Since I wasn't really working today, and I had my code to download the Halo 3 beta, I figured I could spend a few hours trying it out. The download was just under 1G, and I had no problems downloading it. If you are trying to get it through Crackdown, you may be experiencing some issues. From Bungie:
Folks are reporting problems downloading the Halo 3 Beta via Crackdown this morning. We have alerted the appropriate Live authorities and they are taking care of the problem as we speak. More news as it comes in.
This has some people frazzled to the point they are demanding that Bungie extend the beta because they lost a few hours of gameplay. It may just be because I'm getting older, but for the love of Pete, it's just a game, and a beta at that. And FREE on top of that, so take a deep breath and relax, they'll get it fixed as soon as they can, if they haven't already.
As for the game itself, it looks pretty good. The few screenshots Bungie has up on their site don't really do it justice. And for a beta, the gameplay was really smooth. I played for a few hours and didn't really seem to experience lag issues like I did during the Shadowrun beta.
So far, my favorite new item is the spike grenade. As the name suggests, it has spikes on it, so when you throw it, it sticks to the ground instead of bouncing. Or, if your aim is good enough, it sticks in your opponent, hehe. And as satisfying as it is to watch it explode and rip a guy to shreds after you've stuck it in someone's back, make sure you're not standing too close, or you'll wind up dead as well.
One more item of note, on the map with the snow (I was too busy playing to actually make note of the map and weapon names, but I think it was called Snowbound) there are boundaries, and if you cross them, automated turrets will begin firing at you, so make sure you stay in bounds.
I'm just scraping the surface here, but as the title says, it's just some first thoughts. For all of you that are in the beta (and can download it) I'm sure I'll be seeing you in there.