As all of you probably know, the Halo 3 Beta went live this morning for those people who managed to get an invite through Friends and Family, the Rule of Three campaign, and the initial Public Registration. The Halo 3 beta download accessed through Crackdown is currently down, although Frankie from Bungie has assured everyone that they are working on the problem.

As for the Beta, my initial impressions are good. The download is 911MB, and took roughly 10 minutes on my cable modem. Matchmaking has been quite fast considering there are only 2500 or so people playing right now. The new weapons are a blast, with the Spartan Laser being one of the most fun, albeit challenging weapons in the new maps. Play seems rather balanced already, and the graphics are much improved over Halo 2. Frankie was right, you’ve got see the water. The Bubble Shield has added a whole new twist to the game, allowing you cover not only inside it, but also behind it. This allows you to arc a grenade over it without being shot by the enemy.

My only gripe thus far is the X button, which used to for reloading and has now been dubbed the "Everything Button." I find myself hitting it constantly during battle, deploying whatever item I have picked up. I'm sure I will get used to this over time, and it is just an initial annoyance during the adjustment period.

The only feature I wish we would see with Halo 3 that hasn't been announced is a Local Only gametype. See it as a throwback to the days when everyone would get together for weekly Halo LAN games. When Halo 2 came along, that all went out the window because everyone was able to play from home and didn't have to share screens. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but most gamers need encouragement to get out of the house once in a while, not stay home to play Halo 2 with their friends over Xbox Live.

Overall I am very pleased with this game, and can't wait to get the full version when it is released on September 25, 2007.

For more quick pics of the Halo 3 Beta interface, visit our Halo 3 Beta gallery