While some games companies are seemingly going out of their way to make things difficult, Rockstar have shown up, catering for gamers who might not want to be online all the time, and who just might want to play an expansion pack without forking out for the original game.

We've just received some more details about Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, which is coming to expand GTA IV on disk later this year, for Xbox 360. For those of you playing at home, Episodes brings together both The Lost and Damned and the upcoming The Ballad of Gay Tony onto one disk for you to play to your heart's content. You don't need to mess around with MS Points, you don't need an internet connection, you don't even need a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV.

So - what's in store?

The Lost and Damned
Set against GTA IV's iconic and beautifully rendered homage to New York, Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned is the first of two downloadable episodes that fit seamlessly alongside the larger Grand Theft Auto IV storyline. In addition to delivering an all-new story and a new protagonist - Johnny Klebitz, Vice President of The Lost biker gang - The Lost and Damned features its own, all-new enhanced soundtrack that reflects the episode's story.

The Ballad of Gay Tony
Grand Theft Auto’s second downloadable episode, "The Ballad of Gay Tony" injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime. As Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Tony Prince (aka “Gay Tony”), you will struggle with the competing loyalties of family and friends, and with the uncertainty about who is real and who is fake in a world in which everyone has a price.

If you're not the type who needs physical media, The Lost and Damned is out now on Xbox Live Marketplace, and we hear The Ballad of Gay Tony is due real soon now.


Images from The Lost And Damned
Pricing for Episodes from Liberty City hasn't yet been announced, but we are promised that it will be on shelves and in our hot little hands by the end of the year. Till then, maybe spend a bit of time getting reacquainted with the original game?