Halo 3 impressions for new players

At the all-too early hour of 10 a.m. today, I dragged myself out of bed, got in my car and somehow managed not to crash in a half-awake state on my way to Best Buy, where I picked up my copy of "Halo 3."

And while I won't be writing a full review of the game (I'll be relying on you loyal readers and the Associated Press wire for that), I'll offer some impressions — especially for those of you who are new to the game. Now, keep in mind that for a gaming journalist, I'm a bit of a spazz when it comes to first person shooters. Not only that, but I never really spent too much time playing the previous Halo multiplayers, opting instead to stick with campaign mode.

But, since my co-op campaign partner isn't available to play until Friday (the little sister, who is sadly much better than me at FPS's, is at college), my only choice was to give the multiplayer a try. And I'm talking to all the other newbies out there when I say this — "Halo 3" is accessible to EVERYONE, not just the hardcore fans of shooters. The multiplayer servers do a great job of grouping like-talented players together, making for competitive matches even if you're not good enough to win any tournaments. Also, the different games like King of the Hill and Capture the Flag offer ways to win and succeed even if you're not the king of all snipers. As I said, I really never spent too much time with the multiplayer modes before today, but it can really be as addictive as advertised.

Again, I'm sure these are things most of you hardcore gamers already know, I'm just putting it all out there again for any of you who are still on the fence deciding whether or not to give the game a try.