One look at the opening cutscene, and all but the most jaded persons would be enthralled already.
The first impression that this game makes is that it is a Tomb-Raider-meets-Thief-meets-Prince-of-Persia hybrid. Thankfully, the gameplay and premise are not as shallow as this.
As befitting the protagonist of a game that orients around stealthy platforming, Al-Tair has the best animations and moves that I have ever seen. All of them look believable, unlike some of the gravity-defying and highly stylized stunts that Lara Croft and the Prince can do - certainly a hallmark in motion-capture-powered animations. His gear and robes are also realistically impressive, further reinforcing the game's statement that Al-Tair's order had once existed - the same could not be said for the aforementioned femme fatale who can stuff quite a lot of spare ammo in her tight clothing.
The combat, while not as stylish as Prince of Persia, is still intensely satisfying. Moments of whittling down dozens of foolish guards with very painful counters can be particularly memorable.
The medieval storyline is very gripping, and any player would root for Al-Tair eventually, despite his rather unimpressive voice actor. With his dour demeanor and rather subdued voice (for better or worse), Al-Tair is a very appropriate character to play the role of a silent assassin (unlike a certain bald guy who keeps wearing the same suit despite knowing that the barcode on the back of his head makes him conspicuous enough already).
While the game has some repetitive tasks that the player has to do, doing each one is worth the trouble as the player gets to read and listen to more good voice acting and writing that makes the medieval setting so rich.
Unfortunately, one of the main plot elements of this game is also its most off-putting aspects. The modern-day tie-in about a present-day struggle between the now corporate-like Templars and Resistance-wannabe Assassins is just jarring. The only major justification for this premise is the Animus, which plays an important role in strategically restricting the player's movements and the health regeneration feature.
Voice-acting qualities also contrast between the medieval and modern setting. It is quite disconcerting to hear Desmond yell "This is so fu**ed up!" after having listened to an awesome conversation between Al-Tair and one of his targets. Generally, all the modern-day characters are presented poorly - Desmond, in particular.
The final gripe that this reviewer has about this game is its graphics. It would be otherwise fantastic, but the way the game presented itself on an average machine is rather insulting. Pop-ups, tardy rendering, missing polygons, etc. - if video games can be personified, this game would be scoffing at this reviewer's PC (at the time of this writing) for not being able to play it optimally.
If there is to be a sequel, the aforementioned flaws are the areas where it needs to improve in. In any case, Assassin's Creed still is a wonderful game that is easy to recommend to anyone who has a liking for platforming and stealth-oriented gameplay.