The Lost and Damned is a downloadable content pack for Rockstar's brilliant Grand Theft Auto IV and is exclusive to the Xbox 360. Let me begin by answering the sixteen hundred Microsoft Points question...Yes, it is worth it but will probably not convert staunch GTA IV critics.

Welcome to the future of game delivery, electronic distribution. PC gamers have had electronic distribution technology for some time now, most notably in the guise of Steam. Console gamers on the other hand have only been able to buy games stored on a disc or cartridges prior to that. Microsoft's entry into the home console market and successful implementation of their Xbox Live online service has laid the framework necessary to bring electronic distribution to the console gaming masses. Currently videos, demos, small arcade games and entire games from legacy systems are commonly bought and downloaded over Xbox Live. Mark my words, games bought and stored in ‘hard copy' are well on the way out and in the not too distant future, purchasing and downloading entire new release games directly onto consoles will one day be the norm.

The Lost and Damned asking price is a hefty 1600 Microsoft Points (twice as much as the average arcade game) but you do get quite a lot for your money. Included in Lost and Damned is a brand new playable character with his own 8-10 hour campaign complete with new supporting characters, side missions, mini games, vehicles, weapons, music tracks, TV and internet content and to top off the package, brand new multiplayer game modes. This is not your ordinary ‘map pack' downloadable content and really is worth the price of admission.

Lost and Damned is completely separate to the main GTA IV game and although they both occur in the same city in parallel timelines, the new content does not transfer to the original ‘Niko Bellic' campaign in GTA IV. In Lost and Damned, players take control of Johnny ‘The Jew' Klebitz who you may remember played a minor supporting role in Niko's campaign. Johnny K' is the Vice President of The Lost outlaw motorcycle gang and his story begins with the return of The Lost's President, Billy, after a court ordered hiatus from bikes, crime and drugs.

Although the story begins promising enough with hints of the Sons of Anarchy TV series and the associated rollercoaster of violence and the conflicting morals of an out of touch and outdated sub-culture, the story soon stagnates and the main character suffers for it. The Grand Theft Auto games are not known for the integrity and moral fortitude of their main characters but they are at least likeable or believable. Johnny K' is neither likeable nor believable and by half way through his story you will not really care what happens to him. For a compelling single player experience this could be bad, but for a game like GTA IV, it isn't necessarily a show-stopper.

The Lost and Damned uses the same powerful graphic and physics engine as GTA IV with a few minor tweaks for good measure. The mood and style of Lost and Damned is noticeably darker than Niko's campaign and for no small part due to the optional heavy grain filter. Personally I liked the grain, but depending on your tastes and TV you may prefer the cleaner look of it switched off.

Being focussed around a motorcycle gang, it was only natural that the entire motorcycle mechanic be revamped and improved. It is now much easier and forgiving to ride a motorcycle and the risk of launching yourself through the air is much lower. The player is presented with a selection of new two-wheeled rides with the heavy American Harley Davidson clones handling significantly differently to the super fast Japanese ‘Toasters.' Bikes are now a real option for missions and their small size and greater manoeuvrability make them in many cases better than cars.

Keeping with the motorcycle gang mechanic players can now ride in formation, gaining an armour boost when in the correct position, or even call for backup from your Lost brothers at almost any time. The sense of being part of a gang is well realised in Lost and Damned and translates well to all secondary aspects of the game. Changes worth noting are races as they now share a resemblance to the brilliant game of yester year ‘Road Rash' with competitors brandishing baseball bats to ward off opponents mid-race. Mini games now include the more manly pastimes of arm wrestling, gambling and er...air hocky, but thankfully your biker buddies are not as needy as Niko's friends and you do not have to entertain them every five minutes in order to secure their services.

Some of the new weapons in Lost and Damned are simply awesome. The 40mm grenade launcher and combat shotgun, although completely unrealistic, are ridiculously fun and powerful to use and use them you will. The missions in Lost and Damned although more actioned orientated than Niko's campaign and unfortunately do get repetitive with the odd exception such as the on-rails police chase which rates very highly for entertainment value. You will not be short of things to do in Liberty City but you cannot help thinking that perhaps Rockstar could have been a little more creative with these new missions. Nevertheless, the inclusion of mid-mission checkpoints is a welcome addition to the game and saves a lot of frustration when you die.

The other significant new feature of Lost and Damned are the new multiplayer game modes which complement the returning Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Free modes. Races return but are now as previously mentioned reminiscent of the classic ‘Road Rash' games. Lone Wolf Biker pits one player against the rest with the Lone Wolf title transferring to whoever kills the previous holder. This game mode works well on tighter maps with more players but can become tedious when players become too spread out.

Witness Protection is a familiar mode but this time pits elite NOOSE officers escorting witness to various police stations against The Lost bikers trying to silence the witnesses...permanently. One of the NOOSE players has to drive the prison bus, which looks like a grey school bus and handles how I imagine a giraffe on roller-skates would. You want to drive as fast as possible, but hit a corner too fast and the bus will simply topple over. This mode is great fun with 4+ players and makes for some epic gaming moments.

Own the City and Club Business modes are also tweaks of previous game modes which now have an outlaw biker slant. The most original and completely new mode is Chopper vs. Chopper which pits one fleeing player on a motorcycle against another pursuing player in a helicopter gunship! This mode is truly exhilarating for the biker player as the ground shakes and cars explode around them while they desperately race between checkpoints. The helicopter player however has to franticly navigate the buildings bridges and powerlines of Liberty City in an attempt to keep the tiny biker in the gunships sights for long enough to score a kill. This one-on-one game mode is certainly unique, lots of fun and more importantly fairly easy to find a game.