Halo fans rejoice! There is a new set of maps for your favorite and latest entry into the franchise, Halo: Reach. The first DLC release for the game will give you three new maps to play with that”ll have gamers fighting in a space station, forerunner battle structures and a forerunner crash site. The Noble Map Pack was released on November 30th so plenty are already playing it or decided to skip it. We got a chance to dive right into what they’ve added and if your on the fence, well then you shouldn’t be but here’s some things you may want to know.
Tempest has Forerunner structures on both sides of this symmetrical stage that just happen to give you the perfect battle ground to fight on. A beach is on one side while water coming from a river or waterfall is on another. Both Forerunner bases bring their own use on the battlefield, although we mostly found them as a passing through structure then an actual fighting ground. This is a relatively big stage as well which supports 8-16 players that can play modes like Team Slayer, Team Objective and Big Team Battle. Our favorite games quickly became team slayer DMR’s and team snipers as everything seems strategically placed well. From the small rocks to the man cannons, there are tons to do here and all in different ways then the last. Warthogs are also in the stage and provide just enough balance to still make it a fair fight between opposing forces. Bungie has also set this stage up for a variety of Forge layouts. Specific tools can be used and they expect to see some interesting new stage ideas for this one.
Anchor 9 is a orbital dockyard for UNSC vessels and my personal favorite. If you think about the last sentence I just said then yes YOU FIGHT IN SPACE! Well its a space station but has a section where players can duke it out in Zero G (not exactly Zero but it’s pretty low). Careful however as going to long/far a jump can suck you out in the fast vacuum of space itself. The gravity inside is also protected by a shield door which can get you out of tight jams since bullets repel off of them or players can spam shotgun kill from close range if not careful. A bunch of cargo blocks and containers fill the inside of the docks as there are two pretty equal sides for this stage. Corners get tight and hallways get narrow. You always seem to need to watch your back on this one, one second your alone, the next your being assassinated. Free for All, Team Slayer and Team Objective can be played on this one, although we found game types like Stock Pile to be completely chaotic here.
The last stage is Breakpoint and it looks to be the heart of a Forerunner crash site with very sensitive material. You can tell that the battleground is set up as if a Covenant assault is taking place to retrieve it and UNSC will do everything it can to protect it. Most of the stage is icy and has three different approaches to tavern to the other side. A low bridge area is the most dangerous root unless your making your way with a vehicle, middle cave tunnels that fit two people at once on each or the big tunnel highest on the opposite side of the bridge. Every vehicle is in this stage and can cause quite a ruckus. All routes can be used in different ways as the stage is very large, so much so that it was particularly made for Invasion game type. In Invasion Elites will have to invade one of the two sides of the first base to open the tunnels and bridge to the other side. From there one needs to grab the bomb (which is laminated in purple for this stage) and arm it on the lower base on the other side, once detonated will need to grab the core from which it was being protected back to the Elite ship waiting across the bridge from once you came. Spartans must defend all structures from being attacked or prevent the core from reaching the enemy ship while this is going on. Pretty much all other game modes can be played here. We did find that once players get in banshees that fights can get pretty one sided. Since there are plenty of tall structure and mountains, it is easy for banshees to get out of the way of anti aircraft weapons, although there should be more of them or at least more turrets.
The best thing about these stages is that they are better looking then the original multiplayer stages in the game and have extreme measures of detail. Lights, snow effects and reflective services look great. Anchor 9 in particular has a space battle happening right outside near the planet which can be seen. A crash sound effect can be heard before actually entering the stage of Breakpoint and we think its to signify the crash site itself. Our staff appreciated the stages right away as we noticed that each one is a completely new experience. None of them are in the campaign or are extensions of other stages.
I will admit that at first I was a stickler since I had only liked one stage right away and know how much DLC should be worth your hard earned money. However the more I played with them, the more I really dug the work that went into them. We’ve found ourselves doing different strategies for each stage and making friends along the way. For 800 MS points ($10) this is definitely worth checking out as each stage can be played tons and tons of times.
