Halo 3’s worst is better than some games best. I personally really liked the new map, if for the aesthetic alone. my team once almost lost a match there because I spent so much time staring out over that valley at the far end.
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THIS ONE, AUGH!
I… Don’t know about that one chief.
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Ya its dope. Dope map. Fun times being had. Great for koth
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I’ve played most H3’s maps, so far not a one of them has failed to surpass my expectations. I’m not saying that it doesn’t have lousy design on occasion, but I am saying that even those bad spots are significantly better than other games best. In all my years of playing FPS games H3 is the only one that didn’t seem to have any really bad map design.
High Ground, Standoff, Last Resort, Isolation, Blackout (If you’re a Lockout diehard), Cold Storage, Sandbox (Stock), GHOST TOWN ESPECIALLY, are all pretty garbage tier.
Like, I love High Ground, Last Resort and Standoff, I really do. But they aren’t good.
Last Resort has some serious lane and approach issues and while it has several fun gimmicks, it isn’t a really… GOOD map? But it’s one of the coolest out there for sure, no doubt about that one.
High Ground is about the same. It has a lot of useless space and the gate is just, a gimmick tbh.
Standoff is good in some cases, like, perfectly sized for a 6v6, but way too big for a reasonably fun 4v4 and too small for an 8v8. WAY too open for BTB.
Isolation is pure garbage. The interior spaces are completely useless.
I like Blackout just fine, it’s an especially very cool map aesthetically but makes a lot of very unnecessary changes to Lockout.
Cold Storage is garbage thanks to the teleporters.
Sandbox is just a miserable nightmare to play.
Ghost Town is BY FAR my least favorite Halo 3 map. Weird geometry everyway, way too many bubble shield battles, etc. It just plain sucks if you ask me. Has some kind of cool skill jumps but also features really weird invisible walls too.
Snowbound and Epitaph are honorable mentions, because the shield doors were so heavily despised that they had to be removed for them to be good. Wouldn’t you know it, that vastly improved the maps.
All the maps youve dissed are great though, and bri g lots of variety to the games moment to moment play.
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They’re not all great.
Look, I play these games competitively and in ranked. I’m a lot more casual than my buddy @Liquid_Execute who cannot stand most of Halo that isn’t Precision Arena but we share some opinions on what maps are good and bad.
We certainly disagree on Blood Gulch / Coagulation / Hemorrhage however. That’s my all time favorite map. Even if it does functionally suck it’s just so -Yoink!- iconic.
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You’re right that it feels like a Halo 3 map, for better or worse…
Personally though, it’s one of my favorites that 343 has ever made. I love how it plays. Especially in objective modes, the risk/reward of the exposed bridge is an awesome dynamic. I also think it’s a ton of fun in Team Slayer- although the funky sight lines make it a hit or miss for SWAT for me.
Aesthetically its completely gorgeous too, which only helps.
I’m evaluating from the perspective of a long time casual player of average skill, so mileage may vary at a higher competitive level. But at least in social playlists, I hope this map enjoys steady rotation for a very long time to come.
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The map is okay in my books but the Sightlines & how narrow hallways are not my personal favourite
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I have not, but now I gotta try. That’s what I love doing on high power.
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As you said its an opinion.
Whether you play ranked or not has absolutley no baring on the actual design. Youre “credentials” dont matter nor do mine as a level designer.
Your buddy anecdote is equally unimportant.
But there is a strong impression from community interactions that the map design in modern halo has been stale.
The maps listed above are major component of the success of halo 3 (i have opinions on em, especially on blackout.) But the reality is they are genuinely great beacuse 1. They dont exist in a vaccuum. 2. They provided novel spaces with tangible effect on behaviour. And 3. Each felt unique and are iconic in there own right.
Your own fav as you say is a functional mess from a modern halo/fps design philosophy perspective yet it provided an experience that captivated millions for countless hours of fun.
Blood gultch is often listed as one of the genres greatest spaces, as do other “garbage tier” maps.
Even outside of halo.
Facing worlds in ut or
M.N.W. in Marathon,
Blops’ nuketown,
Cod4s shipment,
Cod 2s burgendy, etc. The list goes on.
The point is all the maps mentioned served their purpose and largely achieved the goals they had in the design phase.
The issue is players and devs are so hyper focused on todays mp design sensibilities they are forgetting what
made the greats fun and impactful.
The scale and cost of modern mp also fsctors majorly but some of the best and most beloved maps are conplete messes in design or stand out because they try to do one thing or break a rule or just to see how the polygon budget can be pushed. Now we have more and more homogenous maps and while the new map isnt an i stant classic or totally reinventing 343is deaign philosophy it does enough to grow the diversity to be a net positive and a solid addition. The game has benefitted for its inclusion. Sure it might not be your go to but itll be someones.
I see you on here often and usually agree with much you say but I have seen a habit of conflating objective fact with your opinions rather than take a more considered approach of seperatation. Somethjng i believe every forum member can be better at. We all get too stuck in on our individual feekings at times im no exception to that.
These maps all serve a purpose that is essential for a game to reach the hieghts of cultural impact as halo 2 and 3 had. And by virtue of being part of making the franchise great those maps on reflection of their own merits are great in their own right.
Even if they arent person favs for the 2 of us as players.
i really hated ghost town. not entirely sure why though.
Im i the only one who enjoyed the shields on snowbound and epitaph? sure if every map had it, it wwould suck but it was fun to have on a couple maps as it changed up the gameplay. it was kinda flawed but fun.
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Fun observation I’ve had about the map. If you open the maps back to back and run around on them, a lot of the running lanes and vertical traversal routes you navigate on Catalyst match very very closely to Coleseum from H5.
Aquarius is a reimagining of Truth with a new visual theme. I think the design of Catalyst is a reimagining of Coleseum with a new visual theme.
By reimagining I don’t mean they’re a remake. I mean they share the same layout DNA.
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High ground is great for casuals, in OBJ. I have a personal hate for it.
Standoff is a great btb map put in 4v4 playlists for some dumb reason.
Last resort, same thing.
Isolation is pretty bad.
Blackout sucks with equipment and library window blocked off.
Cold storage is fine.
All MM sandbox maps are garbage.
Ghost town is pretty bad.
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Just stop falling into them, Launch is a great map
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Launch sites the worst map I’ve ever played made by a dev, and behemoth isn’t too far behind.
Catalyst isn’t a great competitive map it seems so far but it’s fine.
It might be awful with ARs and pistols, though most maps are.
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Catalyst is becoming my favorite 4v4 map. I absolutely love it for CTF and SWAT. 
Initially it felt a little too large for 4v4, but after a few games I started to get the feel for how it plays.
Breaker is by far my favorite BTB map. High Power and Deadlock are okay, but I can’t stand Fragmentation.
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OP: complains about bottomless pits
Me: Lockout is still a top 3 Halo map
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Just got my first tac slayer match with stalker rifles on i it… oh my god as long as you don’t stay in the spawn sight lines it ifreaking epic. keep the flank keep mobile and check your shots.
They can’t remove any more maps from the rotation. The already shallow pool of maps that have, albeit sadly, developed over six years can’t be reduced anymore. Otherwise the map pool will turn into a map puddle.
Don’t worry! The classics you know and love are on the way to save the day! Can’t wait to see how this ball is dropped.