Latest Halo 3 Mythic map unveiled

Microsoft has announced the third map in the upcoming Halo 3 Mythic Map Pack, which also ships as part of the Halo Wars collector's edition later this month.

The map's called Sandbox, and promises large-scale vehicular combat as well as "limitless" customisation options in Forge, thanks to its tiered, openworld layout.

You can get a sense of why that is by checking out the first screenshot of the desert map and its network of ramps. Looks more like Mario Kart than Halo.

Bungie had this to add:

"Though you may feel as though you've been condemned to stand chin-deep in cool, refreshing waters your lips can never touch, sweetly-scented orbs of fruit dangling overhead ever out of reach, the cruel torment will end soon enough. The mythical tantalising will fade away like sand after a windstorm, becoming nothing more than a distant memory."

Thanks Bungie.

The two other maps in the Mythic Map Pack, you may recall, are Assembly and Orbital. Assembly is a medium-sized map set in a Covenant Scarab manufacturing facility, with a base on either side.

Bungie reckons Assembly will be perfect for Slayer, CTF and Assault, and you can judge for yourself thanks to screenshots released late last year.

Orbital, meanwhile, is described as a small, asymmetrical map set in a docking station of the Quito Space Tether. One Flag and One Bomb apparently work quite well, as does Slayer.

The maps will be available for free to people who buy the Halo Wars Limited Collector's Edition, due out on 27th February, and released as downloadable content shortly afterward.

Later in the year, they will be included in Halo 3: ODST, which will also include a few other multiplayer maps. Despite the difference in product, you'll all be able to play together, because the games all "all part of the Halo 3 'title ID' family", according to Bungie. Aww!