Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack in Full Detail
- December 05, 2007 12:03 PM PST
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Bungie recently hosted an event to check out the upcoming maps in the Heroic Map Pack, which will be available on Xbox Live on December 11th for 800 MS points. The maps included are Standoff, Foundry, and Rat's Nest; here are my impressions on each.
Standoff
While Standoff isn't as massive as Blood Gulch was, it's very similar in layout and can host some pretty epic battles. Like Blood Gulch, the map features two opposing bases; only the entire midsection of the battlefield has been ripped out, so traveling from one structure to the other only takes about ten seconds on foot. This makes for some extremely hectic fights. We played a few rounds of CTF as well as neutral bomb and it was some of the craziest Halo action I've experienced.
The structures, while still fairly small, are larger than they appear. From the outside, they just look like gray boxes with turrets mounted on top; inside they're actually somewhat sprawling. While the bulk of the action took place outside, I had more than a few close-quarters battles inside the bases. Each base has three entrances -- a front door, side door, and back door. The side door is closed at the beginning of each match and can be opened by a button found inside the base. The interior is made up of several hallways, and despite its small size, you may get a little lost at first.
The map sports two warthogs and several mongooses, as well as all of your favorite weapons. Noticeably absent is the sniper rifle, which makes sense, because a sniper would easily dominate on a map this small.
Fans of Blood Gulch will no doubt love Standoff, as they whip around in the warthog, the wind gliding over their Spartan helmets. The bases serve their purpose well, breaking up the open action with bits of tense, close-quarters combat. Out of all the maps, Standoff had me the most excited. I'm a sucker for open, outdoor maps.
Foundry
Bungie's design concept with Foundry was to create the ultimate Forge playground. So you have a relatively big interior level with very little built-in structure. There are two small rooms - which serve as spawn points - and their accompanying platforms; everything else in the level can be deleted. Once you clear everything out, you'll see how big Foundry really is. The objects available for the map are pretty simple, such as crates, walls, fences, stairs, and bridges, so anyone can dive right in and start constructing their own level. The ability to place man cannons opens up a world of possibilities, as does the soccer ball that Bungie added. A few of the Bungie guys made a soccer gametype, where they would run around with Gravity Hammers, trying to smash the ball into the opposing team's goal. The map comes fully loaded with stuff, and while I found the default layout to be somewhat mediocre, there's definite potential here for Forge lovers.
Rat's Nest
Like I said, Standoff had me the most excited. I prefer outdoor environments over indoor ones, but that being said, I think Rat's Nest is definitely my favorite of the new maps. The idea was to create another big team battle map, as well as an indoor vehicle map, something which Bungie hasn't done before. The level exceeds on both fronts, allowing for massive, epic battles that support plenty of vehicle play, all in a wonderfully designed labyrinth. It's easy to get turned around, especially when you're new to the map, but one end of the structure opens up to reveal the skybox, as well as a distant landing pad with a Pelican on it. Not only does it look pretty, but it also serves as a helpful landmark.
The center hallway in the map, which houses a ghost, turret, sniper rifle, rocket launcher, and gravity hammer, is where the bulk of the action inevitably takes place. There's nothing more fun than hauling ass down the hallway in a Mongoose or Warthog, chalking up roadkill left and right. Be warned, however, that this hallway leads to the aforementioned skybox area, so you could end up flying right off the edge if you don't slow down. There are also several areas of the map that aren't accessible by vehicles, which means you'll spend plenty of time on foot as well. Each side of the hallway features two symmetrical corridors, where a lot of CTF action happens. These rooms are noticeably smaller than the rest of the map, so what started out as a huge vehicle battle quickly shapes into a very close-quarters firefight.
A lot of time and effort definitely went into making this a very balanced map and I think it's one of the best Halo 3 has to offer, a sentiment that I'm sure will be echoed by a lot of fans.
