The entire series is one long story.... Though there is some catch-up done at the beginning of ACIII to catch you up on some of what's happening, I have a feeling a lot of newcomers will be quite lost during present day sequences (which is where the bulk of the continuing story lies). I'd strongly suggest start at the beginning.

I may be wrong... any newcomers to ACIII not get lost in what was happening in the present?

I've never spent more than an hour on an AC game up until 3. The controls were super wonky IMO, and it always takes several hours to really get into the meat of the game.

Having said that, I beat Assassin's Creed 3 in 2 weekends. I really (REALLY) liked the pre-revolutionary war setting, the character acting is good to great, the controls are more streamlined and reliable, and the story is good. They also give you a approx. 5 minute opening that runs down what matter leading up to this game. Yeah, there's no doubt bits and pieces that you won't get from it, but I also went and watched a primer video on Youtube that leads up to AC3, and it was fine for me.

I highly recommend this game, especially if you're a fan of U.S. history. No, it's not anywhere close to historically accurate in a lot of cases, but it touches on a lot of people from the time and does it in an entertaining way.

It'll still take you 4-5 hours to really get into the meat of the game tho, so be prepared for that.

I brought the first one and although liked the idea was not completly hooked. Brought Revelations last year and that was absolutly amazing! would of been my game of the year if not for Skyrim..

Recently got Assassins Creed 3 and am slowly getting into it although admit i am not quite hooked yet but give it time..

I would recommend starting at the earlier games to get to grips with the backstory and basic gameplay as they do add on quite alot of cool features and Ezio is just badass so you gota play him as the protagonist