Playing through Sleeping Dogs was a ton of fun recently and I was bummed after I finished the game 100% completion and have literally nothing left to do in the game. I was wanting some more open world goodness. Then I remembered that I bought the copy of GTA 4 on PS3 that has all the expansions packed in with it and I have yet to play them. So, If I were only to play one of them which one should I go for assuming I decide to throw it in and start one of them up?

Lost and Damned, by a long shot.

I enjoyed Lost & Damned even more than the main story in GTAIV. I never bothered finishing Ballad Of Gay Tony, it had very little charm about it.

It's been awhile, but I think I remember enjoying Ballad of Gay Tony more. It was longer and more varied with new side missions and stuff, but the story was weaker than Lost and Damned.

Both really, since all 3 stories are connected in a very neat way. But in itself, I enjoyed TBoGT alot more. It's crazier, if that's the kinda thing you're looking for.

Lost and Damned, by a long shot.

Gay Tony beats Loat and Damned any day.

Lost and Damned. If only because chronologically it works better that way. I had a lot of fun with both, but Lost and Damned is probably the better of the two story wise. Though BoGT was a bit sillier, if I recall, and had some good Brucie stuff.

This thread just reminded me that I bought this game on a steam sale. I'll be downloading it now.

I preferred the Ballad of Gay Tony.

Gay Tony adds more stuff. Lost and Damned has a better story.

Lost and Damned is grittier and more serious. You get a sweet sawed-off shotgun and a grenade launcher.

Ballad of Gay Tony is sillier and more over-the-top. You get a sweet auto shotgun with explosive rounds that can blow up everything and some sticky bombs.

It's all a matter of what kind of story/missions you want. Having played both I believe they are both worth finishing.

I actually appreciated The Ballad of Gay Tony a lot more. I feel like it might've started a little slow but when it picked up it really blew its predecessor, TLAD, away in terms of the events of the latter missions, if I remember correctly. It also added a lot of nice content that definitely extended its replayability for me more so than TLAD.

Ballad of Gay Tony is a lot more nuts, so go for that if it's what you're into. Lost and Damned had a pretty great story, but I hate riding motorcycles in open world games.

I think Gay Tony is a lot better. Plus it has mission checkpoints. Don't remember if Lost and Damned had mission checkpoints or not, but I definitely remember them taking a lot of the frustration out of playing GTA in Gay Tony. I would at least try them both, though. Besides the commonality of taking place in the GTA gameplay framework, they are very different experiences.

Gameplay-wise it is Ballad of Gay Tony, but story-wise it is definitely The Lost and Damned. I actually think I enjoyed TLAD more, and to some degree by a long shot. There was definitely something about the characters, tone and the grittiness to the story.

I like them both. The gameplay and missions in TBoGT are better, but the story and setting of TLAD is better. You should probably play TLAD, then see if you still want more GTA4. If so, then play TBoGT. Playing TBoGT first will probably make TLAD seem less fun by comparison.

I haven't played L&tD, though I'm on the last mission of TBoGT and thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.

I've heard Gay Tony is the better side-story, but it's all down to preference.

Both. Or none. Or maybe both. Or maybe just one. This doesn't help at all, does it? Hmmm, I like QTE synchronized dancing, so....

Gay Tony was way more fun.

Ballad for me, but they're both much, much better than the OC.

Ballad is my favorite, but they're both awesome.

Side note: Ballad has the best weapon in all of GTA4.

I much preferred The Ballad of Gay Tony.

@TeflonBilly said:

I enjoyed Lost & Damned even more than the main story in GTAIV. I never bothered finishing Ballad Of Gay Tony, it had very little charm about it.

@Demoskinos: Overall I liked Gay Tony better. Gay Tony has a semi automatic shotgun with explosive rounds. Lost & Damned has a fully automatic shotgun. Both are pretty fun to play with.

BUHROTHERHOOD

Lost and Damned.

gay tony had some really cool features and the story missions are more varied than lost and the damned but damn if being in a biker gang isnt the most fun thing ever in a GTA game i dont know what is, i would say lost and the damned.

I liked Ballad a bit more then Lost and Damned, but I think that L&D is a better written, better produced piece of content

They are only like 6-8 hrs long each. Play both.

Definitely prefer L&D over here, too. Johnny Klebitz is easily my favourite of the three GTAIV protagonists and I much prefer the grittier, grungier style of the L&D over The Ballad. The Ballad is still pretty fun as well, and Gay Tony is a really goofy character who reminds me of Rosenberg from Vice City, but the actual drama and story is better and more consistent in L&D. Gay Tony kinda flutters about at points (like story threads concerning Luis' mum and his gang-banger buddies), even if it's also got some solid comedy in there with Brucie.

Oh, and riding bikes is so much fun in The Damned (mixed in with the sawn-off shotty!) and it overall manages to perfectly capture the feel of rollin' within a biker gang. That's probably the one point where The Ballad faltered for me; I never felt like I was actually living the high life as some successful club manager. There was a disappointingly small amount of clothing to select from, you only had one apartment, and the actual club-management side stuff was pretty weak. Then again so was the strange level-up mechanic for your fellow bikers in The Damned, but it still more successfully delivered on the tone it was going for than The Ballad I think. The Ballad's Drug side-missions are much better than The Damned's Biker Gang side-missions, though.

They're both definitely worth playing because some of the best moments are watching as each story connects and affects one another. The Damned's in particular paints an even more noticeably harrowing light unto Niko's story for how much your seemingly small actions cascade across Johnny's story. And The Ballad's is especially fun because you get some additional time with an even more sadistic and intimidating Bulgarin. Also there's Yusuf 'Arab Money' Amir.

Anywhoo you've probably already made your purchases by now, but I wanted to post anyway because I love talking about the GTAIV DLC!