2008 Best of Halo Awards: Best Map
December 29, 2008 207 Comments
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- Avalanche: Sidewinder brought into the Halo 3 generation. The general layout is said to be the same, but with reduced shortcuts for more focus on Vehicles and Man Cannons to allow Infantry a shorter walk between certain areas.
- Foundry: Foundry is the ultimate Forge map. Players can edit every single object in this voluminous industrial warehouse, placing stairways, walls, bridges, and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any kind of map imaginable.
- Guardian: Consisting of visible design elements of both Lockout and Ascension in a Jungle setting. It’s quite a small map made of walkways, rooms and platforms suspended high in the air and thus is you fall, you die.
- The Pit: A large hangar has been converted into a battle training arena. With multiple levels and routes this map makes a good choice for a Capture The Flag game.
- Standoff: The symmetrical valley of Standoff, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types.
- Valhalla: While sure to evoke fond memories of Blood Gulch and Coagulation from Halo 1 and 2 respectively, this take on the classic “base at either end” map has some striking differences. Multiple modes of transport and a veritable bonanza of weapons and equipment can be found at each base, while the middle of the map provides a lot more cover and options than a superficial glance might suggest.
I’m going with Valhalla. It’s a huge, awesome map, and the name sounds cool to boot. :D
Gimme The Pit, I dunno what it is about it, but I have loved that map since I first saw it.
Valhalla is the best. It’s just so much fun playing objective games on it. And it looks so pretty *drools*
I’ll keep my vote secret and safe for now. :D
I have to go with Standoff, I like not being sniped in face…
no offense, but foundry is the ultimate Halo map, simply because it encourages an endless amount of creativity within the community, something i think sets Halo apart from other FPS’s
Out of those I definitely vote for Guardian. It’s the most interesting, balanced and consistently fun for me.
If Blackout was up there I would of voted, but I went with the other Lockout look-a-like Guardian because it’s a very very fun map.
Valhalla, like its sanguine predecessors from previous Halo games, is the ultimate Halo map. Playable and always challenging for anywhere between 6 and 16 players, I actually remarked on XBL yesterday that I could play Valhalla almost every game and never get tired of it…. even without the Banshee :-) During the Halo 3 Beta, we knew that this map would be great, and we were not disappointed…. except for the trip mine….
Valhalla for me :)
Avalanch roks de world !!!!!!!
I loved Sidewinder and I now love Avalanche. This vote will also be made in memoriam of Big Team. I miss you.
I would have voted Foundry for versatility, but I’m all about open fields and vehicular slaughter. Trees are nice too.
I love Avalanche, especially for CTF.
I gotta go with The Pit. While I really love Valhalla, I’ll have to hand The Pit for best design in terms of gameplay balance and playability.
Foundry – I enjoy making tons of maps in Forge that nobody will play and that map is obviously the best map to Forge around in.
Personally I think the best map out of these has got to be The Pit. Don’t get me wrong, all of the maps are great, but there’s just something about the pit. Maybe it’s the fact that it will support just about any gametype you want to play. Maybe it’s the location of the place. Maybe it’s the many different ways to engage in combat on the map. Whatever it is, it sure has me hoping that no one vetos. Best Map of 2008? The Pit.
I voted, Avalanche. I just extremely like the map. Valhalla and Forge were close seconds.
Foundry was my pick. It gave us complete control on map creation and one of the most addicting games out there (Grifball)
My vote is in.
While I believe that in the Nomination phase I voted Avalanache as my main pick for the best map, I’m going to have to go with “Foundry”.
While Avalanche is great for some big team CTF or Neutral Assult, Foundry, quite frankly, brings more to the table. And It delivers every time. It’s wide variety of things to do in forge brings its reply value through the roof. The majority of awesome (and some not so awesome) maps that I find my self downloading seem to have been built from this nice little blank canvas.
User’s can let their mind go wild with all the available forgable items. With the ability to interlock items, players have almost guaranteed that something new and fun will always be in the works with this amazing new map.
I voted.
I’m gonna have to go with The Pit. Why? It’s just so smooth to play on and practically any gametype would be suitable for that map – same goes for players. Whether it be MLG, Team SWAT, Shotty Snipers, etc. Hell, maybe even BTB for god sakes!
