The Halo 3 multiplayer beta came to a conclusion a just short while ago. We've already shared our opinions on the experience in our most recent Vs. Mode exchange, but we were curious to know what our peers made of it. So we reached out to a smattering of them with an email questionnaire, and they kindly sent us their answers over the past week. Today, we're posting the responses of mainstream media writers from outlets ranging from USA Today to Electronic Gaming Monthly; tomorrow, bloggers and pro gamers take their turn in the spotlight. Some excerpts:

Dan "Shoe" Hsu, Electronic Gaming Monthly: I played all three of these maps long before the beta was even announced, so the seeing the same stages again was a bit of a disappointment for me personally. But that said, I've spent more time on this beta than I do with most other games I'm playing for fun, so it must be doing something right. For a game that's still a few months away, it runs awfully smoothly and relatively problem-free, so that's very impressive.

Dean Takahashi, San Jose Mercury News: They didn't screw anything up. That's a plus. They added new weapons and game play experiences. That's good. The fixed some problems like too much dual-wielding. But it falls a little short on compelling new material. It's an improvement on an existing game in a known universe with known enemies. What's new here so far? I suspect that a lot of the new and moving material will be in the single-player game. That's what I'm have high expectations for.

Francesca Reyes, Official Xbox Magazine: I've gotten spoiled by the pacing in Gears--it's much more deliberate and focuses a lot on teamplay. Halo is this crazy cocktail of insanity that usually ends up in a looping bloodbath. There's nothing wrong with either and there were definitely times when I was adjusting to the pacing of Gears' MP when I thought to myself, "I could've done that in Halo! Why can't I do this in Gears?!" But in the end--I think they're too different. Though I do think that Gears' co-op structure was absolutely peerless--I really want to have that same co-op experience in Halo 3's campaign.

For the full set of print and magazine media responses, click on the link below.

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