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The sad thing is, I really wanted to like Assassin's Creed. I watched all the dev diaries for the original and dreamed of owning a copy (my parents were rating-nazis) and being a medieval-era assassin badass. That is, until I heard the plot and concept which is, of course, bat-shit crazy. The genre can be described as sci-fi/historical fiction, and should therefore be based in reality, except there isn't.
I originally believed it to be pure history based on the pride Ubisoft took in it's period-accuracy. But, in point of fact, the real main character is modern day Desmond Miles who is descended from the characters Altair and Ezio. And he magically lives their lives through a machine called an animus which somehow reads his family history inside his own DNA. Of course, anyone with a teaspoon of knowledge about DNA will know that this is total bullshit. DNA is an owner's manual for your body, not a written family history. Since AC does not take place in a fantasy setting, this should not be possible.
Besides, even if it was possible, if it's a memory of a real person, why is it in third-person and open-world? a person's memory is only the extent of the record of his senses and experiences, giving the player the ability to do whatever they want and the ability to see behind the character shatters this illusion.
Besides canonical issues, I also have a problem with the gameplay. As a long-time Prince of Persia fan I expected something more from Ubisoft than what AC has. On the PC version of AC2, all I need do is hold down the spacebar and the right mouse button and Ezio will do the rest for me. on the first platforming section I had trouble partly because of the bullshit instructions they give you, but mostly because I expected it to be harder. I expected to sway on the bar like I learned to do in Prince of Persia, instead I just held two buttons and the rest is done for me.
I had high hopes for Assassin's Creed but instead Ubisoft has dissapointed me with a game that makes no sense at all. What makes less sense is how popular this franchise is. I don't get it.