I have started this game at least three times and I've never gotten past Venice. Something always gets in the way. My PS3 broke entirely. It's cursed.
Anyways, I still think the in-universe justification of gamey elements as being artifacts of a simulation—and notably a non-literal representation of that simulation—is pretty neat and from what I've seen of later games this (and probably AC1, which I haven't played) is the only one to really get it right. The "literally a game made by Abstergo" thing is too, well, literal for my taste.
Anyways, I still think the in-universe justification of gamey elements as being artifacts of a simulation—and notably a non-literal representation of that simulation—is pretty neat and from what I've seen of later games this (and probably AC1, which I haven't played) is the only one to really get it right. The "literally a game made by Abstergo" thing is too, well, literal for my taste.