The assassinations werent all that great either, you killed them with the sword or blade just like evrything else. They should have had real unique missions that involved stuff like disguises, poisoning, sneaking about and all the stuff that was fun in the hitman games.
Altair (pronounced all-tear, not allh-taah-iiiihr) has to be the worst assassin ever. Poncing around the city in the official assassin uniform covered with weapons, he's about as discreet as Conan the barbarian.