Halo 3’s second map pack was released to much fanfare. Consisting of three maps and new Forge elements, the Legendary Map Pack has a little bit for everyone. I’ve personally never been a big fan of paying for maps, but I had to make an exception here. Bungie put together three really great maps that fans of the game will definitely want to play.

The first map that came up in the DLC Slayer playlist for me was Ghost Town. The map is a bombed out, battled hardened water treatment facility outside of Sierra 117, the area where you begin the campaign in Halo 3. The map is pretty big with a nice asymmetrical layout. There are a hell of a lot of places to hide in Ghost Town, so expect some campers. There’s also a few decent sniping points and some good perches that I found rather quickly with some well placed grenade jumps. You really want to be on the second floor or higher in Ghost Town. If you’re running around on the ground, you’re going to get killed rather quickly. The map has a Mongoose on one end, which I really don’t understand. The map is fairly cramped on the ground with all of the debris and bombed out parts of buildings, so there’s not too far to go. You can take the Mongoose up the stairs if you really want to, but other than for a few good laughs, it serves little purpose. There is one major flaw on the map: the rocket launcher is right next to the overshield. Whoever gets one will undoubtedly get the other, which puts everyone else at a serious disadvantage. Hopefully Bungie can address the weapon placement to balance the map a little better.

After five straights games in Ghost Town (which is 243:1 odds that I would end up in that map five times in a row), I finally got to play another map: Blackout. The map is a remake of the wildly popular Halo 2 map, Lockout. If you’ve never played, it’s a multiple level weather station out in the middle of the Arctic. There are multiple tiered structures connected with bridges and a large platform in the middle. Write this down: going in the middle will get you killed, just like in Guardian. You’ll see a lot of bubble shields thrown in the middle as players jump down, only to get chased and beat down. Just like Lockout, there are some decent sniping points on the map to pick off people running around the catwalks and jumping to the middle platform. The weapon placement in Blackout is essentially identical to Lockout, with the exception of the added bubble shields and power drains. Things feel very balanced as everyone runs for the sword and shotgun. Personally, I try to grab the sniper rifle. Blackout is great for Team Slayer and I wish it was available in the regular rotation already. I’d love to get some ranked Team Doubles going on Blackout. I had the most fun of the three new maps on Blackout.

The last map to come up in the DLC Slayer playlist was Avalanche, a remake of Sidewinder from the first Halo game. It’s a giant U-shaped snowy map with a base on each side. The setting is a huge Forerunner power station set on the front of a glacial shelf. It will remind you a bit of the final level of the campaign in that respect. There are a few tunnels to get you across the map quicker if you choose to go on foot, something added from the original. However, the hallway that goes between the two bases from Sidewinder has been removed. The best part about Avalanche is the man cannons; there are a ton of them. When I say a ton, I really mean it. Multiple clusters of man cannons are scattered throughout Avalanche where you can launch yourself or even vehicles across the map. The first time you drive a Warthog into the man cannon cluster will definitely put a smile on your face. The map is filled with plenty of human and Covenant vehicles and you’ll find players rushing for tanks, Hornets, and Banshees. As far as weapon placement goes, it’s very balanced. The Spartan Laser is the most coveted of the weapons, and you’ll find a few players overlooking the vehicles to go grab the deadly laser. While Avalanche is available for Team Slayer, I find it works best in larger game types, such as CTF or Big Team Battle. Unfortunately, it’s not available in Big Team Battle yet, so you’re best bet for Avalanche is to play DLC Objective.

In addition to the new maps, a heap of new Forge elements are included in the Legendary Map Pack. Each map has it’s respective parts to place here and there, but the most important addition is the new lighting filters that are available to you. If you want a gritty look to your video or custom game type, it’s now possible. If you’re a fan of Forge, the new filters are great. I personally don’t use Forge all that much, so aside from playing around a bit to see how each filter worked, I probably won’t utilize this addition.

This is one of the better map packs I’ve seen released this console generation. Like I said before, I’m not a fan of paying for new maps, especially when I know they’ll end up free eventually, but this was one I just couldn’t pass up. If you play a good amount of Halo 3, the Legendary Map Pack should be pretty high on your priority list. It’s a great amount of content for the 800 Microsoft Points.

Overall: Buy it right now