Assassin's Creed starts of with a bang but towards the end gets very repetitive and stale.
Altair controls very well, and the game's method for introducing your formidable arsenal of moves is very well integrated into the game. Most tutorial modes fail on this count, but Assassin's Creed does a very good job of introducing you to just what Altair can do. As new moves and maneuvers are unlocked, you have the opportunity to practice them in the combat tutorial you pass as you begin each mission making them entirely avoidable later in the game. Altair has a number of combat moves based on button timing during a fight. These moves are fairly easy to pull off and make Altair very difficult to defeat in combat, even when faced with multiple foes. In addition to combat, Altair has a number of climbing and jumping abilities that the game does a very good job of using based on the terrain you're crossing. Running across rooftops is seamless and climbing walls and structures is very intuitive.
As for the missions themselves, Altair travels from Musayf, your home base to three distance cities, each with three different districts, one of which contains your target at any given point. Preparing for your actual assassination attempt involves scaling high points in the city to scout out sources of information. These sources come in three forms: interrogation, pickpocketing, and eavesdropping. Interrogation involves listening to a character talk about how great your target is to the public, then following them afterwards only to pummel some information out of them. Pickpocketing involves listening to a conversation, then sneaking up behind one of the talkers and snatching some sort of information from them. Eavesdropping is just that. You take a seat on a bench and overhear a conversation pertaining to your target. Individually these missions are exciting the first couple times you do them, but when you have to do the same thing over the course of 9 missions, they lose their value and simply become check-the-box moments. Additionally, throughout each district of the cities, there are citizens that can be saved from abusive guards and doing so grants you allies throughout the city to help you get into guarded areas, or protect you from pursuing guards.
Finally, after all your preparation is complete, you are treated to the assassination mission itself. These are very well done and can be very tense and exciting depending on your approach. If you want to go in with sword drawn and fight your way to the target, you can. If you want to sneak up on your target unnoticed for the kill, you can. Each of the encounters is unique and each has a number of approaches you can take. Even when things go wrong and you're forced to chase your target through the streets, the game reaches its highest moments during these events. Upon making the kill, you're treated to a cinematic talk between Altair and his victim regarding the victim's goals and ties. These speeches are quite thought provoking and serve to make Altair wonder just what he's doing. Altair's development throughout these missions as he struggles with his inner doubts is the highlight of the overall story.
The cities themselves have an amazing look and feel of them. Cities feel alive, with plenty of patrons roaming the cities, patrolling guards, annoying beggars, merchants, and a host of other characters. If you start playing climbing a wall in front of them, the citizens look at you puzzled and make comments about your mental health. If they see you kill someone, they scream for guards and run away. The cities feel genuine while you're roaming them and that's without even touching on the graphics. Assassin's Creed looks absolutely breathtaking. Upon climbing to high points in town, you are treated to a panoramic view of the area. Distant mountains, water, rooftops and cathedrals, everything looks beautiful. Assassin's Creed outdid itself in the graphics department and it really adds to the experience of the game.
For the rest of the technical side, the sound effects are top notch. Swords clang, the sound of your hidden blade being thrust into a victim is both gruesome and electrifying at the same time. Music for the chase sequences is exciting and fast paced. The voice acting is well done and each character feels and sounds 'right'.
Overall I enjoyed my time with Assassin's Creed. My only concern is how repetitive the missions get as the game goes on which causes the game to lose a lot of steam as the story progresses. All in all I recommend the game highly to anyone who enjoys action or sandbox style games. There are plenty of things to enjoy for fans of either genre.