bit-gamer.net

GTA: Episodes from Liberty City coming to PC, PS3

Published on 1st February 2010 by Joe Martin

Rockstar has finally announced that GTA: Episodes from Liberty City will be released for the PS3 and PC.

Rockstar has announced that the GTA IV standalone expansion , Episodes from Liberty City, will be released for the PlayStation 3 and PC platforms.

The Episodes from Liberty City expansion, which was originally released late last year as an Xbox 360 exclusive, contains the Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and Damned expansions to the full GTA IV but doesn't require the original game to play.

"It's been a long time coming, but we are proud to finally deliver Episodes From Liberty City for the PC and PlayStation 3," said Rockstar's Sam Houser. "We appreciate the patience of our PlayStation 3 and PC fans worldwide, and we look forward to putting the games in your hands this March."

No UK price is announced for the game yet, but you'll be able to pick up the PS3 version of the pack at retail for $40 USD or download the episodes individually for $20 USD each via the PlayStation Network. The PC version of the game will require Games For Windows LIVE.

The price does seem a bit steep considering the late release and the fact that the expansions aren't exactly "a full game", but that's just our opinion. The PC version will include the usual video editor and 32-player multiplayer just like the full game, if that helps.

You can read our GTA IV PC review for more information about the game, or our GTA IV Xbox 360 review if you prefer. It's likely worth checking out the PC system requirements for GTA IV too, given that it can be quite demanding on hardware. Either way, let us know your thoughts in the forums.

Thanks to forumite Oasked for the tip!

52 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

wuyanxu 29th January 2010, 23:28

can't wait indeed, bikers not so much, but new missions will sure be fantastic

LeMaltor 29th January 2010, 23:33

Thank god.

Elton 30th January 2010, 02:28

Expected this to happen..

Now, to wait a bit until the disc version sinks to a tenner...

javaman 30th January 2010, 03:34

seems stupid that it hasn't been released for PS3 or PC. I mean, rockstar want their pretty penny.

Elton 30th January 2010, 06:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by javaman
seems stupid that it hasn't been released for PS3 or PC. I mean, rockstar want their pretty penny.

I recall them making a deal with with MS so they'd get content first.

Hey they got a good deal since they got paid to do it, and that now, they still make money by releasing it later.

oasked 30th January 2010, 07:59

Forgot the original source:

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/29/gta-episodes-from-liberty-city-on-ps3-pc-march-30/

DragunovHUN 30th January 2010, 10:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by javaman
seems stupid that it hasn't been released for PS3 or PC. I mean, rockstar want their pretty penny.

Rockstar got their pretty penny, don't worry about that. Timed exclusivity contracts aren't free.

DeathAwaitsU 30th January 2010, 12:33

Finally!

J!n 30th January 2010, 13:17

yay im going to get it woop woop, i only finished the gta4 missions the other day :)

Red Eye 30th January 2010, 13:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by DragunovHUN
Rockstar got their pretty penny, don't worry about that. Timed exclusivity contracts aren't free.

The daily working conditions might be so great but I bet the Christmas party's were awesome, with all that $50 million upfront in Microsoft exclusivity. Rockstar have stated that they plan to make it up for PS3 owners this year.

julianmartin 1st February 2010, 06:42

I did buy the ballad of gay tony on XBL, but I have to say it is SO funny - loved every minute of it.

AngusW 1st February 2010, 12:42

Sweet i've got both of these for xbox and will be repurchasing for pc for the improved graphics etc as i am a big gta fan. Ballad of gay tony is the better of the two but the lost and the damned has some cool moments aswell.

rollo 1st February 2010, 13:35

Too little too late tbh

40 dollars for both is steep

FreQ 1st February 2010, 14:06

Quote:

The PC version of the game will require Games For Windows LIVE.

>:(

Otherwise I would buy

sear 1st February 2010, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollo
Too little too late tbh

40 dollars for both is steep

I don't know, really? Both add-ons combined are about the same size as Grand Theft Auto IV.

REMF 1st February 2010, 14:23

delighted they are bringing the episodes to pc, but i sincerely hope they have fixed GFWL, as that was the cause of me sticking a cleaver through my copy of GTA4 for the PC.

lacuna 1st February 2010, 14:39

I was disappointed that these weren't initially available on PS3 but after playing through Saints Row 2 (and still playing after completing all the missions) Im just not that interested in GTA anymore. While GTA is far more polished its nowhere near as much fun to play.

