Assassin’s Creed II DLC Review: The Battle of Forlì

Assassin’s Creed II was one of the major titles to hit gamers last November, with huge improvements over the first in the series and a welcome continuation of Desmond’s story. Due to time constraints, two DNA sequences were cut from the main game to be released as DLC. The first, The Battle of Forli, was released last Thurday for $3.99/€3.99/£3.19 on PSN, and 320 MS Points on XBL.

The DLC takes place in and around Forlì, the surprisingly fleshed out settlement which was only briefly used in the main game’s story arc. The DLC is essentially one large fight from beginning to end, and after a brief introductory sequence you can start working your way through the missions. You start off escorting Caterina Sforza (whom you met briefly in the main story on your way to Venice) through a mass of guards into the occupied settlement, with the gameplay remaining the same throughout: masses of guards to kill and timed objectives to complete.  The penultimate mission, however, calms things down and you are gently led to where Sequence 13 will commence. The flying machine makes a return as a “Special Memory”, but strangely isn’t essential for completing any of the missions. Whilst it’s a random edition with no explanation, it’s still fun to fly around kicking guards off of roofs, though, if that’s your thing.

If you’re reasonably proficient with the game you can expect to finish the sequence in around an hour, possibly even less if you’re very good or are just rushing through. This may seem short for the price, but it fills in part of the missing back story which ACII fans will no doubt want to play through. If you weren’t a huge fan of the main game, however, you’re not likely to find anything new or worth your while here.

The second piece of DLC, titled Bonfire of the Vanities, is set to release on the 25th of this month.