Plus, you gotta love the inevitable amount of cone kills everyone gets on that map. It always feels good to kill someone with a cone, whether they be on your team or your enemies.
The Pit is almost the only map that I honestly never veto. I love the setup and I love CTF the most.
Gotta say The Pit. It’s deceptively simple, but well-balanced for either FFA or team games. A few simple tweaks in Forge can turn this ordinarily symmetrical map on its head. And most importantly: Best Infection Map EVAR. (Yes, even better than Foundation.)
I love Valhalla. I loved Coag and Blood Gulch. Thats it.
It’s odd how the revamped Avalanche feels so much like the original sidewinder even though it’s a whole new setup. Every game I’ve played on Avalanche has been a reminder of the insane fun from the original Halo: CE.
I voted for Valhalla, mainly because it was my first map when I played online, and also it’s just a fun map that supports every game type well.
I voted.
It had to be standoff for me. It is the perfec warthog map that me and my buddy rock. Team Awesome away!
Avalanche. Such a great map to play with friends.
Voted!
Valhalla FTW!!!
I like The Pit and Guardian too, but with those two the pwoer weapons dominate.
So Valhalla it is.
Gotta love Avalanche.
Avalanche FTW! Voted… :)
Sidewinder was my favorite Halo 1 map. I wish I still had the skills I had back then to apply to the new Avalanche version. Still, that’s my vote. :D
The Pit. Never get to play that map enough, yet get Snowbound/Boundless twenty times more often than I’d like.
Guardian’s the best, so many spots to jump on!
I would say Last Resort because I love asymmetrical objective based games, but since it isn’t on there I went with Valhalla
defantaly would have to be gaurdian. it is the best for 1v1′s and is undoubtably the best map bungie has created
I had to go with Avalanche on this one. I love getting in the Scorpion and going for a little drive…
have to go with avalanche
VOTED!!!
Guardian =)
I love Standoff. Perfect for mongoose splatters!
Voted!
No Construct?!
…voted anyway.
Voted for Avalanche. Gotta love a remake of one of the best Halo maps ever!
Avalanche FTW! It’s a very artistically constructed map that does justice to Sidewinder while preserving its playability in light of the new weapons and items that Halo 3 brought to the battlefield.
Definitely The Pit. It is very good for all different styles of games (from Slayer to CTF to Infection), and is one of the most beautiful maps to play on. Also, the map has a lot of BRs on it, so it gets my vote.
The Pit hands down.
It’s got a weapon set up with something for everyone, and all those power weapons make it high action :P.
And The Pit is great fun with ANY number of players, 2-16. Can’t say that about most any other map.
Voted. Avalanche FTW!
Voted for Avalanche.
I think it’s one of the best looking maps, I love the cool blue and snowy look. It didn’t feel so much like sidewinder, but it still had some nostalgia to it. Plus it’s always fun playing BTB with all the mass carnage and vehicles everywhere.
What map has allowed us to create Machinima settings, Forge dragons, Cops & Robbers, Fat Kid, Mazes of all sorts, and Grifball? What map has allowed us to implement Forge to its fullest? Foundry….
Without Foundry, half of the Machinimas out there wouldn’t be possible and half of the best maps out there wouldn’t be there. It is, by far, the best map ever.
I voted Guardian, it has all the good weapons, and always has stickies.
Valhalla!!!
There’s only one map that pushes Forge to the limit, and that map is Foundry.
Guardian always delivers, it has never ceased to be fun. The reason for this is because we are talking about the map FOUNDRY, not about the ability to forge foundry and make something cool. I bet someone could go on any map and make something awesome. We are talking about the bungie made map, and by far, Guardian is my absolute favorite.
Valhalla is my favorite. I love BTB and it is the best big map.
Standoff were i had my first double mongoose splatter!
I voted Standoff
I voted Valhalla mainly for its gameplay. This map is great for vehicular carnage and Objective games such as multi-flag which is great for using team work. The forerunner environment is another reason why I voted for this map.
I voted for Valhalla cuz it is a huge map and me and my friends have a lot of good memories there.
had to go standoff on this one just cause many of my best games have been on this map. has a very simple strategy for map control that if both teams know how it works an otherwise easy match usually turns into something of epic proportions!
