Assassin's Creed: There's a fine line between feeling cool and feeling stupid

I reached a point in Assassin's Creed where I'm not sure I have the will to plow forward. Unfortunately the narrative is not strong enough to make me want to complete the main plot line. Moreover, while I occasionally enjoy the core gameplay -- and for brief moments feel very cool as Altair the assassin -- my enjoyment is far outweighed by boredom. Not only is the main story boring (and appears to be moving towards a very predictable conclusion), but the moment to moment gameplay is rather boring. Sure there are some exciting kills and the occasional cool "extreme walking" moments. But these cool moments are far outweighed by my character simply doing stupid things ranging from cartwheeling into walls, failing to climb into gazebos (when I need to escape), being unable to run away from a mob, or having to hold the A button and walk slowly for huge sections of the map to avoid being detected.

It's just not very fun.

I have a feeling that the people who designed and tested the game could put together a highlight film of their own gameplay that would make Altair look really cool. My highlight reel would show much less coolness and much more tripping, stumbling, and mashing. Many of my target assassinations would occur off screen (or at an otherwise disadvantageous camera angle) while I furiously mashed the X button while holding down the LT.

I may play a bit more, but I think it's on to Blue Dragon or Mass Effect (in addition to a steady dose of Puzzle Quest).