The Halo 3 beta is live and kicking, and after playing it for a few days, I’m not that impressed as I expected to be. Although it’s just a beta, it does show what Halo 3 multiplayer is all about. It’s pretty much like Halo 2 with a graphics upgrade, with minor tweaks here and there. And while the graphics are better in Halo 3 (they have to be better, after all), they can in no way be compared to, say, Gears of War, GRAW, or Oblivion.

One can’t blame the developer for not changing the gameplay too much, Halo 2 is after all one of the most popular multiplayer games around, years after it was released. The three maps that came with the beta were all rather small and quite boring, and the only one that looks decent is High Ground, but again, it can in no way be compared to Gears of War, or similar games for that matter.

On the good side, like with Halo 2, you get lots of intense multiplayer action, even though games are limited to only 8 players at this point. The menu interface is pretty slick and well designed, and the extensive web based statistics feature is a nice addition.

Even though Halo 3 disappoints at this point, you can’t really judge the game because of one little part; the final version will feature a lot more multiplayer modes, settings, maps, weapons and so on, plus the single player campaign, of course. The beta seems to have attracted a lot of Halo 2 fans, but it also seems to have alienated a few newcomers, since the first impression is usually the one that counts, and the beta certainly doesn’t give Halo 3 a great first impression.

But as they say, you can’t have a good online multiplayer game without public beta testing. In the end, Halo 3 will definitely benefit from the beta, as hundreds of bugs and exploits will be found and fixed.