As a Christmas gift, I've received the first Assassin's Creed game. I haven't beaten it yet, but so far, it's just kind of okay. To start with, I don't really like the use of this Animus machine as a framing device. I guess it's an interesting idea insofar as it provides an in-story justification for all the little quirks inherent to video games (loading, dying, etc.), but at the same time, it feels unnecessary. The historical setting is already great. They didn't need to make it more complex by turning it into the Matrix or whatever.
A far bigger problem I have is the voice acting of our hero. The historical one, not the guy hooked up to the Animus. All hyperbole aside, I can honestly say that this is probably the worst voice acting that I have ever heard in a mainstream video game. For one thing, he doesn't make the slightest effort to hide his American accent, in stark contrast to everyone else; for another, his voice itself is just bad. It's the grating, whiny voice of an emo teenager who is trying so hard to sound intimidating and angsty that it's almost laughable. Almost. Instead, it's just painful to listen to him.