Gamersmint Review:Battle of Forli
Ubisoft’s released their first of the two promised DLCs with Battle of Forli. However, as anyone who has played Assassin’s Creed 2 will know, Battle of Forli is not exactly what one can term as ‘DLC’. It’s just one of the two unfinished sequences (number 12) from Assassin’s Creed 2 which Ubisoft could not complete to be included in the game, citing lack of time as an excuse and promised to release as paid DLC in the future.
However, the first thing which will hit you even before starting to play the game is the fact that Ubisoft has decided to release it as a paid DLC. One can’t do much but argue if it’s really right on their part to charge gamers for something which was supposed to be in the original game itself. If you can live with that, then let’s have a look at what Battle Of Forli has on offer.
You will be required to team up with Machiavelli at the start of the DLC and battle against a horde of enemies in order to protect Sforza, the elusive lady which you had a very brief encounter with, as your Gondola Tutor in the original game. She has a much bigger role to play in the DLC, as the leader of the city of Forli, which is a settlement in between the road to Venice. Things will heat up as you will require finishing off a bevy of incoming guards in order to protect her and the city of Forli from an onslaught by the Orsi Brothers .
It’s not until that the battle gets over that things get a little more interesting with you requiring to head out on a short yet fun assassination mission and realizing that all this was nothing but a decoy which fit into a grander scheme of things involving the Piece of Eden.
Battle of Forli does have its moments offering you with a few fun set-pieces and clearing the way nicely for the next sequence named the ‘Bonfire of Vanities’ which too will be released as an paid DLC shortly. But, it all lasts for too short a time(around 1 hour of playitme) to actually enable you to start enjoying it.The DLC does not offer anything new in terms of gameplay and hence I can’t see any reason to recommend it to anyone who is yet to finish the game. However, if you have completed AC2, then Battle of Forli will offer you a fun experience, revealing some nifty plot-holes and also setting you up for the final missing sequence.
At 320 MS points, it definitely is not too hard on the pocket and considering how brilliant AC2 was, one should not be bothered about it not being able to deliver. You will get the same fun as you had while playing Assassin’s Creed 2 and should pick it up if you loved the original game. However, anyone expecting it to offer them with anything new or innovative, will have to walk away disappointed.
Rating- ***/*****
Title: Assassin’s Creed 2: The Battle of Forli
Developer : Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Action-adventure
Rating: 18
Platforms: Xbox 360 (320 MS Points), PS3 ($3.99)
Reviewed on: Xbox 360 (Courtesy-E-Xpress )
