It was a mind-blowing reveal when we learned in the first Assassin's Creed that, in fact, the entirety of the game was not simply some badass dude running around old cities and killing people. It actually involved a modern-day protagonist named Desmond, who uses a machine called an Animus to access the genetic memories of his ancestors - who were assassins - in order to prevent a worldwide cataclysm. Though it was fresh and exciting in the first game, by AC3, not a whole lot has really been done with it, and to be honest, I'm pretty tired of the whole thing. It's extremely irritating when you're soaking in this rich past world, only to be dragged back into the sombre, dull present day, which isn't nearly as interesting to explore. Ubisoft are faced with a choice: either keep the games pretty much entirely inside the Animus, or actually make an effort to move things forward rather than use it to create a generic break in the action.