Xbox Evolved staff checks out the third map pack installment for Halo 3 as well as tips on getting achievements.
by:
March 10, 2009
Written by: Michael O. and John O.
The Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack released last week with Halo Wars Special Edition costing a total of $79.99. The maps will be available shortly for people without the special edition of Halo Wars to download over Xbox Live for 800 points.
Orbital Halo veterans should immediately be reminded of the old Halo 2 map, Elongation, which Orbital seems to take after.
Halo 2’s Elongation.
Orbital.
Orbital, is indeed set in space in the docking station of the Quito Space Tether. It’s a small asymmetrical map good for one-sided games like One Flag, and One Bomb and even some 4 on 4 slayer games. This isn’t your big team battle map so don’t expect too much like big vehicles and a ton of space. Vehicles that do appear however are Mongooses and the fan favorite, Ghosts. There are a few many different pathways that for the first few times you will still be a bit lost trying to get around the map. Once you become accustom to the map you’ll love the multiple routes that could help you complete objective type games better by taking the different routes. The map has an area where you can grab the rockets, and see below you, but if you don’t jump far enough to get to the bottom level, you will fall to your death. The way the walls are made there are plenty of places to hide. You can also earn the Post Mortem achievement on this level by killing two people after dying. The best way to get this is by getting sticky grenades, and when you run into an opponent, don’t fight back until right before you die, carefully placing a plasma grenade on top of their head. Finding the grenades can be the tricky part, but typically when you spawn there will be a corridor to the left and right of you in the hallway you are in, and each will have at least two.
This map is based on the Covenant ship architecture as a sort of factory for the massive Scarabs found in the campaign. The map is slightly spaced out compared to some of the other maps made for 4v4 teams but it is an excellent addition overall. You can also earn the achievement “Hammer Time” by getting five hammer kills in the level, thanks to a grav-lift in the middle of the map featuring a double-decked structure with a hammer on bottom, and invisibility on top. There are no vehicles in this small/mid-sized map and the more people you have the much more frantic it will be. It is also probably has the most purple ever seen in a Halo 3 map.
Halo veterans will also remember a similar version of this map from Halo 2’s Midship and Gemini
Halo 2’s Midship.
Halo 2’s Gemini.
Assembly.
Sandbox Rounding out the map pack is the desert level Sandbox. Sandbox’s name is appropriate, especially because of the kind of map it is, literally giving you a sandbox to put whatever toys you like in it. It may look like Sandtrap, but looks can be deceiving. The basic map is two different small bases on each side, a structure in the middle where you can find an over-shield on top, and objectives such as bombs and skulls on the bottom. The outer area of the map can be explored up to the walls surrounding the map but be warned—the Guardians are back and back with a vengeance. The most exciting part about the map is the three distinctive areas besides the visible ground level. A teleporter will teleport you to the top on a kind of bubble high in the sky. If you go within a certain distance while up in the air, the Guardians can blast you. The other great benefit of this has mostly to do with Forge. The other level you can’t even see unless you go under structures, a narrow hole in the ground that leads to an empty boxed in area below the ground. This area is great for playing Griffball and it is the best area to get the new achievement for getting a Bulltrue medal.
Everything in this level can be deleted and replaced in Forge, and the level along with the rest of the map pack gives plenty of new and interesting choices for those of you with a little creativity and an addiction to Forge. This is literally the best level ever made for Forge, and the main purpose of the map is for such. Besides the new structures and blocks you can place, there are these strange balls in the area that can help mark areas, and ultimately can kill you if you touch them. There is also the great addition of a giant golf ball, and golf clubs that work similar to how a gravity hammer works. Who’s up for some Halo Golf?
Something else interesting I noticed is after a certain point and having so many achievements, the game will give you certain armor and specifically the ninja sword even without having all the original achievements. I guess Bungie figured if you paid $30 all together to have their maps when they are fresh, they might as well be a little nice. Gee thanks.
Michael’s Verdict: With three new amazing maps and more than 250G of achievements to add grab and add to your gamerscore, I say buy. If you were slowly fading away from Halo 3, this map pack will surely bring you back to the multiplayer action for months to come and once again when the pack is finished with the release of Halo 3: ODST, this fall. The map pack is currently available only by buying the Halo Wars Limited Edition at a whopping $79.99 MSRP. Sure it comes with some cool stuff but in reality, you’re paying an extra $20 for some maps. If you can wait for the pack to be up on marketplace, by all means do so as they will only be 800 points ($10). A date has not been set to when which they will be placed on marketplace.
Verdict: BUY IT
John’s Verdict: If you are a fan of the game you have to come to the realization that somewhere down the line Microsoft and/or Bungie felt it would be necessary to take out three of the Mythic Maps and leaving you with Sandbox, Orbital, and Assembly. Not only that the last three maps will only be included in a game that will be at least $40 when it is released. This is so big of a lie that there is an achievement that reads “Vidmaster Challenge: Brainpan” get all the Mythic map skulls. Well I got all the skulls in the three Mythic not the three other maps formerly known as Mythic Maps but will now be included later this year in Halo 3 ODST but I didn’t get the achievement. This is incredibly sloppy stuff especially for a triple A developer like Bungie. When your music composer is bitching about used copy sales taking away from his cut while touring with a full symphony orchestra playing his music you can assume it is as much as Bungie’s fault as it is Microsoft’s. If you must have the maps, then buy the special edition of Halo Wars. It comes with quite a few cool extras for Halo Wars, as well as a code for the three maps. Otherwise, the entire map pack content will be available for 800 points here shortly, or for around $39.99 including a new campaign for Halo 3 ODST.
Verdict: SKIP IT
Want to get all those skulls in the new maps but don’t feel like doing any of the work? I don’t blame you; luckily you can find videos on YouTube about how to get the skulls easily. Our tip is getting the skulls (each worth 25G) while in Forge mode. You can check out one useful video that covers all three below:
Check out the Media Gallery for a ton of Mythic Map Pack screenshots. Thanks to the community at halo.wikia.com for the extra help on the article.
