Niko was a war-damaged sociopath who’d kill almost anyone for a buck and repeatedly faces consequences for his moral choices. Though most of these missions are well designed - a police chase while shooting from the back of a motorcycle is particularly exciting - they’re similar to what players have seen before, and they don’t fit as well here.
Much like protag Niko Bellic in “GTA IV,” Johnny ping-pongs between amusingly unsavory types - some borrowed from the previous game - doing dirty work in an effort to survive. Yet while “The Lost and Damned” sets things up precisely and ends with a poignant epilogue, there’s not a well-thought-out arc in between. The characterization is helped by solid voice acting and expressive animation that far outdoes the stiff movements in “GTA IV.” Johnny is an aging but not yet bitter believer in the ethos of the Lost, best summed up at one point as: “Life is pain, and through this life, through this brotherhood, we can give pain the finger.” He’s beset by problems including a former gang president fresh out of jail and a drug-addicted ex-girlfriend he just can’t quit. Rockstar exceeds its own high standards with the characters here, playing on tropes without relying on stereotypes. Unlike previous “GTA” protags, most of whom have been hustlers making their way in the big city, Johnny Klebitz is the last of a dying breed - and the very idea of a motorcycle gang in 2009 is openly mocked. As even the fonts scream, this game is a Western, with an aging motorcycle gang standing in for a frontier town obsessed with honor and vengeance.
Their intentions with “The Lost and Damned” are different. The creative minds at Rockstar have never been shy to admit their cinematic influences, and they have drawn heavily - often explicitly - from the best crime dramas.
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