There is always a fine line with DLC, if it's too early, why wasn't it attached to the original game or if it's too late most of the original copies are sitting on the pre-owned shelves at Gamestation. Well Im please to report with Ubisoft releasing The Battle of Forli just a few months after release the timing it just right.

 

 

The Battle of Forli takes place shortly after Ezio joins the Guild of Assassins near the end of the main story. Ezio finds himself in the midst of a siege of Forli, where cameo characters from the main game Caterina Sforza and Niccolo Machiavelli reside. During the Battle of Forli you are taken through a handful of short missions, basically repeating the same as before, with escort duties, stealth and combat required to proceed. You are essentially playing a level cut from the main game and due to this it feels disjointed plus it ends rather abruptly, leaving it open for the second DLC, The Bonfire of the Vanities.

 

The 320 MS price point should indicate how little you are actually getting here, with under an hour’s worth of playtime, no replay value and worst of all no achievements attached, it feels rushed and almost pointless. A small consolation is the ability to unlock Da Vinci's flying machine, enabling you to soar around Italy to your heart’s content, that said, one go on it and you realise there is no point to it.

 

This really is one of those situations we feared the most, a DLC that really should of been with the retail game but was cut for whatever reason, either supply it free or combine it with another DLC in the future. The Battle of Forli doesn’t really not offering anything new or exciting to a great game, almost tarnishing the reputation of last year’s smash hit.