Marcus Lai at Gaming Age has put up an Special about how well Halo lived up to the promise of its first tech demo more than three years ago, and the verdict is that it has, and very well indeed:
From the Marine AI talk to the tightly scripted story, Bungie has created the first new next-gen classic. It's no surprise that Halo will be a franchise force to be reckoned with. Nintendo and Sony have their system sellers but their recent offerings haven't delivered above and beyond like Bungie's first Xbox effort. Because of the title's stellar gameplay, the franchise has the power to turn the tides of the videogame wars. Microsoft has a Trojan horse to move systems and it's up the company to move the title's audience past the hardcore and for Bungie to make use of every Xbox feature to show that the title can't be done anywhere else. If that happens, Xbox will have a very secure position in the console wars.Hail Bungie. Hail Halo.