Start With AC Revelatons

Sort of

Play it from AC2, that is the game which starts the story of Ezio, the first game is all about Altair.

Also, without playing the first game, it kind of emphasises Altair as a 'vague legend'

I'd say you have to play all of them, really. There's little hints about the plot scattered around everywhere.

You could wait for AC3, theyre gonna start with a new beginning (in the Animus only). AC till AC:R is more about the Altair story. Just read the wiki from every game before AC:R, should be enough ;)

I'd say just play them all. Or at least start from 2. 1 is good, but gets dull due to being very repetitive. 2 fixes most everything wrong with 1 and the story goes from 2 onwards. I'm not sure how 3 will go myself, but it won't follow Ezio.

I have googled and youtubed now and i think i got the storyline pretty well. If i dont get the story on Revelations i can always wait for assasin's creed 3 as WarrantOfficer said.

im personally a huge fan of the games; theyre by far one of my favourite series. the unique gameplay and beautiful scenery in ALL of the games completely tantalises every emotion i've ever had with video games. i really couldn't recommend them enough and i highly suggest that you begin from the first or second game. regardless of the story, there is so much to learn and explore that a single sequel just doesnt give the series the justice it deserves. the first game, unfortunately, is a rather horribly ported console game and can be a bit tedious while navigating menus etc, but every following game gets better in that respect. if you have the time and the money, start with one of the first two games!

Why would you want to skip 2 and Brotherhood? Those are the best ones.