Halo 3

Am I the only person in the world that thinks the Halo series is over-hyped and as a FPS is a bit lack-lustre?

I played the first one. I was bored off my gourd. The largest issue being the amount of down time after each death, but even the battlefields and guns, etc, didn't really seem like they tried.

I see Halo 3 came out and everyone is all ga-ga-goo-goo over it. I have no desire to play. Sure, if I had an X-Box I might try it to see what the big deal is, but my interest level is probably a negative number at this point.

On the other hand, Bio Shock looks fun. It's a PC title (and X-Box, but as previously stated, I don't own an X-Box) and at some point, I plan to try it out.

Oh - and Tabula Rasa - I pre-ordered. It fills my run-around-and-shoot-stuff gaming desires pretty nicely. It has potential - we will see how that potential delivers.

Tabula Rasa Open Beta ...

... is going pretty well so far. There have been some server instability issues, but in a completely unexpected move, Richard Garriot (designer/producer of TR) chatted with people IN GAME (in chat) about them and what they were doing to fix.

That really impressed me.

The game play is surprisingly fast and fun, even though it is still an MMO. There are no "headshots" a`la FPS style games, but there is enough battlefield tactics to still feel pseudo-FPS.

The class system is reminiscent of SWG in that you choose how to level up as you go along. And I really liked that system, so I was happy to see it here.

Pleased enough, I pre-ordered.

I will probably post a more comprehensive view post-launch. I don't like reviewing pre-launch games. I find that to be a violation of the gamer/company trust with an open beta offering.