This is a game where clinging too tightly to preconceived notions will rip you to shreds. Al-Mualim, through his own actions, made it very clear that “The Creed” is whatever the hell the top honcho says it is. And since Ezio Auditore Da Firenze is the top honcho…well, there’s a reason for all those weapons, amichi.
The thing you gotta understand is that the Assassins do the bare minimum of killing and then melt quietly into the shadows when it’s convenient. It often isn’t. You will get into big fights, and you have to know how to win them. (For Altair, it’s easy: COUNTER. Counter, counter, counter. Never be the first to attack unless an enemy gives you a clear opening.) The other thing you gotta understand is that guards are always fair game. The Assassins do not consider them innocents. Ever. Meaning, among other things, that if you don’t want to be seen, slaughtering the guards with your crossbow is just as effective as trying to sneak by them.
You should never have any problem with any fight in Brotherhood if you use some sense. Remember that Ezio is heavily armed and not afraid to fight dirty, and in Brotherhood he has help. If for some reason smoke bombs, poison, and your Assassin recruits aren’t enough, hire some mercenaries. (I don’t see what’s so challenging about the Borgia towers; I got them on my first playthrough without breaking a sweat, and I didn’t even know then that I could look up the captains’ behavior patterns in the DNA menu.)
As for morally dubious actions, Shaun Hastings himself warned about using cheap labels like “good guys”. Yes, there is plenty of moral ambiguity. There always was. I don’t see smiling bandit’s doomsday scenario, however; the Assassins don’t strike me as have any use for terror. It’s really just the clash of philosophies: The Templars want peace and harmony and believe that the only way to achieve this is to destroy freedom. The Assassins want to preserve human freedom, and if humanity uses it to royally screw up the world, so be it.
Anyway, from what I’ve seen, Revelations looks like it’s going to be good. All I really need are new, exotic locations, kick-awesome weaponry, death-defying escapes, and the anguished screams of enemies learning too late the difference between seein’ me and stoppin’ me. The Altair flashbacks are just gravy.