Now that Halo 3\'s been sitting comfortably a top the Xbox Live pillar for nearly three months, Bungie\'s unleashed the first downloadable map pack to further induce your Halo addiction and ensuring that Master Chief doesn‘t get knocked off his perch. Coined the "Heroic Map Pack", this trio of maps available via the Xbox Live Marketplace offers new scenery that\'ll absorb the blood of Spartan\'s and Elite\'s worldwide. But these maps aren\'t free: you\'ll need to fork over 800 Microsoft Point ($10 USD) for some Halo multiplayer enhancement.
Can\'t afford the 800 Microsoft points for the "Heroic Map Pack"? Don\'t fret: they\'ll be available for free in spring 2008. As it stands, these maps have a standalone matchmaking playlist called "Heroic DLC" and are also integrated into the established matchmaking lists. If you don\'t end up purchasing the maps, Bungie\'s advanced matchmaking system won\'t partner you up with gamers who have the maps. Meaning you won\'t be booted from the room ala Gears of War.
Standoff
Recommended number of players: 10-16
Blood Gulch\'s little brother says hello. A compact version bearing similarities to the popular Halo 1 map, Standoff has two opposing bunkers that lead onto a battlefield covered with boulders and rolling hills. Perfect for team-based objective games like Capture The Flag (CTF) or Assault, Standoff\'s opposing bunkers have a Warthog and a few Mongooses to use for an enemy bunker raid. However, the opposition isn\'t going to let you just simply ring their doorbell with your Warthog\'s front bumper: a rocket launcher, human turret and shotgun all lie close to the bunker\'s main entrance, providing enough defensive firepower to thwart unwelcome visitors. Throw in an easy-to-find active camo near the top of the bunker, and you\'ll find yourself suddenly digesting rockets in what appeared to be an enemy-free zone.
Successfully navigating Standoff\'s terrain relies solely on the vehicles and controlling the Spartan laser in the middle path. You\'ll find that hopping on a Mongoose and zipping down the edge of the map is a common infiltration tactic to gain control of the enemy base. With the lack of sniper rifles, there\'s no fear in being picked off by a sniper bullet from the other side of the map.
Regular Team Slayer games are fun on Standoff, especially when the action picks up amongst the hills. However, this map was made with objective games in mind as most of the fun lies in tactically assaulting the bunker and wreaking havoc inside. Ambushes inside the bunker can be setup by the opposition, as the corridor entrances provide decent cover for a surprise attack.
Much of the reason why Standoff is a blast to play speaks to the simplicity of the map. Aside from the bunker tunnels, you won\'t find many terrain obstacles to overcome in Standoff. You\'ll usually be able to see what your opponent is doing from across the battlefield, but with few long-range weapons to stop them with, strategizing an effective close range counter-attack becomes your only chance for survival. Don\'t worry about trap doors, air lifts, or any kind of momentum-shifting obstacles that could hinder an assault. Grab a gun, hop in the driver\'s seat of a Warthog, and attack. It\'s search, seek and destroy at its finest.
Rat\'s Nest
Recommended number of players: 12-16
Bungie\'s always wanted to create an indoor map where vehicles can run free in Halo. Rat\'s Nest adds to the Big Team Battle playlist and marks the first indoor map designed for vehicular combat. Inspired by the Crow\'s Nest level in the Halo 3 single-player campaign, you\'ll duke it out on in an indoor base surrounded by a NASCAR-like loop. The loop travels into the interior of the map and outside where a Pelican dropship rests on a landing pad (no, you can\'t pilot it.) Walking around on foot on this track spells disaster as Warthogs, Mongooses and Ghosts whiz by at break-neck speed. Crates and barricades may impede a vehicle momentarily, but to put a vehicle in a permanent pit stop, a strategically placed trip mine around the bend will do the trick.
Inside Rat\'s Nest, one major pathway allows players to navigate from one side of the loop to the other without being splattered on a Warthog‘s windshield. Although with the numerous choke points on the path, conflicts can get extremely hostile. Rat\'s Nest is heavy with brute shots, turrets and gravity hammers, so it\'s no cakewalk traveling from one end to the other. For games of CTF, your nerves will be at their peak when the flag is in your hands and the grenades are flying over your head.
It\'s the little nuances that make Rat\'s Nest the standout map of the three. It\'s satisfying to smash an on-coming Warthog off a cliff with a gravity hammer. Or using a portable grav lift to sit a top a ceiling pipe and pounce on an unsuspecting victim. The aforementioned major pathway has a number of branching paths to help you out maneuver any impending trouble.
Foundry
Recommended number of players: 8-12
Foundry presents the first level where players can alter the map\'s physical landscape using the Forge editor. Strip away the default components of Foundry and you\'ll have an empty warehouse at your disposal. Staircases, walls, bridges, fences: whatever you concoct in that crazy imagination of yours, the Foundry will act as your canvas. Stack up boxes obnoxiously high for the ultimate King of the Hill location or CTF spot. Heck, there\'s even a new "giant soccer ball" option that allows the Foundry to become one giant soccer field suitable for some intergalactic football action. Bungie leaves it up to you as how you\'ll move this gargantuan soccer ball around: Warthogs? Gravity hammers? Flamethrowers? Whatever it takes, whatever you want.
However, the default setting of this multi-tiered map feels hollow and the layout is just too chaotic. Bungie\'s focus with the default Foundry is on Team Slayer and Territories combat. Teams will have to climb up crates and staircases to the upper tier if they intend to win since the ground tier quickly becomes swamped with exploding grenades and battle rifle fire. Most action on Foundry consists of a mad scramble to the second tier (home of a rocket launcher) and raining fire down on the ground floor. It\'s similar to the tactic of controlling the hill in Isolation.
But Foundry\'s selling point is the customization. The Halo 3 community will definitely churn out some interesting variations to help spice up this fairly mundane map.
As a package, the "Heroic Map Pack" is worth a purchase for Halo fanatics who can\'t wait until spring 2008 to annihilate the competition in some new scenery. At $10 USD though, casual Halo gamers won\'t mind showing some patience and saving a few bucks in the process.
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December 14, 2007,
narmour
said:
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I've bought them, and they look very good. Had a mess about in the forge on Foundry. And the multiplayer on Standoff is very good, the map is probably one of the best in the game. One problem though is, there hasn't been much choice when it comes to the playlist or gametypes on Ranked or unranked. As for why I payed to get these I dont know... Boredom got the better of me. |
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December 17, 2007,
_JC_GUEST_NAME
said:
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I bought the maps and ive been on ranked and social and still have not seen one damn new map yet this sux ass |
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December 18, 2007,
JadedWriter
said:
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Seeing as how I haven't played this game in 2 months I can't see myself actually purchasing these. |
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January 19, 2008,
your moma
said:
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i have downloaded them yets i can't seem to play on them do u know why? |
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November 30, 2008,
JJ
said:
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do i need a gold subscription to download them or can i do it with a normal silver subscription? |
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Votes: +0 |
