Lets face it, as far as locations are concerned, Forli was Assassin’s Creed II’s least inspiring! Dwarfed by the size and majesty of Florence and Venice, it was a squalid little town surrounded by mud huts and ugly peasants! So the decision to set the first piece of downloadable content here is a little perplexing. Battle of Forli sees Ezio enlist the aid of Caterina Sforza to defend his piece of Eden from the Templars. Things quickly go tits-up, and it’s up to Ezio to sort everything out with his unique repertoire of murder and more murder! Thus begins a brand new adventure that reinvigorates Assassin’s Creed II after months of gathering dust!
At least that’d be the case if Forli included anything worthy of note. The new sequence consists of the usual fare; escorting allies from A to B, finding targets using eagle vision, assassinating named antagonists, and so on. The single addition is the ability to play about in Da Vinci’s flying machine, launched from the lighthouse at the north-east of the map. This is purely a cosmetic aside that doesn’t affect the plot. The early missions have a heavy emphasis on large running battles. But as Eurogamer pointed out in their review, these are devoid of challenge and simply showcase how ludicrously overpowered Ezio is in combat.
So in terms of gameplay Forli doesn’t stray from what came before. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, Assassin’s Creed II’s gameplay won great accolades after all. But as you’ve already explored Forli extensively during numerous side missions you will have seen it all before. The expansion doesn’t open any new areas apart from some dreary countryside in the north-west. In absence of additional side-quests or mission types you can’t escape the notion that we’re shelling out money to play the same bits all over again.
Plenty of criticism surrounds this downloadable trilogy, most of it to the effect that Ubisoft is cynically forcing game owners to pay extra for the entire story. If Forli is anything to go by, the opposite is true. Without ruining anything, the episode has only tangential relevance to that of the main game and could easily be missed without great disadvantage (unless you’re desperate to know the origin of Ezio’s facial fluff). It also has no closure, ending on a cliffhanger to be resolved in the next (paid) episode. Clocking in at around one hour it isn’t even the longest sequence in the game, and certainly isn’t the most fun!
Assassin’s Creed II was a great game, and I can think of worse ways to spend £3.19 than to purchase more of it. But really, if we’re expected to pay for downloadable content it needs add something worthwhile, be it new locations, story arcs, or (more dubiously) gear. Battle of Forli has none of those things. It takes you to locations already explored, introduces characters already met, and presents challenges already completed.
In summary, don’t bother.
Ahem. Whilst I have no doubt you are correct in your assessment, andat the risk of seeming like an Ubisoft defense force, you might want to research the specifics behind this download pack. It consists of material that was cut from the game due to time constraints- i.e. the need to get it released before mid-December. It was cut presumably because it was subpar and it would have taken too long to salvage, hence why Forli seems so uninteresting. Maybe it's the fault of that damn software engineering module, but I can't blame them for taking what they had and releasing it. It's easy to say it's cynical to charge for content that should have been in the game, but it's not like they are charging for an unlock code for content already on the disc ala Rsident Evil 5's multiplayer. it's stuff that otherwise would have been lost completely. If Ubisoft are giving people the option to pick it up, that's fine. It's not like they are forcing you.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it is indeed as uninspired as you say, but it might be wise to consider the circumstances of its creation when reviewing it.