Avalanche is the awesome. Sidewinder is awesome. Halo 3 is awesome.
Sidewinder+Halo 3= AWESOME.
Its a toss-up between Guardian and The Pit. However, i voted for Guardian. This map never gets vetoed (as does the Pit), but what this map has over the Pit is its size. Guardian is the perfect size for just about anything. Its practically the default map for any 1v1, its a great 2v2 map, an intense 4v4 map, a wonderful FFA map, and it even handled 13 players for some crazy infection action! I voted Guardian for its overall use to amount of players.
Guardian FTW. It has absolutely nothing to do with my sheer luck on that map at all. I promise.
My favorite is the pit cuase the map isnt to big and anit to small. Also my best k/d map :)
Hmmm =X secwet
Pit all the way. It doesn’t matter what you play; Slayer, CTF, Hill, SWAT, Snipes it’s all good on Pit.
Well, I’m going to throw in my two cents and say that Foundry is the best map available [so far]. First, I would like to say that I am not voting for Bungie’s original layout on that map. That is… How can I phrase this… “Meh,” compared to the immense ingenuity that has been shown by the vivid imagination of the Bungie fan-base. Just looking on their website, I’ve seen that map turned into a garbage compactor, a gravity-defying Mongoose race track, a sewage system for zombies to menacingly lurk in, and the list goes on indefinitely. Look at the other maps. Most are good, even great on their own; but how many custom games of Zombies have you played on Rat’s Nest lately? By giving us a blank warehouse and some barrels and crates, Bungie has created the best map of all.
Once again, I REST MY CASE.
It’s a tough choice.. especially considering my favorite map, sandtrap, isn’t on there.
I’m gonna have to go with Valhalla. I mean, it’s perfect for everything [minus close quarter combat].
Guardian is my all time favorite map, it was one of the first maps I played online.
I played it over and over again in Lone Wolf and could never get enought of it!
I still can’t.
Guardian is my personal favorite because it’s not symmetrical and there are two different levels. I like it!
the pit is one of the most map i use to play ffa or team slayer games its just comfortable to play in
The Pit by far has to be the best map. Im not just saying that out of mere opinion. It is a fact yall. Snipers, rockets, camo, swords, and even cones all are being used as kills on this map. It has everyone weapon and powerup possible to wield. Plues it is my favorite to plan on MLG. Since it is symmetrical and completely balanced with almost nowhere to camp, The Pit is the most fair and greatest map Bungie has given us. I only wish more maps were made like this.
Valhalla all the way!
Foundry…the reason being the endless possibillities for creativity.
Valhalla for me. It seems very balanced.
voted. guardian. standoff and valhalla aren’t bad either.
The Pit is my favorite map to play on.
Foundry is my favorite map to Forge on.
Avalanche is freaking amazing for both. I voted for Avalanche.
Nothing like a headshot off of the rocket wall on the pit, so satisfying. Got to admit that Valhalla has begun to grow on me the last year though.
Guardian is the best map ever and always will be
I voted for Valhalla. I love playing there more then anywhere else.
I would have to say The Pit by far. It has so much packing into the mid size area. It so evened out that its my #1 map in the game. When I play matchmaking and I see The Pit come up, a run downstairs and kiss my mom on the cheek, grab a quick glass of OJ and rush back upstairs and wait 30seconds into the game just so I can hear the Lady on the intercom.
Definatly Guardian, I love it…
Guardian has been a great map since the beginning, almost no changes have been made, because game play was perfect, and still is, ( the Pit was amazing also :)
Guardian is just a blast…smaller map, in your face fights, PERFECT. I vote guardian
Avalanche, somthing about the snow…..chills down my spine.
guardian. i really loved lockout and ascension in halo 2 so making a combo is awesome!
I’ll have to go with Avalance because it’s great for objective and big team slayer gametypes.
Guardian for me. It’s the most fun to play especially for games like oddball and king of the hill. Even slayer is just awesome to play on Guardian.
I chose The Pit because it is one of the few maps where one team can not be overly dominant. Maps like Valhalla and Standoff are biased as it is easy to win once you have map control as you can spawn kill the other team. Although I do like Guardian, I prefer the symmetrical layout of The Pit. With Guardian you have the lifts in each corner of the map and once you have gone across, you can not get back without having to walk. This can be a pain in the arse some times.
