It’s the little moments that really make Halo. Just last night, in between pop-scoping a long DMR sight across Highlands, and doing that hot-foot, quick-step SWAT waltz (the swaltz, you know it) to avoid instantly discharging the contents of my helmet all over the nice walls, I scored a headshot kill. Only, it wasn’t on the guy I’d been aiming at across the map. It was on the other guy, who – quite undiscovered by yours truly at the time – had bumbled a close-quarters assassination attempt on me, and put himself in between my target and the business end of my rifle at the very second I squeezed off the money shot.
A moment of confused silence ensued, before the comms channel erupted with laughter. And my original target – who’d seen exactly what had happened through his own scope – took the opportunity to put a bullet in my face. … š
So, the Defiant Map Pack DLC. It’s three new maps – Condemned and Highlands on the regular competitive multiplayer hitlist, and Unearthed for Firefight. Most significantly, of course, this set was turned out by new Halo franchise devs 343 Industries, and not Bungie. CONTROVERSY, etc.
Aesthetically somewhat similar to the Noble Map Pack’s Anchor 9, Condemned is set aboard the UNSC Orbital Station Gamma, hanging around the planet Reach. The map has a determinedly old school, Unreal Tournament feel to it, featuring a series of hangars and control decks around a central, zero-g hub.
It’s a great mashup of tight and wide spaces, and the zero-g zone quickly proving itself a chaotic flashpoint with grenades lazily chumming the air for reckless jumpers.
Highlands is probably the most interesting new map, and the most unlike any of the others currently available. It’s a massive, asymmetrical and asynchronous outdoorsy battleground – ideally suited to Big Team Battle gametypes – with bases surrounding a high tier dam. A combination of rocky, forested terrain, natural tunnels, and multi-levelled blockhouses, as well as vehicle loadouts and teleporters, makes plenty of opportunity for snipers and run-and-gunners alike.
Finally, Unearthed fits in somewhere between Holdout and Courtyard, perhaps, with a bit of ODST’s Lost Platoon chucked in for good measure. A mostly unobstructed dirt road loops around a chunky, open-plan UNSC installation, while upper-level catwalks provide longer sights around the perimeter as well as the central quadrangle.
The basic Firefight enemy deployment is a little different here too, with a heavy Elite presence early on, as well as multiple Covenant Wraith and Ghost drops. Compared with some (or most, even) of the other Firefight maps, this one probably rates a little more difficult than the average, and requires very close coordination and cooperation between players. Not a bad thing at all, mind you.
It’s hard to attach an objective value to a map pack like this. Sure, the maps are all fantastic – in fact, quite possibly the best Halo: Reach has for now – but whether or not you’re prepared to hand over 800 MSP for three maps depends entirely on how much time you’re putting into the game to start with.
If you’re a regular Halo player, consider this a must-buy, otherwise maybe not.
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