Shadowrun

• It is not groundbreaking; apperently it's CounterStrike++ for the console.
• It is not the prettiest game; many of the environments seem overly angular and some of the animation decisions are questionable.
• It is not worth the high price (on the Xbox 360 at least).
• But it is like crack; even when you get your ass whupped you can always blame it on a particular race/magic/weapon/tech choice and start over - when you win, you're convinced you found the perfect combo and cannot wait to put it together again.

Getting a game started when you're already in a party seems to take too long. This is offset slightly by the fact that you can normally scan your Xbox Live ex-players list and rejoin folks you played with previously.

Halo 3: Multiplayer Beta

I entered the Beta through my copy of Crackdown, Agent. I played two matches on the evening of Wednesday May 16th before the service became unavailable and recommended me to play Shadowrun. :P

The service was back up and running on Thursday May 17th and I played about a half dozen Rumble Slayer games.

Initial impressions:

• Matchmaking options seem even more thorough
• Looks a lot like Halo 2. Update: A pretty detailed comparison of both games' graphics.
• Use of the shoulder buttons on the Xbox 360 controller is welcome
• I didn't expect to enjoy using the re-introduced assault rifle but I do :-)