Gurdian.Its simply very well balanced.It was tough because The Pit was really good to,but Gurdian was better.It’s gamplay is different every time.Unlike Valhalla.Everybody rushes for either Laser,Sniper,or Banshee.
Definately The Pit, I love every aspect of it…the snipers and the way everything is placed..It’s perfect!
I will go for The Pit because I have had so many great Team Slayer games there :)
My vote is for Avalanche because i thought it was a great idea to take back a map from halo 1 and make it awesome.
guardian FTW!
People may vote for other things, but honestly, foundry. I have not seen so many innovations come from one single map in the whole halo series, except maybe the amount people loved blood gulch.
Foundry’s idealness for forge made it the most impressive map to date. It is the main focus of almost every forger’s forge life. This has changed the way we see halo. Every map has been remade here, and sandbox, yet to come, will be amazing as well, i can tell.
I voted Avalanche. There’s just something about it that makes it really really fun. I love all the vehicular combat that takes place, and the different ways to get into and escape the enemy base in games like 1 flag and 1 bomb.
Valhalla, wow the first map I played in on Halo 3. The map just screamed of intense battles throughout it’s many areas. The man cannon opened up so many opportunities for victory and death. I just believe it is the perfect map.
avalanche. its where i get practically get all my ghost splatters and where i got my first vehicular manslaughter!
I voted!
My vote goes to Avalanche. A laser, snipers (with great sniping spots too), and tons of vehicles, what more could you ask for?
Valhalla wins for me because it is great for sniping.
im guna go with foundry, had some good times there and its great for making maps
the pit rocks, it works great for every game type. i meen foundry is cool to but you have to make it into a good map [couse the origanal sucks] when the pit is already great.
Valhalla has been my fave since the Beta.
Guardian. is the best map of all time. Talk about a face melting map!!!!
i love the gameplay on avalanche and can’t wait for the mythic maps!
I vote for Foundry. Foundry gets my vote because of its custimization and how its good for any gametype. Sure the other maps were great but they didn’t have that big custimization level that foundry had. Avalanche, Standoff, Valahalla are big, open maps and fun to play. Valalhalla dosen’t have a real big custimization oppurtunity. Also its really only good for Team Slayer and CTF. Same with Standoff has some potential but very hard to do. Avalanche has the custimization factor, just the limitation of gametypes. Guardian and the Pit are very fun close-quarter fighting, but they don’t have the custimization factor.
FOUNDRY FTW!
avalanche its pretty good and i love objective games like 1 flag. it is joust awsome its like playing a game where there are 2 castles and you are supposed to take the flag from the other castle. i joust love it it is amazing. there are enough vehicles and guns to have one hell of a slayer game.
gaurdin is awesome i love the stickys and the hammer and it was my favorite because that is were i learned what sticky does!
I voted for The Pit, that map is the shit!
Foundry FTW! Nothing else forges well enough…
Very tough choice. If i you’re forcing a choice, then Guardian feels great right now. If not for just aesthetic purposes, but because the map flow and advantages and disadvantages to every area provide a nice challenge.
Unfortunately, the hornet was weakened on Avalanche, so i have to go with Valhalla. It’s a large and well balanced for team battles, and it supports both warthogs and banshees. (my favorite!)
Voted
the pit is the best map in halo 3 because it can be used for any gametype its the best swat,slayer,ctf, and ffa map thats avalable
Avalanche was my choice, the lvl not only plays very well but looks the part also.
Where’s Blackout? All the maps are good. Guardian takes the cake though. Awesome setup and it’s different. It’s a pretty damn amazing map overall.
Valhalla, it’s just awesome.
Avalanche …. if only we could ice sky or play ice hockey … sweet idea just now, could we get a Super-Sized hockey puck on Forge?!?
I voted for The Pit, just because it has always felt like a perfectly balanced map, there is just never a boring game on it.
The Pit is by far the best map ever!
everybody loves the pit. its so well balanced and fair. the spawns are great, the weapon layout is fantastic, and it makes for great gameplay. i could play on the pit every single game.
Avalanche is the best for me. Its really huge perfect for most game types and it has hornets ! My Favorite.
