Assassin’s Creed 2 – Battle of Forli DLC Review

Assassin’s Creed 2: Battle of Forli

Our friendly neighborhood assassin Ezio is back with typical swagger, eye-gouging and cracking Templar skulls galore. The “Battle of Forli” content is the first of two DLC packs that Ubisoft will be releasing, and the two add on memories are meant to precede the finale of the original campaign. I finally had a chance to sit down and play through the corrupted memory, and though I found it rather lackluster, I still enjoyed guiding Ezio’s blade through the onslaught of Templar scum. I don’t want to give away too much for those of you who haven’t gotten a chance to play the DLC yet, but I will say the game play revolves around the piece of Eden and helping a certain damsel in distress for a second time.

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What’s Good

Get over here! – Playing through this particular memory afforded the opportunity to complete what I considered two of the more pesky achievements in the game. Being a bit of an achievement junkie, this was a huge plus for me. The first being the “No Hitter” Achievement. The second and third sequences find Ezio in the middle of a heated battle and with waves upon waves of soldiers coming at you it makes for a great opportunity to get this achievement under your belt. Especially since these guards won’t run away after you have slain a large number of their comrades like so often happened in the original campaign. Forli also gave the opportunity to get the “Fly Swatter” achievement where you kick a soldier while using the flying machine just in case you missed it the first time around.

Fly Free Bird – One of the few problems I had with the original campaign was not being able to use Da Vinc’is flying machine more than the one mission that required it. I felt sure we would get to go back and cruise the wind currents at our discretion, but alas, no dice. If you get the DLC though, you will get the opportunity via a special memory location that allows you to soar above Forli as you please.

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What’s Bad

Finish, Finish, Finish, and I’m not talking about the country – The Assassin’s series is well known for its beautiful backdrops, scenery and attention to detail. So why didn’t the DLC get the same treatment? The background in cut scenes was very noisy and scratchy with lines and specks of white peaking through the otherwise colorful landscape. My only thinking is that this is somehow playing into the hands of the memory being originally corrupted but is distracting nonetheless. Lazy/wandering eyes were also enough to make me shiver in my booties.  Additionally, the AI seemed extremely lacking. For a majority of the mission you are fighting alongside two comrades who receive a majority of the attackers attention leaving you to walk around unattended to. Enemy indicators were also on the fritz in this release and in the chaos of the battle it became difficult to decipher who was friend and who was foe.

What just happened – It seemed as soon as you were getting back into the throws of being an elite assassin the plug was pulled.  All in all it should only take you roughly an hour, if that, to complete the new memory. For only 320 MS points we can’t really complain about the length, but I personally would have rather this and the upcoming “Bonfire of Vanities” DLC be bundled and played together.

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If you decide to purchase Forli expect a plethora of hack and slash game play with familiar style, but little substance.  Is it still worth buying you ask? As a fan of the series I say yes, absolutely. I’m sure the creative minds at Ubisoft are going to tie the plot of these two DLC’s together nicely and in the end I’m sure it will be worth it. If, however, you are looking forward to a new and improved Assassin’s Experience, this unfortunately is not it.

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