A lot of people are on the fence on whether or not they're going to buy the new Halo Map Pack. I'm writing this little blog to try and help your decision along. Whether it pushes you to buy them or not is completely based on your tastes. However, before you go into this quasi review, Halo is still Halo. If you don't like the game, buying this map is most likely not going to make you love it. Not unless you're one of those Halo 2 fanboys yearning for some Lockout.

I'd also like to ask all my Halo 3 Friday Night Fight peeps to go ahead and post here whether you're getting the new maps or not. I need to get a good idea of how many people are going to have them. That way I can work something out for next Friday.
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Avalanche

I'll start things off with a classic. A classic many of us have been asking for since the release of Halo 2, and frankly, a type of map Halo 3 has been needing for the longest time.

Avalanche is a "re-imagining" of Halo's classic Sidewinder. I use the term re-imagining because that's what Bungie says, and because it's not really a remake. The only thing that Sidewinder and Avalanche share is the weather and the shape of the map (U shaped).

You have both identical bases on each end of the map. In matchmaking, each team starts off with mongooses, warthogs, a wraith, and one hornet. The hornet itself has been underpowered to make it balanced and fair. It doesn't shoot any missiles and the machine gun has been powered down. All these vehicles are able to roam around the level easily because of the map's large size.



While the map is huge, there are a few man cannons that will assist you in getting around the map. If man cannons aren't your style, you can cut through the middle instead of going all around the open part of the level. Exactly like in Sidewinder. You can also cut through if you've gotten to the middle of the map on the inside walls. There's a small cave that lets you into a large cavern. The cavern has two man cannons for you to jump from one end of a ledge to the other. There are also teleporters inside each base. All of them lead to the center of the map on the outside wall. Right next to that is an opening that gives you a nice view of a large half frozen body of water. You die if you fall off the edge.

As far as how this map plays, I found it to be really enjoyable. I had a lot of fun carrying people on my hornet as we flew in to grab the flag. Granted, we were beat to shit by heavy fire from the enemy's hornet and warthog, but fun was had. It was nice knowing that no vehicle was overpowered. A battle with a hornet and a wraith could go either way. It just depends on the driver’s ability to hold down fire while dodging plasma shots and mortars. You’re also completely set if you’re on foot. Some peole prefer that, and there are a few locations on the map where you can get into some small fire fights.

The weapons on the map are your basics. You have rockets, snipers, battle rifles, and all that jazz. The power weapons are expectedly low in numbers. As far as I remember one team gets one of each with the exception of the rockets. The only ones I've seen are in the middle of the map right near both teams’ teleporter exits.



As far as attacking the enemy's base, there are about 4 ways doing this. The first is to simply enter through the front door using all that will power and bravery you’ve got stored. The second is using man cannons. You can literally launch a warthog into the enemy's base, take the flag, and launch yourself into another man cannon and make your escape while still on the hog. The third way is using these small trails that lead from the middle of the map to the second floor of the enemy base. The last way is pretty much like using the man cannons, but instead you're using the hornet fly two guys into the second level of the base. Whatever method you choose is completely up to you. Just don't forget to defend your own base.

As far as customizable options go, you're given some new items. They serve the same purpose as older items, but they just look differently. There’s not really much I can say on that topic. There are stackable objects, some scenery items, vehicles to place, weapons to move. It’s all typical forge items.

Side note: These new maps come with the ability to add visual filters. So far from what I’ve used and seen there’s not really much you can do. All of them pretty much make it harder for you to see. I think the only real reason for using these may just be for machinima. I guess it could be cool to use the old camera filter for zombies or something, but really, there’s not much that they can be used for. Maybe later they can add some that makes it look as if the game is cel-shaded.
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Ghost Town

The new kid on the block here is Ghost Town, and it’s probably my favorite map of the three. It’s certainly the most unique map of all the Halo 3 maps currently available. There are a lot of places to find cover. It’s almost as if it was designed for SWAT gametypes, which I can dig sometimes (Emodrox may disagree).

