Having been blessed with a free Mythic Map pack Code, I've had the chance to check Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox out quite a bit now, and I figured I'd give you my impressions of them for those of you that didn't buy the Halo Wars Limited Edition. I also wrote up a quick guide to the Mythic skulls for those needing help.
Assembly
Purple Reign, indeedAssembly is a mid-sized, symmetrical map with a strong Covenant aesthetic. Which means purple; lots and lots of purple. The map is separated into lower and upper tiers, and it's pretty hard to get a decent sightline- the map is packed with obstacles, which keeps it fairly balanced for people with weaker weapons, as there is usually a place to hide. The map tends to be dominated by Battle Rifles, with teams trading fire from walkways across the map. Although the aforementioned Battle Rifles do most of the heavy lifting, there is also a hammer, which can control the lower levels pretty well as long as whoever is wielding it stays hidden from the Battle Rifles. The other power weapon is a Rocket launcher, which is actually pretty ineffective here because of the limited sightlines and general openess of the map- rarely is a rocket inescapable. This map is balanced incredibly well, but lacks a bit in weapon variety, and will probably quickly be dominated by battle rifles. Still great fun, and this will probably be a ffavorite for MLG, and other people who think Halo is srs business.
Orbital
The graphics are seriously reminiscent of Mass EffectOrbital is another symmetrical map, but this one has a human look, which should give you mad Mass Effect vibes, both stylistically and in content- which is high praise. Orbital is probably one of the best looking maps Bungie has made to date. Everything is quite detailed, with hard, sharp edges, and out the windows on the space station you can see Earth hanging serenely below. in terms of gameplay, Orbital is a bit of a natural evolution of Elongation from Halo 2, with a focus on long parallel corridors with lots of cover. Firefights here are generally long-range affairs, utilizing grenades and assault rifles. The layout is essentially two horseshoes, slightly offest, but in play it's quite confusing, and you'll be hearing a lot of "Where the fuck am I?" from your teammates, even after some experience with the map. The two power weapons are a Roocket Launcher and a Sniper Rifle, both with limited ammo, but whichever team has these has a definite advantage, even with little ammo. Orbital looks spectacular, but only plays decently. Perhaps it just takes time to adjust, but it doesn't seem to be terribly enjoyable so far.
Sandbox
Ew. Default Sandbox.Sandbox is designed to be a Forge haven, and I think it will please on that count. It has amazing versatility, and people have already created some great maps- either remakingoldHaloclassics or building from the groundup. However, Sandbox is incredibly ugly- whereas Orbital is probably the best looking map Bungie has ever produced, Sandbox is the worst. The visual palette is bland and uninteresting (save the sunset, which looks amazing). However, it's an acceptable sacrifice for what the map offers in Forge potential. The default layout that's running in Matchmaking currently isn't too bad, but it's nothing special. Sandbox is going to best be enjoyed with friends in custom matches, as what you can do with it is very near limitless. Sandbox should keep getting better as more great Forge variants emerge, as it certainly delivers on it's promise of an expanded Forge canvas. Those of you who like to Forge will really enjoy Sandbox, and I suspect everyone else will also appreciate it because it enables them to play great maps made by other people.
Overall, Mythic is a pretty good map pack, although it's a bit lacking in bigger maps, or anything with much emphasis on vehicles. Orbital and Assembly will both probably be relegated to team Slayer/ Multi-flag CTF maps, which there was no dearth of before. Sandbox represents golden potential, but only time will tell what people produce. Another solid offering, although it's a shame they're limited to only people who bought the Halo Wars LE. See you in five weeks everybody else. 14 Comments
