While letting his Thanksgiving dinner digest, Derek "DSmooth" Nolan had a chance to sit down and try the Noble Map Pack for Halo: Reach. Read on for his initial impressions...
The Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack is scheduled to be released on November 30th for 800 Microsoft Points. It includes 3 brand new multiplayer maps, Tempest, Anchor 9 and Breakpoint, as well as 7 new achievements worth another 250 Gamerscore. All three of the maps play really well, and are all well balanced. Tempest and Breakpoint are both bigger maps suited for larger game types with 8 to 16 players, while Anchor 9 is perfectly suited for smaller 4 to 8 player games.
Tempest
This is a large outdoor map set against the shoreline. Two symmetric bases allow for both great close quarters combat, as well as providing some warthogs for quick base-to-base movement. There are plenty of walking routes and man-cannons to allow for map traversal in a variety of ways. Plenty of cover is provided by scattered rock formations around the map. Overall a great fun map that brings new enjoyment to the outdoor maps that shipped with Reach, that now have grown a bit stale.
Anchor 9
Anchor 9 is my favorite of the new maps. Two dual-level symmetric bases surround a common area in the middle. Both bases abut open space on one side. By coming outside gravity is no longer present, and jumping from level to level is possible. The map provides for excellent close-quarters combat, as well as long-range base-to-base combat. The map is fast and fun to play.
Breakpoint
Breakpoint will be popular among the BTB crowd, but definitely my least favorite. It's a huge outdoor map with just about every vehicle present on the map. The map has two bases set on opposing hills with both a long-road connecting them, as well as a cave system connecting the two. Although the map is probably too big for any slayer variant, I would imaging that this would make an amazing Invasion map.
Overall, I am very pleased with the 3 new maps, and they are certainly worth the 800 points. Gamerscore fans will love the additional 250 points for various multiplayer achievements, and Forge fans will love all of the new assets available to them. The Noble map pack is a good first bit of DLC for Halo: Reach, and if it's a sign of things to come, Halo fans will be quite pleased...
- Derek "DSmooth" Nolan
