Gaming Age has put up an article describing their first impressions of playing Halo. It's generally complimentary, although their response to the game's opening wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as most fans' reactions to the intro movies posted awhile back:

Halo appears very much like your standard FPS at first glance, but after some play time the game's beauty and high production values shine through. The first level, which takes place on a rather boring looking space carrier is not what I would call a good representation of the game's visuals. Upon entering the very next scene, which is set on the alien wilderness covered surface of Halo, the graphics jump up a bit higher high on the scale.

The article is, however, universally complimentary about Halo's sound and soundtrack, calling it beautifully orchestrated . Louis Wu at HBO spotted it at TeamXbox.