After disliking Assassin’s Creed 2’s Battle of Forli downloadable chapter, the part of me that is a blithering idiot told me to give the second chapter Bonfire of the Vanities a try. As proven by the picture of me from back in college when I ran through the streets pantsless with a clown wig on, I tend to listen to my idiot part more often than not. Luckily enough, idiot me had a point this time around. Bonfire of the Vanities is better than Battle of Forli in pretty much every way, but it still falls short of being a gameplay experience that is really “worth it.”

Bonfire of the Vanities takes Ezio back to Florence to assassinate a corrupt ruler. It picks up immediately where Battle of Forli left off, and when I say immediately I mean immediately. You can purchase Bonfire of the Vanities independently of Battle of Forli, however if you do, you will be tosses head first into a plot that you quite simply have no chance of understanding. Sure, maybe you can put pieces together here or there, but true appreciation of the DLC requires you to have purchased both. Since they both form one continuous narrative and one ends abruptly while the other starts abruptly, I can’t fathom why Ubisoft would choose to split the two up. I’m sure money was the motivation in there somewhere, but considering how cheap both of these chapters were, they could have just charged us ten dollars for both in a package and had been making an even larger profit.

Once again it’s the same old Assassin’s Creed 2 story. Ezio goes around murdering the right guys at the right time. This time, Machiavelli is at the reigns, and while it is nice to see the character again, the whole plot feels a little sparse. There is less spoken dialogue and what is spoken is not up to par with the rest of the Assassin’s Creed 2 experience. Some sound effects are left out entirely, with unruly mobs, battles, and even small environmental effects making no sounds at all.

Ezio has some new tricks up on the rooftops but once again, other than the few new locales you get to see, it’s the same Assassin’s Creed 2 you are used to. Battle of Forli basically charged you 4 dollars for another hour of Assassin’s Creed 2. This expansion is basically doing the same. They both are profiting off of the fact that you simply can’t go back and replay any of Assassin’s Creed 2’s missions, which, would pretty much produce the same experience.

Both downloadable chapters simply feel unpolished. There are tons of glitches in this new chapter, which give me unfortunate flashbacks to Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines. There are points in which Ezio gets snagged on the environment, and there was one point in which Ezio stopped moving all together and I had to reset the game. Some of your assassination targets can wander into their own deaths without you doing anything. I have seen plenty of videos on Youtube of assassination missions being completed because your target lazily wandered off the edge of a roof.

Overall, both downloadable chapters for Assassin’s Creed 2 just don’t live up to the main game. Even together, they feel like they come just short of a finished product. Even though there are some interesting story bits to both chapters, it is very easy to pass them up and not miss much. If you are really itching for some more Assassin’s Creed 2 action, then pick them up, but anyone who isn’t totally obsessed with the game, may want to think twice before picking them up.

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