Ghost Town isn’t your typical symmetrical Halo 3 map. It’s very much the complete opposite. Its setting is a rundown set of buildings where the jungle has pretty much taken over. A lot of work was put into this map’s visuals. It’s prettiest of the three as well, with its aging scenery. Suffice it to say, I’m in love with just the look of this map.



The game types of this particular map are mostly about the death matches. Objective games can be played, but with all ledges, holes, and corners to hide in it’s just a more exciting place to have at it with team death matches and free for all slayer battles. I think what would be a lot more interesting is shutting off all the shields to put more emphasis on all the cover that’s available. That’s not to say this is an all-out SWAT map, but it’ll work better than any other map available.

As far as the weapons available, it’s pretty much what you’d expect. There are no lasers on this map, but there is one rocket launcher at one corner of the map near a tunnel that’s caved in. The rest of the map is riddled with needlers, battle rifles, and guns of the like. There are also your typical power ups and deployables laying around for you to use (strategically or not).



Everything was placed properly and the map is really balanced as far as I can tell. Based on the matchmaking matches I’ve had, I never felt like the other team had something I didn’t. Despite it not being another symmetrical map, no side has a real advantage over the other. The only real advantage one could have is if the team took over the center building, but the thing has so many entrances it’d be too difficult to hold it down.

It’s a really cool looking map. I really like it, and it’s now my favorite Halo 3 map. It’s kind of strange because looking at the Bungie screenshots made me think it was going to be lame. I guess it’s true. No one should have an opinion about anything until they’ve tried something out.
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Blackout

The last map we’ve got is Blackout, and there isn’t much to say about this one. It’s Lockout with a face lift. The map itself is really pretty (except the water looks crappy if you look at it really close). Lockout is something Halo fans have been asking for since the release of the game. Personally, I thought Guardian filled that hole pretty well, but the fans have spoken and Bungie has delivered.

At first glance the map does look exactly like Lockout; however, there are some minor changes. Some things seem to have shrunk and some things seem to have gotten bigger. The platform where the battle rifle spawns opposite to the sniper tower has gotten bigger. Also, the catwalk the leads from the green room (now red room) to the sniper tower seems to have gotten smaller. There are other smaller cosmetic changes. Places where windows used to be are now closed off (doesn’t effect gameplay) and places where there weren’t windows have them.



If you remember Lockout as the well balanced level it used to be, then this is what you have. It’s Lockout, and it’s fantastic. The battles seem really familiar. I was in a matchmaking game and there we were, defending that sniper tower, throwing grenades at the bottom entrance and covering our asses from behind to get any jumpers. It was that same Lockout experience but on Halo 3. Take that whatever way you want. If you didn’t like that map then you won’t like it now. I loved it, and therefore I love this map.

As far as weapons placement goes, everything seems to be just the way it used to be. There are pistols in the holes outside of the small man cannon, and the sniper is sitting on its tower waiting to be grabbed, and the sword is in its same spot waiting to be whored. The only real changes are the deployables sprinkled around the map. Also, of course, there are no vehicles on this map (no surprise).


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As far as these maps being worth it to you, that really all depends on you. I play Halo every week, so these maps have become worth it to me. Not just because they’re Halo maps and I froth at the mouth whenever someone says Halo 3 sucks. I get annoyed because it’s become the new hip thing, and people say just to fucking say it, but it doesn’t bother me much. Why these maps are worth it to me is because they’re just good batch of levels to play on. What I’ve played so far has been really fun to me – someone who enjoys Halo’s gameplay. If you dislike the way Halo feels or anything like that, then you really shouldn’t get these because they’re not going to make a difference. Halo is still Halo no matter what is released.

So, really, ask yourself whether you play enough Halo to get these maps. If you play it at least once a week, then yeah, they’re worth it. If you don’t, then no. If you play FNF it’d make my hosting duties a lot easier if you just went out and bought them. I’d pretty much love you forever, but yeah. I think I’ve dragged this post on long enough. Thanks for reading.