Halo 3: Initial Impression.

Well, here we all are. September 25, 2007. The day Halo 3 hit. We've all survived the hype. The largest amount of hype any video game has ever seen. We were bombarded with Halo 3 licensed Zunes and Xbox 360s and Mountain Dew Game Fuel and figures and controversial television commercials for months. Was it worth it? Too early to tell. From a gaming standpoint anyway. For Microsoft it's been a massive success in achieving brand awareness. Halo 3 is out there, and everybody's grandmothers know it. We've been intently deciding on which version of the game to get for months. Microsoft offered the game in three varieties. The Standard Edition, the Limited Edition, and the Legendary Edition, at $59, $69, and $129 respectively. Microsoft didn't quite get the launch off without a hitch. The Limited Edition of the game featured a special metal casing and a cheap plastic DVD well hub that wasn't strong enough to hold the discs firmly in place in shipping. Reports of severely scratched discs began coming in a few days before the street date. Essentially sending a panic through the gaming community. Microsoft has again stepped up and is offering free disc replacement for both the game and the bonus materials disc. I just wish Microsoft would have to stop having to step up. I'm thoroughly pleased that they do step up. Far more so than Nintendo or Sony would in my opinion. I'd just like to see them get it right. They deserve some success without it being mired in crap. As for the actual game itself we've spent roughly five hours just messing around in multiplayer. Just looking at maps and learning the weapons and controls anew. And actually laughing a lot. The game is fun. That much is clear. The depth will increase as we all get reacquainted with Halo and some of us are introduced to it for the first time. And there's already an awful lot there. We'll have to venture into ranked matches for some achievements and we haven't even begun messing around with Forge and the co-op campaign. Halo 3 should turn out to be one of the biggest time-sinks in gaming. And I don't believe that's a bad thing...