The Halo:Reach beta began today! After downloading the beta (which took about 45-60) I immediately started it up. The beginning is an in-game cinematic of a warthog driving through a battle, and from there it puts you at the title screen. I pressed A and, before even playing my first game, got customized to my liking. Although to attain these various armor sets you must purchase them with the points you receive after completing a game. Having completed zero games, I proceeded to the matchmaking menu. At the matchmaking menu, you can set playing preferences to suit your style of gaming environment. Selecting levels of chatter or picking a specific language with effect who you play with. I left everything as is and began the matchmaking process. Within about 30 seconds I joined a lobby and experienced the first thing that blew my mind during my beta experience. Instead of vetoing maps you have the option to vote on which map and game mode you want to play as. If you still don't like any mode presented, you can vote " none of the above." 
 
Finally, I began playing. A lot of the new weapons feel odd at first, but you quickly get used to them. The armor abilities also confused me for a while, but I grew to like a few. My favorite would have to be Stalker (Cloaking) and AirBorne (Jet Pack). Sprinting and the blast shield, most of the time, were pretty useless. Cloaking has really unique special effects that really immersed me and made for a cooler experience. First off, cloaking is way more useful and effective than in previous games because now you are practically invisble and usually unseed. Also the radar gets jammed to counteract the awesomeness of the ability and almost all sound is muted, as if you were just stunned in MW2. 
 
Anyways if you can, you should check out the beta. I've been having a lot of fun with it and can't wait to play again and find out what more Bungie has i store. :)