The Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack is the first downloadable content for Bungie’s latest shooter and the developer’s last ever Halo title. Reach might be the end of an era, but as the debut DLC for it shows, Bungie is intent on keeping fans squeezing the trigger of its space-age shooter. Noble Map Pack introduces three new multiplayer maps. Are they worth forking out for? Read our Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack review for the lowdown on each.
Noble Map Pack for Halo: Reach is available now on Xbox Live costing Reach players 800 Microsoft Points. It includes three new maps: Tempest, Anchor 9 and Breakpoint, and seven new Achievements worth 250 Gamerscore points to your bragging rights. So, how do they shape up?
Tempest
Resembling the leafy locale of Forge World, Tempest is a large open arena surrounded by forestry and clumped with plenty of boulders to bound over and onto. For the most part firefights take place in the open air, but the masses of hills make Tempest a fun one for those that take a fancy to jetpacks, as players peep over them to take potshots at their opponents. The odd turret-housing vantage point offers a handy spot to gun foes, but being out in the open, you’re never safe from becoming the victim of an opportunist headshot. Despite being a sizeable map, Tempest will always guarantee action thanks to a spread of Warthog and Mongoose vehicles lying around, making it our second favourite of the three maps on offer.
Anchor 9
The tightest of the three maps, Anchor 9 is best suited to Slayer matches. The action takes place in a rather confined hangar up in space. There’s even a section where you can leap into zero gravity at the risk of plummeting down into Reach’s atmosphere below, making for some daring jetpack action. Tight corridors sandwich an open area at the heart of this map, making it decent for playing Stockpile. Darting in and out of the corridors when flag carrying is essential to survival here. Every match here is guaranteed to be frantic. As a new addition we hate to say it’s not the most imaginative of map designs. But on the plus side you do get to float in zero-gravity and you won’t be ambling around looking for action. It will always find you. Anchor 9 is definitely not one for campers.
Breakpoint
Breakpoint offers masses of multiplayer real estate. It’s by far the largest of the three new levels in the Halo: Reach Noble Map Pack, making it ideal for mass firefights for up to 16 players, with plenty of room to spare when engaging in Invasion and Big Team Battle games. Players will find themselves in the middle of a massive base filled with plenty of nooks, crannies and hidey spots to peep and fire from. Its size makes it great for long range sniping action, or even better, some airborne action courtesy of the Falcon. Other vehicles are represented in the form of the Banshee, Ghost, Wraith and Warthhog to get around its battle-strewn acres. Breakpoint is by far the map that looks as if it has had the most effort lavished upon it, down to the twinkling of intergalactic gunfire in the background. Its sheer size will probably stop it becoming a regularly voted for arena, but as the Noble Map Pack goes, it’s one of the better on offer.
Verdict
In combination with the existing Halo: Reach maps you’ll be surprised what variety an extra three offers, but on their own, the Noble Map Pack isn’t quite the awe-inspiring DLC we’d have hoped for. Yet for hardcore Halo: Reach fans looking to inject a little extra variety into their multiplayer sessions it comes recommended. After all, It’s hard to begrudge parting with just under £7 for a trio of maps sure to have you playing more than long enough to get your money’s worth.
