The left control stick is like your arrow buttons (forward, back, strafe left and right). The right control stick turns you and aims your weapon. This is great when you're running around, but hop into a vehicle (the Warthog) and all of a sudden the controls don't seem so natural. The problem? You aim where you want to go with the right control stick and use the left control stick as throttle and reverse. This makes for a very shaky ride. I'm bouncing off of rocks, getting wedged in tight places, and generally cursing the way the driving works. It would have been nice just to make the left control everything for the vehicles so it's not so awkward.

More Impressions - 11.18.01
When you put in Halo you are transported to a beautiful world of beaches, meadows, waterfalls, solar flares, halo shaped planets...oh, and aliens who bleed a gorgeous shade of blue. We were struck by the detail of the grass beneath our feet, the leaves on the trees, the mists of the waterfall, the snow falling on cedars, and anything having to do with fire. We were similarly struck by the depth of every level in relation to the loading times. We've been playing a PS2 for months over here, and we can't tell you how amazing it is to play a graphically intensive game without being forced to sit through seizure causing flashing "loading" screens every time you do something new (Crash Bandicoot, we're looking at you). Loading hasn't taken over ten seconds on the Xbox. Kudos.

Final Impressions - 11.20.01
If you like any sort of First Person Shooter, like Bond or Quake, you'll love this game. Play it, and play it now. It is worth buying if you take your time with it. If you're the type that likes to rip through games...rent it.