As I write this, it's the ungodly hour of 2:30 am, and I've just spent the last two hours playing the Halo 3 single player campaign. I went to a "midnight madness" event at a local Best Buy and ended up being the 15th person in line, and there were probably only 50 or so people there by the time the store opened. Plenty of Halo 3 goodness for everyone.
I'll be writing up a more formal "first impressions" article in the morning, but here are some even more preliminary and less formal thoughts, after having finished two of the nine missions that comprise the single player campaign.
a) I'll be writing separate single player and multiplayer reviews for Halo 3. It's an important game. That said, this might be the last time I write up this much about a single game title.
b) Thus far, I'm not blown away by the single player game. The graphics aren't fantastic. Indeed, the quality of the cut scenes is much, much better than the in-game graphics, which is generally not the case with modern games. It's really noticeable, and not in a good way. Game play is very much Halo, as are the environments, the still-excellent music, and the voices. It's all part of the same series, obviously. Nothing dramatically new.
c) Xbox.com seems to be broken with regards to Halo 3: I can't see my achievements there yet, though they're clearly visible via the console itself. I wonder if they had shut down this feature before the release date. I bet it works in the morning. Well. Later in the morning.
d) I'm too old for this. Tomorrow is going to hurt.
More in the morning. Good night.