Halo. Yeah. So since I got Crackdown, I've been playing the Halo 3 Beta pretty religiously. I gotta say, it's definetly the best Halo yet...which is good because that's what we all wanted. I'll be honest, I really didn't think much of Halo 2, I thought the original was much better. Yeah sure they defined how online mulitplayer should be played, but still, I thought it wasn't too great.

To start off....weapons. They brought back the old assault rifle which is amazing as ever. Unfortunatly, it only has 32 bullets in a clip as opposed to the original 60, and I do find myself quite often running out of ammunition and having to reload in the middle of a gunfight. The new grenade is pretty cool, it has spikes so it sticks to walls, but it does throw a lot differently than the plasma or frag because it is much more heavier. The new and refurbished brute weapons are pretty nice too. The duel-wielding Spikers (brute pistols) are one of my favorite weapons now. The brute shot now has 6 (i think) shots in it. And of course....The Spartan Laser. For those of you who dont know what this is, it is a huge weapon that sits on your shoulder, hold the fire button to charge up for about 3 seconds, and then out comes this enormous laser that kills in one hit. I really can't decide whether I hate this weapon or love it. It sucks when guys get up close to you because you cant shoot back for three seconds, but if you find a high vantage point, you'll be taken guys out no problem.

Vehicles. Everything is the same except for the Mongoose. The Mongoose is the new ATV which goes pretty freaking fast and you and a buddy can fly across the map with it. It's pretty nice, but for some reason I find it a little difficult to maneuver.

Levels. Snowbound, Valhalla, and High Ground. The three maps they are letting us play for the beta. High Ground is the little bunker type level that I'm sure everyone has seen, and its a blast. Its AMAZING for Capture the flag and can get pretty hectic for some team/solo slayer. Valhalla....is another story. It's so damn big. Personally, I don't like it. The only part I DO like is the huge man-cannons that shoot you across to the middle of the map. Snowbound is another great one. Not too large, and the lasers that are guarding the boundries that prevent you from walking out of the map are pretty entertaining to watch someone walk by them and get destroyed.

And possibly the best addition to the Halo 3 franchise: Deployables. I gotta tell you, I wasn't too sure about these things when I first heard about it, but I gotta tell you, they work wonders. The bubble shield will save you in such tight situations, you'll be wanting to just look all over the map just to make sure you have one in your inventory. The energy drainer is able to suck out all the health of nearby players, making them easy for a quick one hit kill. The portable man-cannon can also save your ass just as well as the bubble-shield does, and its great to get in high points that aren't accesible otherwise. Finally, the trip mines. Unfortuantly, I haven't been able to use on to its full potential by dropping it in front of an oncoming vehicle, but from what I've seen, it works pretty well.

I'm probably forgetting a huge chunk out of the beta that I should talk about, so if you want me to add/edit anything more, feel free to leave comments.