We can picture the scene now - at Ubisoft Montreal headquarters, the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood team are all jumping around, partying and celebrating their ultimate victory - a Game of the Year award from Strategy Informer. Lead designer Patrick Plourde hushs his team, before announcing 'We must create an extra set of DLC missions as a thank you! To the design room!' And that is how The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC was conceived.

Before you begin to call bull on that little story, let us quickly distract your attention with the new downloadable content itself. As the name would suggest, the new missions focus on the quirky and entertaining Da Vinci, although - as the name would also suggest - he doesn't actually appear in it much.

It's like having a dear friend stay over for the evening

Although on little on the short side, this is easily worth grabbing. The story missions are great fun, relying on lot more on stealth than the main quest, and providing some wonderfully tense moments. The multiplayer also gets bumped up with two new game modes, both of which compliment the whole package suitably. If you somehow managed to complete Brotherhood in its entirety (you crazy person), then this DLC will bring a smile to your face.

The new story centres around Da Vinci and his kidnap. His assistant Salai tells Ezio that a number of the Da Vinci's paintings had been stolen, and needed to be found and returned, as they must be key to finding their missing friend's whereabouts. Ezio sets out to grab each painting one by one and bring them back to the workshop.

These special missions are represented on the map as 'restored memories', and lead you to plenty of interesting areas with a hefty amount of stealth the main dish of the day. From the very first mission, it's obvious that these missions are going to test even the most veteran of AssBro players, with tight situations and some brilliant suspenseful action.

Rather than simply resting on its laurels and giving us more of what we know, the pack throws in some new ideas. You'll be clambering from wooden poles and the like around crowded rooms, with numerous guards just inches below; Hiding in haystacks and waiting for the perfect moment when a group of guards have just past by; Climbing a tower before diving from the very top to escape your pursuers. It's all so familiar, yet just edgey enough that's not just more of the same.

If he wasn't Da Vinci's assistant, we'd totally have killed him within a few minutes of the game's beginning

The ending raises plenty of questions too, and gives you the opportunity to jump on Google and try your hand at being a detective. This isn't simply a throwaway storyline - what happens in these missions affects the AC world, and fans of the series will definitely want to fill in the blanks for themselves, then fantasise about what is coming next.

That being said, it's a rather short ride, clocking in at around two hours of play with not much in terms of replay valve. It's essentially one extra chapter, but a really great chapter at that. There are a couple of little extras and add-ons here and there, such as a dice game called Hazard at the Thieve's Guild, but essentially it's all over after a maximum of a few hours.

Fortunately, those who are into the multiplayer have got something to be excited about. A new map comes with the pack, as does two whole new game modes. OK, so the new map isn't so incredible - there are a number of DLC maps released for free by now anyway - but the game modes are interesting enough.

Assassinate plays a little like the main free-for-all mode, but with a twist. Rather than only having one target and one pursuer, now everyone is your prey and your predator. The idea is to blend into the crowd and try to look like a computer character, while also keeping on the lookout for people who look out of place. Once you've spotted one, give him a knife to the back - but be aware that you'll also be giving yourself away to other people in the process.

Escort mode is a little more standard. A team-based affair, you're tasked with protecting a VIP character en route to a safe zone, while the other team must kill the VIP before he or she makes it. It's perhaps a little too easy to be the attackers, as you can simply ignore the defenders and go straight for the VIP, but it's fun nonetheless.

More multiplayer modes! If you've still not tried out the online elements, now is as good a time as any

Neither mode is truly incredible, but rather fits well into the multiplayer options as a whole. It's annoying when a developer churns out a new multiplayer game mode that no-one likes, but is then forced to play as it keeps coming up. Fortunately, this is not the case here, and when either mode came up in play, we'd instead think hey, why not.

The Da Vinci Disappearance DLC is a welcome - if rather brief - jump back into the world of Ezio; We loved said world the first time around, and nothing has changed since then. Pour yourself a beverage, grab the controller and sit down for a great evening of stabby stabby.

Top Game Moment: Jumping from ledges right above hordes of city guards is tense stuff.