Xir 1st February 2010, 14:56

Quote:

It's likely worth checking out the PC system requirements for GTA IV too

So how does that translate to modern hardware?
The ATI hd5870 for instance...playable?

J!n 1st February 2010, 15:24

noob question what game came out first ballads of gay tony or lost n damned is it worth completing them in order or dont they carry any story from each other, i only just completed gta4 the other week :)

bestseany 1st February 2010, 16:30

I can't wait for this to come out. I loved the original GTA IV!

Unknownsock 1st February 2010, 16:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xir
Quote:
It's likely worth checking out the PC system requirements for GTA IV too
So how does that translate to modern hardware?
The ATI hd5870 for instance...playable?

The graphics department isn't too bad, its your CPU that needs to be quite good.

bahgger 1st February 2010, 17:46

Doh! I went and bought this for the 360 and have been struggling with the controls since I'm useless at anything but a mouse and keyboard :(

Farfalho 1st February 2010, 18:29

i want the pic girl! Assuming she has an identical real model! xD

SoulLance 1st February 2010, 18:41

Considering GTA 4 is the biggest piece of unoptimized crap in the history of PC Gaming I could give a rats ass.

javaman 1st February 2010, 19:02

I can't bring myself to play through GTA4. I got killzone 2 today and just can't hit anything.Just over a year of PC gaming and I can barely even hold control pads now >.>

jake9891 1st February 2010, 22:15

finally!!! I just hope price won't be that bad, I only paid £5 on steam christmas sale for GTA IV and I am not planning to pay more for expansions....

Slizza 1st February 2010, 23:15

I hope they improved matters from gta 4 but i doubt it.

Elton 2nd February 2010, 00:17

GTA IV was a bit bland in terms of story. And the Graphics were admittedly muddy, coupled with a pretty simplistic and somewhat unsatisfying combat system.

But at the end of the day, the game is still some bloody mindless fun.

xaser04 2nd February 2010, 08:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xir
Quote:
It's likely worth checking out the PC system requirements for GTA IV too
So how does that translate to modern hardware?
The ATI hd5870 for instance...playable?

Should be more than playable as long as you have a decent quad core to back it up.

My laptop (Q9000, HD4850) runs its fine at 1440x900 everything High/ Very High apart from Textures which are set to medium (I think my GPU's 512mb memory is preventing anything higher?!). The draw distance is 33, detail distance 52 and I can't remember the others (around half way).

It does hiccup occasionally although this only appears to happen when a new area loads on the fly.

My GTX260 SLI setup runs its even better (coupled with a overclocked Core i7) although it still suffers from the hiccups that my laptop does (must be the engine rather than the settings itself).

The one thing you will notice a lack of is AA. There are tweaks to get it enabled but it comes at a pretty big performance penalty (understandable given everything that is being displayed at once).

1ad7 2nd February 2010, 09:08

Its not unoptimized... If we want new Pc hardware we need to beg for games that destroy our current pcs. I play it fine, granted im pretty much top of the line now, cant quite play in eyefinity but thats just a memory size issue with the video cards

Xir 2nd February 2010, 10:17

I was thinking in the lines of a i7 920 with either a hd5870 or an equivalent fermi-card.
(waiting for fermi to come out so a) comparison is possible b)prices come down)

Got GTAIV cheap at the cchristmas steam sale and can wait a little longer.

xaser04 2nd February 2010, 10:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xir
I was thinking in the lines of a i7 920 with either a hd5870 or an equivalent fermi-card.
(waiting for fermi to come out so a) comparison is possible b)prices come down)

Got GTAIV cheap at the cchristmas steam sale and can wait a little longer.

As said it runs fine on my GTX260-SLI / Core i7 920 @ 3.6Ghz setup so it should run fine on a single HD5870 (comparable to a GTX295). If anything it might run a bit better as 1) You won't be reliant on SLI / CF to provide the raw grunt and 2) You will have more physical GPU memory (something GTAIV is very fussy with).

Of course it does all depend on what resolution you run at and what settings you will want.

