Yeah, my last (and first) post was me whining about how the beta entry process sucked. I still think the first-come-first-serve system is terrible, but Infinity Ward proved they cared about the community when they opened up registrations for 24 hours and proceeded to distribute keys at random. Lucky me, I got mine today!

After playing for a while, hitting rank 10 (max is currently 11) and discovering I'm pretty good, I've got a couple of thoughts.

1. I'm either gross with the M16 or it's grossly overpowered.

The stopping power on this thing combined with using the iron sights for 99% of my kills has served me very, very well. the mp5 is pretty terrible from what I've seen of people using it, and the M4 feels like the spray version of the M16 in a lot of ways. It's definitely designed as a medium/long range weapon, but the stopping power of the gun makes it a decent close range gun as well. When you start getting into short enough ranges that you can't use the m16 effectively, the knife gets the job done.

2. The shotguns don't feel as cheesy as Rainbow Six: Vegas.

If you played Vegas online on your 360 at all, you know that the shotguns in the game were a bit cheesy. In some cases, it turned games into a "my connection is bigger than yours" event. Not to mention the overwhelming advantage a host shotgun user had over a non-host shotty. I didn't host any games in the span I was playing, but I definitely didn't feel like a host was shotgunning all over the map like they tend to do in Vegas. Furthermore, the shotgun plays its role better now. You get one, maybe two shots with your shotty against a good player. Any more than that, and you're dead, easily. Even if you can get someone in one shot regularly, superior positioning can still win out easily. I had a lot easier of a time beating shotguns with my rifle in CoD4 than I did in Vegas.

3. Hit detection done right.

This is kind of an overflow from the topic above, but the hit detection in Call of Duty 4 is amazing. That's it.

4. God I hate unlock systems.

Infinity Ward has stated that they want CoD4 to be the number 1 competitive console FPS. I really hope they accomplish their goal, and this definitely feels like a skill based FPS right now. I could see the round system on the 4th playlist being used in a competitive tournament easily. However, if they want that to happen, please, please, please don't let the XBL unlock system spill onto System Link games. Let us use everything on LAN. Please?

I'm loving this beta so far. If any other destructoid readers have it, feel free to post your GT in the comments. Mine is Ellipson - I still keep about 10-15 slots open, and I'm way overdue for a clearing out of the friends list.