Lucy has some explaining to do.
Assassin’s Creed Revelations was a great entry in the series, it tied up a few loose ends and created a few more, as a good episode should. The campaign, however, was a little lighter than previous games so Ubisoft beefed it up a bit with optional quests within the Animus. These adventures in the base program of the Animus played out as first person puzzle-platform levels and, like them or not, they are what you’re in for in the first single player DLC for Revelations.
Single Player
The Lost Archive starts out on Animus Island, a location familiar to those who have played through Revelations. Rather than playing as Desmond, in this journey through the back-end of the Animus you’ll be taking control of the infamous Subject 16. You’ll find out quite quickly, so I’m going to spoil it, that Subject 16 is one Clay Kaczmarek.
But I'm right here!
While in the Animus, jumping from platform to platform, you’ll learn more about Subject 16 and his connection to Lucy Stillman. I won’t go into detail about what is said but, much as it was in the main game, you’ll be left to piece together the history based on snippets of narration and remembered conversation that are played while you move through the levels.
As before, you’ll have the ability to create blocks to stand on, in most areas, to you get yourself from one place to another. You’ll have to navigate many obstacles such as areas that move the blocks out from under you, red lasers that kill you and yellow lasers that kill you. Though navigating the levels can prove quite challenging, it will all be over in well under two hours. You will be able replay the DLC areas but the only reason to do so is to get all of the collectibles. These collectibles really only bag you achievements so they’ll only be worth it to some people.
In the end, I found the story unsatisfying and the length of this adventure to be lacking. You’ll learn a little about a couple of the characters from the Assassin’s Creed series, but it’s just not enough to justify the price tag. Not by a long shot. Not to mention the fact that if you skipped these sequences in the main campaign because they weren’t your thing, there is no value at all to this DLC.
Multiplayer
As if feeling the need to throw players a bone due to the length of this DLC, Ubisoft have included three multiplayer characters. You’ll get the Crusader (which a number of you will already have, depending upon where you pre-ordered), the Ottoman Jester and Ottoman Doctor.
Closing Comments
The only reason to buy The Lost Archive is if you were a big fan of the first-person platforming sections in Revelations. Even then you’ll feel ripped off after spending 800 points ($9.99) on this DLC as most movies are longer than this was. You will get a bit of additional background story but it won’t make up for the empty feeling in your wallet.
