Halo 3 Maps and Modes Revealed

Halo 3's new maps for the mulitplayer mode are well underway and Bungie has released a few details on them.

Jodrell Bank, Purple Reign and Vandelay are the the names of the maps which could be available as a mappack over XBOX Live very soon.

Jodrell Bank "is a Team Slayer main course and player counts would fit swimmingly into both Social Slayer and Team Slayer hoppers and I think it might even be possible to shoehorn a few more players into the mix without overcrowding things."

Purple Reign "is the earliest iteration of the map actually had a completely different overall shape. If I sketched the cross section of the map's floor onto a napkin it would've looked like a small hill, but when you played it, it wasn't readily apparent," says Bungie.

"In the last month, the concavity was changed so that if you were staring the same napkin with the new version of it it'd look more like a gently sloping bowl. The difference in the way the map played then versus now is pretty remarkable. Subtle changes to the floor's geometry resulted in wider lines of sight for players staring down one half of the map and an intricate and strategic mix of floor/column/ramp gameplay on the other side and all of the sneaky jumps those mechanics entail."

"Vandelay is structurally the simplest map we've ever made, yet the tools that we're providing with the help of the Forge give the map tons of potential. That potential could be used for devising clever contraptions, unique playspaces and when paired with Player Traits could become a test bed for new ideas from both Bungie and the playerbase."

"Up until now, Forge has been primarily thought of as an object editor. It's been a great tool for devising tweaks and changes to maps, the net result ranging from "Oh, you put more BRs on Snowbound," to "Wow, you made a Jail that you rescue players from."

"Map forgers and game variant makers we are watching, playing and enjoying what you're doing and it's entirely possible that you'll get a message from us once we've tested a gametype with some feedback and a few notes and maybe a date as to when it will be showing up on Favorites," says Bungie.