Halo 3 lives up to the hype after first hour of multiplayer games. It really starts of right with the excellent looking and easy to navigate interfaces. Everything is razor sharp.

Just skimming over the options and settings I noticed a nice option to change “proximity voices” to headset instead of external speakers. A nice touch for me since most of my gaming is at night when the girlfriend and dogs are sleeping – Gotta be as quiet as possible and that helps a great deal.

Next, I discovered a few customization options for your character. And found out that there are unlockable armor items for Master Chief. Also, you’ve got a ton of choices for a custom logo on your shoulder as well as changing the color of your armor.

Slayer right out of the gates! Excellent levels with crisp graphics and unreal details. Everything, from the energy shield to the Warthog looks outstanding.

The controls were a bit different than Halo 2, so there was some learning involved. In fact, the reload button was switched to the right bumper and that got me killed immediately. What made it worse? I couldn’t find anything that would let me customize my buttons! That knocked 1 point off the perfect score so far.

After the multiplayer was over, I checked out the “carnage report.” Very detailed stats on all your kills, weapons used, who you killed most, etc. Really impressive stat tracking.

Spike Grenade is my favorite weapon so far… It’s a really good feeling to stick somebody with one those.

2:25am and I’m thirsty for more Halo 3!