Halo 3 getting three new maps on December 11

Three new multiplayer maps will be available for Halo 3 on December 11. The map pack is called the Heroic Map Pack and will go for 800 Points.

Two of the maps sound really interesting. The on called Rat’s Nest is badly needed as there isn’t enough Big Team Battle maps (I love that mode). The map called Foundry, though, seems to be the winner here. Foundry is meant to be completely shaped by the player using Forge. With this map, you can add stairs, walls, bridges and tunnels anyway you want to. The possibilities sound endless.

Just like in past Halo map releases, the Heroic Map Pack will be made free in Spring of 2008 right before the new maps are released. So who here is going to buy them right away and who’s going to wait until next year for them to be free?

[Update: Bungie has a few screens of the new maps and interview with the map designer over on their site.] 

“Halo 3” Evolves as Heroic Map Pack Explodes onto Marketplace in
December

Attention Spartans!

The internationally award-winning “Halo 3” multiplayer experience is
about to get even better. After launching to incredible acclaim and
fanaticism, “Halo 3” players will be able to enjoy three all new
multiplayer maps on Dec. 11 as part of the Heroic Map Pack, the first in
a series of downloadable content from Bungie Studios to come via Xbox
LIVE.

  Available for 800 Microsoft Points exclusively on Xbox LIVE
Marketplace, each map presents a totally different play style.
Standoff’s symmetrical valley, with its entrenched bases and fields of
boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types, while
Rat’s Nest’s vast, labyrinthine passages bring something new to the
“Halo” multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise, strongly
influenced by the Campaign mode, ideal for big team battles. Finally,
Foundry is the ultimate Forge map – players can edit every single object
in this voluminous industrial warehouse, place stairways, walls, bridges
and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any
kind of map they can think of.

All three maps will become available for free download via Xbox LIVE
Marketplace in Spring 2008, just prior to the next wave of all new “Halo
3″ multiplayer maps.

As if the legions of “Halo 3” players needed more reasons to stay logged
on and fragging, the Forge also allows players to edit and customize all
three maps, keeping “Halo 3’s” multiplayer experience fresh, exciting
and evolving. In addition, ongoing updates to “Halo 3’s” matchmaking
playlists ensure that ranked and social gameplay remains dynamic and
competitive.