14 DAY TRIAL // Here's a question for you: what are you doing reading this piece when you should be downloading the Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack? It's already up for grabs via the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. You can download the whole pack or just one map at a time. Each map goes for 800 Microsoft Points. The three maps are: Standoff, Rat's Nest, Foundry.
As reported last week, the Heroic Map Pack is the first in a series of downloadable content from Bungie Studios. Since many of you have probably already rushed to switch on the console, here's what you're prepping to download, in terms of individual features for every map
Standoff - a symmetrical valley: its entrenched bases and fields of boulders are ideal for mid-sized objectives and Slayer game types.
Rat's Nest - 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.
Foundry - 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.
And, as every Halo 3 fan would expect, the Forge also allows players to edit and customize all three maps, while Halo 3's matchmaking playlists ensure that ranked and social gameplay remains dynamic and competitive. Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson reports that Bungie Games' Frank O'Connor has posted this FAQ on the map pack. Questions like "What do I need to play this Heroic Map Pack?" or "How do I play them?" will be answered thoroughly.
The maps in the Heroic Pack are available in matchmaking today to those who have purchased the download. However, should you choose not to get the map packs right now, they will become FREE downloadables in Spring 2008, just prior to the next wave of Halo 3 DLC.
Click HERE to watch a machinima video from Rooster Teeth, containing some useful information about the three maps.