Example - Even on my SLI setup, the draw distance setting doesn't go above 50 as it eats GPU memory for breakfast.

oasked 2nd February 2010, 18:45

The main thing is that you have a tri-core or better. A fast dual-core just isn't good enough for smooth GTA IV gameplay.

Runs really smooth on my system, and my graphics card is pretty average these days. :)

Saivert 3rd February 2010, 00:16

I'm sick with these console exclusivity contracts. Don't the game developers see that this is only hurting themselves?

Why should I care about those expansion packs now that I have been fed with dozens of videos and reviews about the XBOX 360 version for months. The games are OLD now folks! Nobody cares.. we are playing Bad Company 2 etc. instead.

Elton 3rd February 2010, 05:16

Well the companies make money off of the temporary exclusivity.

ou7blaze 3rd February 2010, 06:08

Seeing how my GTA4 copy is still basically unplayable unless you consider 0X AA pretty. I wont be spending money on this at least until I read that it has been fixed. :(

Elton 3rd February 2010, 06:56

I can live with 0xAA.

The shadows not so much.

javaman 3rd February 2010, 12:10

Its the slow HDD that also kils it on the PS3. So many time i've had "im sure theres a wall/band comming up soon!" *smash* "there it is" (wall then spawns into exsistance)

gavomatic57 23rd April 2010, 09:20

So anyone playing it? By the way, there was a 1.0.6.0 patch that improved performance on the main game.
Very impressed so far - it's quite fun seeing the characters from a different perspective.

LeMaltor 23rd April 2010, 09:46

Done the lost and damned, nice of the ballad of gay tony to use the same save folder, so first save overwrote my completed L+D save :S

Didn't really enjoy lost, ballad rocks though

wuyanxu 23rd April 2010, 10:01

not a fan of bikers at all, so doing ballad of gay tony at the moment, pretty well done so far.

October 23rd April 2010, 10:56

Finally got round to playing the original yesterday and I'm pretty sure it's not gonna get much attention in the near future, load times are unbelievably long! Which would be bad enough for areas but 3 really long load times in the middle of a pissy tutorial video in the middle of a mission that I can't skip...? :(

bestseany 23rd April 2010, 13:32

I started playing the Lost and the Damned last night. I'm quite enjoying it so far.

It seems to run a bit smoother than the original GTA IV too on my system.

DragunovHUN 23rd April 2010, 14:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by October
Finally got round to playing the original yesterday and I'm pretty sure it's not gonna get much attention in the near future, load times are unbelievably long! Which would be bad enough for areas but 3 really long load times in the middle of a pissy tutorial video in the middle of a mission that I can't skip...? :(

Yyeah, shitty first impressions in this game. Those tutorial loading times were ridiculous in the 360 version too. This sort of stuff doesn't really happen again later on, though.

samkiller42 24th April 2010, 23:31

My copy should arrive next week sometime, and i hope to play for several hours and gain more achievements. How well is it running on other peoples rigs? Just as well as the original, or better?

Sam

oasked 25th April 2010, 10:29

About the same as the original TBH, should fly on your system.

bestseany 27th April 2010, 12:06

It still stutters a little bit on my system, but I think it runs every so slightly smoother than the original.

gavomatic57 27th April 2010, 12:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by bestseany
It still stutters a little bit on my system, but I think it runs every so slightly smoother than the original.

Get the 1.0.6.0 patch onto the original - same effect. They've re-done the shadowing, so the framerate has improved on mine - up 5-10 fps. They've also removed the social club.

tripwired 28th April 2010, 21:14

Anyone interested in getting this should check out Steam, currently 25% off; takes it down to fifteen quid.

oasked 28th April 2010, 22:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by tripwired
Anyone interested in getting this should check out Steam, currently 25% off; takes it down to fifteen quid.

lol

Its been £14.99 everywhere else (apart from the high street) since launch!

The prices on Steam are a joke.

bestseany 29th April 2010, 09:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavomatic57
Get the 1.0.6.0 patch onto the original - same effect. They've re-done the shadowing, so the framerate has improved on mine - up 5-10 fps. They've also removed the social club.

I'll give that a go. Cheers. Shame it doesn't auto update like stuff on Steam does!

gavomatic57 29th April 2010, 12:07

Quote: