I was never really a huge halo fan until I played the beta at a friends house. I loved it and decided HALO 3 IS EPIC!!!!
So anyway onto halo 3. Coming out of hating halo 2, I wasn't excited for halo 3 until I ventured to try the beta at a friends house. The most fun I had ever had was on that beta. When September came out I was stoked about this amazing game and here is why.
First time I popped it in the system it was hours of enjoyment on multiplayer. The xbox live matchmaking system is highly refined but they do need to put it more on random for maps because you always seem to get the same 2 or 3. It is also a shame that you are unable to bring guests into ranked matches or parties into lone wolf. I find that the weapons are all very nicely balenced with eath other except the granades are not nearly as powerful as you sometimes need them to be and sometimes you will die when you already have an energy sword right through someones chest and it wont give you the kill.
I really like the ranks in this game. Each rank is shown as a metal next to your name as well as a name, like "sergent" or "general". You get to higher rankes by obtaining EXP by winning team based games or coming in 3rd or better in free for all game types. Once you get to the officer ranks, you also need skill to rank up. Many people will remember skill from halo 2, which is the number which can go up or down depending on if you win or lose. Only ranked matches give you skill ratings but both player and ranked can get you EXP.
Another cool feature is the customizable character. There are quite a few armor types that you can collect by doing things in both the single player and multiplayer. You can also change you spartan or elites color to a few interesting oclors. And back from halo 2, is the patch that shows in the lobby as well as on your characters shoulder. The patch is just a custom logo of whatever you like.
The singleplayer side is not disappointing at all. In many points during the game you will be playing in large scale environments against a large group of enemies. There are now many new classes of brutes that will make many tremble in fear of their power. The last level is a little disappointing without saying to much.