Fortunately, Scooter (our PC brother) let me play one round on his copy of the Beta, and while Patrick likes to constantly remind me that Gears of War looks better, I'd say that the point is still up for debate. My side of the argument -- which, if you've listened to our new podcast you'll know is delivered in quick interjections made between torrents of Patrick's overpowering rhetoric -- consists of the fact that Gears' graphics are hot due to some clever trickery rather than being straight-up awesome. Gears is beautiful, there's no question about that, but there isn't as much freedom of movement as there is in Halo 3... I mean, you can't even jump in Gears, much less launch yourself hundreds of feet in the air with a mancannon.
Also, let's not forget that this is a Beta, and not fully indicative of the final art that will be used in the game. So, some of those textures that are failing to impress us at the moment may be totally gorgeous when the game finally releases. I'm going to reserve final judgment until that point, but I'm already very impressed with how sweet this game looks... now if I can just get my own Beta access through Crackdown.
Stay tuned as we continue our assault on the Halo 3 Beta!
