Game Stooge

The Blastacular Map Pack

• Scribbled on April 17th, 2007 by Sublimenumber7
• Filed in Action, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, New Release(s), Shooter

This morning I laid eyes on an old friend I haven’t seen for years. Even though recently I’ve become tired of hearing about Halo, what with Bungie’s incessant tidbits and videos of Halo 3, today my shaky faith has been restored in the killer app for the Xbox and Xbox 360 systems.

The Blastacular Pack showed up this morning, bringing with it one of the most requested multiplayer maps in Halo history; Hang Em’ High.

Now dubbed “Tombstone,” this map brings all the wide open killfests we all remember from long ago. Very nicely updated, Tombstone has a different feel to it, with an eerie yellow sky, the sound of a lonely wind, and a vision of a destroyed and still smoking city beyond the maps limits. The main map is still intact, but it obviously has a new paint job, and several new nooks to hide in.

If your default weapons are on, the energy sword is at the map’s highest point, and the sniper rifle is on the crane slightly below. A rocket launcher lays in the muddy water, and thankfully you can run out of the gully now without getting stuck on the lip; how many of us have died because of that little gem of an idea?

All in all, the same Hang Em’ High we all love, with a new look and just enough new things added to keep life interesting.

The second map in the pack is “Desolation,” a remake of Derelict. This map has seen some changes, hopefully all for the better. Gravity lifts have replaced the teleporters, with overshields waiting to meet you when you land.

Where Tombstone has a bleak and lonely feel, Desolation has sunshine, moving clouds, lush vegetation, with dripping water and birds in the background. There is slimy evidence of the Flood in spots on the floor, and a sword sits in the middle on the top level, with a rocket launcher directly below it. This is a pretty map, with two towers on the outer walls that face each other, one with red electrical currents flowing between the spires and the other with blue.

These maps are a good move for all the fans who have had to wait way too long for Halo 3. Bungie, we are still a little disgruntled, but since you gave us this great gift, we’ll still invite you over for the holidays anyway. Happy hunting!