Ever since spring reared its blossoming head, gamers have been drip-fed information regarding the Halo 3 beta. As of today the beta is live and the winners of various promotions, along with some lucky Crackdown owners, are already sampling the delights of next-gen Halo.
As is customary in such large scale launches, there have been some major problems. While most of the winners of Microsoft's promotional events gained access to the 951 MB download on 08:00 EST as announced, most Crackdown owners, promised Halo 3 beta access, have yet to witness their Halo 3 download button turn to that beautiful blue color. Bungie has acknowledged the issue through its website and has commented, through one of its Halo 3 forum admins, The download is coming. Technical issues have made it a delayed thing, but it is coming and you WILL get to play. A more recent statement on Bungie's website claims that the issue has been identified and that a solution is imminent (3-6 hours as of 5:22 AM PDT).
Forum users have used the relevant Bungie thread to vent their frustration at the delay but excluding the download glitches, frustrating though they may be, the beta launch has been a surprisingly polished affair. Bungie has released a thorough documentation pack for the beta, including a set of general guides and FAQs as well as map-specific guides to help accustom players to their new environment.
You are invited to use the comments section in this article to post your own Halo 3 experiences. The Halo 3 beta is set to conclude at 02:59 EST on 7th June.
Halo 3 for XBox 360 will be released on September 25 in N. America and a day later in Europe.
