Its been a good long while since I've played any version of Halo.  I had actually given Halo 2 a rest for a while, and moved on to more next gen games, but I had always planned on going back to brush up on my skills in order to get ready for Halo 3's impending release.  Well, that idea was scratched.  Before I knew it, The beta for Halo 3 was upon me, and I still hadn't touched Halo 2 since November of 06!  I wasn't sure how I would do when I first logged in, but the time had come and it was now or never.

Besides Crackdown being a great game on its own, having access to the Halo 3 beta was just icing on the cake.  I was very excited to finally download the game go right into some action. It seems that I was a little too excited, as I forgot to personalize my control options.  Being an inverted stick player, it felt very disorenting on my first game.  Needless to say, that first game didn't go to well.  After getting my options set up the way I wanted, things started to feel a little more natural. 

One thing that I can say with confidence is that even though it could be your first time playing Halo 3, you'll feel right at home after a few rounds of play. The controls are almost completely identical to the previous game, only with a few subtle changes.  The changes that are there don't take away from the game at all, but actually refine the way it is played.  Using the bumpers on the controler to pick up/reload for different hands works well, and makes sense.  Using the x button to deploy equipment brings about new strategies that are a welcome change (the bubble shield and trip mine are great).  These small changes can take a small bit of time to get used to, but you won't find yourself at a huge disadvantage as you learn.  It had been months since I had played Halo 2, but once I got going in the beta, it felt like I had never left.

The weapons are a lot more balanced now.  Its true what a lot of the previews have been saying.  No matter what weapon you have, you never really feel like you're at a disadvantage.  You just have to be smart in how you use the weapon/s you have on hand.  My favorites from before are back, like the Rockets and the Battle Rifle, and feel just as good or in some cases better than before.  My new personal favorite has to be dual wielding spikers.  Holding two of these bad bows in your hands will completely destroy your competition in seconds from medium to close range, especially if you catch them by surprise.  The spartan laser is a little tricky to get used to at first, but it is definitely devastating once you get the hang of it.  Although all of the weapons from the final release are not on hand, it will be interesting to see if everything else will be as balanced as the ones that are currently available.

A lot of people are split on the graphics thing.  Besides the fact that this is a BETA, its not hard to tell that the final graphics for the multiplayer won't be too much better than they are now.  But the game still looks good as it is.  The characters and environments sport more detail than before.  The water looks amazing, and certain special effects look mighty fine to me.  However, when it really comes down to it, the important thing is how the game plays.  And as of right now, all signs point to a very fast paced, solid experience.  I mean, if you have time to pay attention to how games graphics don't match up to Gears of War while dogding incoming bullets and grendade spikes, then you are either extremely good at the game or not really playing at all. 

All in all, this has been a great experience, and I can't wait to get back to it.  Its a shame that this beta session ends so soon.  But thankfully, the full game comes out in September, so the wait won't be too long.  In the meantime, if you know of a buddy that has a copy of Crackdown, as him to bring it over or something.  It seems that as long as you have the disc in your system, you can download it without problems.  However, the disc has to be in to play.  Anyway, happy gaming everyone.  So what do you all think about the beta?