The 8 WORST Assassin's Creed DLCs
Helix Credits
“Assassin’s Creed” franchise (2007-) Though they’re miles away from being a story-based expansion, Helix Credits are still downloadable content that cost you real money – and they’re also one of the worst things about the series. Though you can certainly ignore them and you’re not missing out by never buying a pack, Ubisoft has relentlessly advertised the Helix Credits in-game and their bundles ever since “Unity”, setting a dangerous precedent for microtransactions in single-player games. Worse, the later games actually suffer due to the “time saver” XP boosts you can buy, ruining the level scaling and pacing completely. They even made “Odyssey” more grindy than necessary to try and force people to cough up for the XP boosts – not to mention that it also had loot boxes.
The Hidden Ones
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“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017) We bet you’d love a DLC charting the origins of the Assassins in a video game that was already supposed to be ENTIRELY about the origins of the Assassins. In the end, “The Hidden Ones” is just fine, and some have even said it was better than the base game for being much shorter. But it still didn’t add an awful lot to the formula, bringing the same rinse-and-repeat gameplay. That’s all well and good if you love “Origins” to death, but if you wanted it to innovate or add some new mechanics, you would have been disappointed with this one. And it’s not like “AC” doesn’t have a history of adding new elements with its DLC – some of the best DLCs have changed up the game mechanics, like adding the lantern for “Dead Kings” or the fear system for “Jack the Ripper”. “The Hidden Ones” did none of that.
Dawn of Ragnarok
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“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020) In lieu of a new mainline release for a few years now – which, going by the series’ history, is probably for the best – Ubisoft has churned out a handful of massive DLCs for “Valhalla”. And if you like “Valhalla” and Norse mythology, it’s definitely a DLC you’ll enjoy, and one of the best in the series. So, why is it on our list of the WORST DLCs as well as the best? Because it’s not included in the game’s season pass. Yes, maybe you can argue that we’re in a “new” season now and the game came out years ago, but if you buy a single-player game and its season pass, you should get ALL the DLC, not be forced by Ubisoft to spend ANOTHER $40 on top of an already monumentally expensive game. And it’s not like it’s a standalone DLC, either; you’ve GOT to have “Valhalla” as well.
Bonfire of the Vanities
“Assassin’s Creed II” (2009) Much like some OTHER pieces of “Assassin’s Creed II” DLC that we’ll get to later, “Bonfire of the Vanities” was supposed to be included in the base game. “Bonfire” opened up the Florence map even further, giving Ezio a new corner to explore, not to mention spending some more time with Machiavelli, who’d go on to play a major role in “Brotherhood”. It’s not 100% clear, even today, whether “Bonfire” was cut from the game due to time constraints or because it just wasn’t as good as the rest of “AC II”, which is overall an outstanding game that perhaps would have suffered with needless bloat. But perhaps some things should remain on the cutting room floor, and maybe Ubisoft’s newer games would benefit from some content getting cut, too.
Legacy of the First Blade
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“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018) This is another DLC that we also counted among the best, but there’s a case to be made for it being a Ubisoft misfire, as well. It’s just as fun as the base game, but it has issues that some fans just couldn’t ignore. Yes, we’re talking about the forced romance in which, for macro, story reasons, Alexios or Kassandra is pushed into a straight romance that results in a child. This ignored the base game’s focus on player choice, particularly with the many romance options. Ubisoft saw the error of its ways, for once, apologized and changed the forced romance in a patch. We’re not sure why it was so important for “Odyssey” to show its main character going off and having kids, while we never saw it for other Assassins, like Aveline, Connor, or Arno.
The Lost Archive
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“Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” (2011) Did you LOVE those first-person platforming puzzle missions from “AC Revelations”? Well, we’ve got great news for you; for another $10, you can have another two hours of them, getting some new backstory for Subject 16, who perhaps should have been the main character all along. Though the puzzle gameplay is something we’re glad never returned after “Revelations”, “The Lost Archive” committed another crime, too, by revealing that Lucy Stillman – played by Kristen Bell – really WAS a Templar all along. Now, it’s not terrible that this is part of the story, but it IS outrageous that Ubisoft buried the resolution of its biggest cliffhanger – her death at Desmond’s hands at the end of “Brotherhood” – in a DLC for “Revelations”.
The Last Maharaja
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“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015) It’s very interesting to explore this side of British history in a mainstream video game, as the Frye twins meet Duleep Singh, the last Maharaja of India before the country was completely taken over by the British Crown; Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1877, nearly a decade after the events of “Syndicate”. But the DLC missions, unfortunately, just aren’t as good as the rest of the game in terms of their gameplay and mechanics. And we also have to question why these missions were sequestered away into paid DLC, when Singh already appears as a character in the base game who helps the Assassins from time to time. We’re still waiting for the day we get an “Assassin’s Creed” game set in India during the last years of the British Raj, though.
Battle of Forlì
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“Assassin’s Creed II” (2009) In some ways, the “Battle of Forlì” DLC is adequate, giving some more development to Caterina Sforza by sending Ezio back to Forlì, a region of Romagna that he only visits briefly in the base game on his way to Venice. That SOUNDS good, but as long-time fans will know, the “Battle of Forlì” was never intended to be DLC; it’s a part of the main story that was SUPPOSED to be where the “corrupted memory sequence” goes – just like “Bonfire of the Vanities”, which takes place shortly afterward. Unlike “Battle of the Vanities”, “Forlì” has some more crucial character development, and Caterina and Ezio’s romance at the beginning of “Brotherhood” almost comes out of nowhere for those who didn’t help her again during the DLC.
