Avalanche

Overview

Avalanche is a Halo 3 multiplayer map that was released as part of the "Legendary" Map Pack, alongside Blackout and Ghost Town. Set in the snowy wastes of the still under-construction replacement for Installation 04, the structures that make up Avalanche are part of a Forerunner power station. As far as playable geometry, the map takes a majority of its design cues from the Halo: Combat Evolved map, Sidewinder. Like Sidewinder, Avalanche is a large map intended for games between big teams, and provides plenty of opportunities for widespread vehicle carnage. The map is shaped like a large horseshoe, with a base at either end of the canyon, and a small tunnel connecting the two sides in the center of the map. Placed at various locations throughout the canyon are several mancannons that ease in player movement, and help to shorten travel times for players who are without access to one of the map's many vehicles. Further, there are a handful of teleporters placed on the map to speed up movement to and from the two bases. Just like its predecessor Sidewinder, Avalanche is best suited for games between large teams, with the maximum amount of players possible. There are several gametypes that work very well on Avalanche, most notably Capture the Flag, Assault, and Slayer variants such as Team Snipers.

Miscellaneous Facts

• Avalanche is the largest Bungie-made, official, multiplayer map in Halo history.
• The original Sidewinder map file was used in the construction of Avalanche.
• The map features special versions of several different multiplayer vehicles -- the Mongoose, Warthog, Scorpion, and Hornet -- that have a unique, snow-pattern camaflouge paint scheme. The changes are purely cosmetic for the Mongoose, Warthog, and Scorpion, although the Hornet found on the map has been modified slightly, by having its missle-launching capabilities removed, to improve gameplay balance.