It smurfing kicks ass. Well, the game that is. Obviously, there have been some Beta problems. The release debacle was a major drag, and there seems to be some problems with matchmaking right now, but I'm not surprised since a large number of people are just getting into the game. I'm sure it'll smooth over soon.

Overall, I love the new controls, and pretty much every new weapon and piece of equipment. The Needler is finally as powerful as it deserves to be, the mongoose is awesome, and the Brute weapons deliver. It's still taking some getting used to, but I think it's going to end up being a big step up over Halo 2, which was a fantastic multiplayer game. There are plenty of things that need to be worked on for the final game--graphics, possibly some weapon tweaks, etc., but I don't expect perfection out of a Beta. I think Valhalla and High Ground are great, and Snowbound is perfectly playable.

I wish there was a way to have more of a specific type of grenade, because two of one type doesn't feel like enough, but juggling the controls for that seems like it would be too complex. Still, the integration of the stats and postgame battle reports is really amazing. You don't have to spend any time looking at it if you don't wan to, but you can see exactly who did what and how many times somebody did something amazing with the click of a button or two, and the integration with the 360 menu is going to show up every game released so far. And on top of that, the party features are going to set a new benchmark. It's so smooth and easy to join up with your friends, stick with random people, whatever.

If the number of options in such a limited Beta release is truly an indication of the final product, it's probably going to be the most customizable, versatile multiplayer game for a console yet.