• Review - The Da Vinci Disappearance (AC Brotherhood DLC)


    Gamer's Gazette Single Issue XXXIV


    Assassi's Creed Brotherhood
    The Da Vinci Disappearance (2011)


    Desmond is in a coma, unable to communicate with his allies. However, through the Animus, Desmond shows them hidden memories of Ezio, who still has stories to tell from his time living in Rome. 1506, after the death of Cesare and the fall of the Borgia in Rome. Leonardo da Vinci, Ezio’s closest friend and confidant, has been kidnapped by the Hermeticists, an underground cult dedicated to "transforming mankind". In order to find the inventor and friend, Ezio must embark on a relentless quest to recover Leonardo's stolen paintings. Within these stolen paintings lies information that can lead to a hidden vault beneath Rome, a vault desired by the Hermeticists and of great interest to both Ezio, but also Desmond.
    The Da Vinci Disappearance picks up not long after the events of Brotherhood. Within its short duration, you must discover where Leonardo has been taken and also the secrets he has uncovered regarding the hidden vault. The list of positives about this DLC are short, just like the game itself. The story is fairly packed with action, and there is never really a dull moment throughout the story. The puzzles are fun to solve, and the story itself is very interesting and compelling. The gameplay is simple and straightforward, and not at all challenging. It was a pleasant experience and somewhat rewarding to finish in terms of the information obtained that furthers the overall plot of the series. In addition, the story is short enough that you can start and complete the DLC in an afternoon or evening.
    However, many of these things also contribute towards the numerous problems the story has. While the story is pleasant and interesting in some ways, in the end, most of it simply is not important. Ubisoft learned their lesson by setting it after the main campaign so that it feels like additional content rather than cut content, but much of it is simply wasted. I honestly did not even know about the game because none of it felt like it was missing from the story besides one important key detail; what was discovered in the vault. I will not say what it was, but it is actually very important to the overall story of Desmond’s journey. To stick that information in a DLC and just assume that everyone plays it before playing the next game is a bad move on Ubisoft’s part, and led to some confusion in later games since I did not play this game until after I completed those ones. The story, while nice to finish so quickly, is too short to justify the purchase in my opinion. But aside from that, there is also the issue that the DLC brings nothing really new; no new mechanics, nothing. Fighting the cultists is not interesting as they turn into generic villains, and in the end I care not for them or why they are doing what they are doing. I was also pretty disappointed that the Borgias were once again involved, if only a little bit. There are other issues as well with the DLC, but it really is not worth going into.
    Ultimately, the DLC is simply a disappointment. The story is filled with some mysterious voices, Leonardo's puzzling disappearance is definitely abrupt, but it is short and easily fixed, and the ultimate reveal at the end is pretty much ignored by Ezio as not important and for “someone else” (Desmond), so why should I care? There’s nothing horribly wrong with the DLC, but there is nothing great about it in the end. Luckily for me, I did not have to purchase the DLC separately as it came with the Ezio Trilogy on PS4, so the cost was not an issue to me. But the rest of the issues stand. It’s a shame that Ubisoft decided to include such important information in a DLC, and a mistake I hope is never made again.

    7/10



    ----------------------------

    So no joke guys...I swear I am working on my Origins review. Life has gotten complicated and the nature of AC Origins has made it difficult to write my review in a satisfactory way. I will try to get it out in the next couple of months.

    For now I hope you enjoyed this brief review on a bit of AC I have never covered.
    Comments 2 Comments
    1. Alwyn's Avatar
      Alwyn -
      Good review! This sounds like fun - particularly the puzzles. It's a shame that it isn't challenging, lacks new features, that an important part of Desmond's journey is (in a sense) hidden in a DLC and that it didn't give you more reasons to care about the villains or the resolution of the story.
    1. Gigantus's Avatar
      Gigantus -
      That's a piety about the story line but at least now I know it wasn't me when I had some 'Doooh' moments in origins.