I wasn’t gonna write about the Battle of Forli DLC for Assassin’s Creed II that came out on January 28th. But I was listening to a podcast (Rebel FM), and they were definitely not fans of the DLC. I know most of the guys on the show loved the main game, and it shocked me that they didn’t like the DLC. For the same reason they seemed to dislike it, I loved it. Sequence 12 of AC II is extremely linear. For the first half of it (45 minutes or so), each mission is immediately followed by the next. While it’s true that AC II let you finish a mission, and then run around doing side mission and collecting stuff, the DLC doesn’t really. And to be honest, I don’t think it needs to. 

At the end of Sequence 11, I was ready to end the game on my playthrough. I thought the way 11 ended was weird, and the transition to 14 was awkward at best. Also, I had done nearly all of the collecting in the game by the time I finished the story mode, and what little I had left (of collecting those fucking feathers), I finished up after clearing the game. So it was nice to see that the DLC was constantly pushing you forward. Sequence 12 moves quickly, and is full of action. It’s mostly big action scenes; interspersed with relatively short dialogue pieces. Since I had nothing left to do in between missions, as I had during the main playthrough, the constant push forward was perfect. And I can’t see how guys who had already finished the game, and done all the collecting stuff like me need a “break” from a 90 minute sequence.

I’m actually glad I played the DLC after the game was “over.” Sequence 12 doesn’t do much for the story. I mean, it does show how the piece of Eden was lost, and why what you had at the end of 11 is gone in 14, but I think Ubisoft did a fine job ruining the story even before that. So that’s why I didn’t mind Sequence 12 being short on story and heavy on the action, because I loved fighting in AC II, and I was happy to be back in its world.