lost for various dirty jobs to further his political career.

Gameplay Changes / Quality of Life

• Visual Filter: The graphics in The Lost and Damned feature a distinct film grain filter and a desaturated, gritty color palette, intended to match the dark tone of the biker gang storyline.
• Unlocked Map: Unlike the base game of Grand Theft Auto IV, the entire map of Liberty City is unlocked and accessible from the very beginning of the expansion.
• Bike Handling: The handling and physics for motorcycles were retooled, making them more enjoyable and easier to control compared to the base game.

Gallery

Official Trailer

Trivia

• According to former Rockstar cover artist Stephen Bliss, the font for the expansion's logo was influenced by the old-fashioned script handwriting found on mugshot photos from the early 1900s.²
• The PC version of the expansion includes an alternative character model for Niko Bellic used during crossover missions, featuring a unique grey suit.
• The gritty visual filter and distinct weather patterns (often an orange hue during the day and dark blue at night) were a deliberate artistic choice to match the outlaw biker theme.
• The Lost and Damned was the first game in the Grand Theft Auto series to feature the entire map unlocked from the start of the campaign.