There is alot of good maps out there but nothing beats avalanche
I would have to say *drum roll* Valhalla!!! I am not sure why but I loved it and still do. I liked the size it was a decent size. All the gametypes worked great on Valhalla. The sniping, the driving/shooting on the warthog, throwing plasmas, sticking vehicles, banshees, spartan laser, man cannons. It was like a cluster of madness and bizarre accidents. It was a blast to play on and will remain my favorite map of all time.
I voted for the biggest map in the Halo series and the greatest big team objective games are played here*
I friggin’ love objective game types
I love Avalanche!
Avalanche was my choice for the best map. It has a near perfect balence of weapons, vehicles, powerups,etc. It was an awesome new map and that really brought some spirit back to the whole community.
guardian for sure! gotta love the close quarters play with a decent sniper/shotty map too!
Avalanche, duh.
I vote Guardian for the small size and the high-speed killfest friendly layout. The long distance stick potential is an added bonus.
The Pit for me. I don’t know why, I just like messing around with my Battle Rifle on team slayer :P
I voted Avalanche on this one, even though I think that Blackout is truly the best map. No offense to those of you that disagree and favor a different, lesser map.
It was close for me between The Pit and Guardian they are both very good maps. All of them are really, but for some reason im just always pulled back to Guardian.
avanlanche all the way
pitty
Foundry all the way. No other map has stimulated as much imagination and unique maps as this one. I have filled up almost all of my 100 possible saved items with different people’s foundry creations.
Avalanche has a great layout perfect for btb
Avalanche:What else could a Screenshot taker ask for than a perfect enviroment map.Foundry:This was just the #1 thing asked for in the Community of Forgers.Guardian:It is my most favorite mid-sized map for Slayer,MLG,& SWAT.The Pit:It just has about every thing down from the Overshields,Active Camo,Rockets,Sniper,& Energy Sword what else could you ask for but the most chaotic map ever!Standoff:Best Downloadable sniper map,just ashame there was no snipers spawned on the original map..Vahalla:What better way to introduce the man cannons then having two giant ones in each base to make you go flying in the air to get your head poped off by a sniper or splattered by an banshee.
I voted
I would say The Pit, Everything about it in the level is in the perfect place, Bungie couldnt of got it any better.
Guardian has an awesome setup. Real fun to play on when playing competitivly.
i think that foundry is the best map because it is a good map you can make lots of really cool maps n it using forge, so foundry you got my vote
Valhalla it is for me because it is just a great map and fun to play with online.
Great to play big team battle and CTF
valhalla was like halo 3 version of blood gulch and coagulation and it works very well, two bases, valley and cliffs.
The Pit. You can play pretty much any game type on this map and its still fun. While it doesn’t lend itself to forge all that well I think its matchmaking versatility more than makes up for it.
Foundry hands down. there’s nothing like the ability to create a map layout of your own design no matter how chaotic or lame it may be.
Guardian, its just sooooo funnnnnnnnn!!! Loads of jumps and just so personal…. LOL =)
Valhalla still does it for me.
Guardian, really great in competitive gametypes, especially MLGs variant of it.
Valhalla all the way! It has so many ways to play. I just love it, easily the best map to me. It’s fun.
I have to go with Valhalla on this one. I find it to be a great map for a variety of game types, not to mention pretty fun to just mess around on with friends.
i chose guardian as for some reason, i don’t know why, but i like small maps and its also a pretty map.
Avalanch is big and with good forging posibilityes.
Guardian man. Sooo many hiding spots.
I love Foundry…absolutely amazing…so many forge options and the best map to create maps!
the pit all the way i wished i played it more often
the pit is the best map nice weapon placement and just all around good map
Standoff is just epic fun… So many things you can make w/ it on forge, and its just a team oriented map on Multiplayer
Avalanche is just simply the best map of Halo by far, the size of the map, focouses more on veichles, an epic battle, best for capture the flag varients etc etc the list goes on….
I picked guardian because its good for alot of game types and its not to big and not to small its perfect
can you say total customize
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Vahalla. It’s got a little bit of everything: CQB, vehicles, splaser, and the Man-cannon.
guardian, its close quarters, yet u can still do some long-ranged shoot-outs and i luv sneakin up on people by going up the grav lift and assasinating the when they don’t pay attention
Foundry, the stuff you can do on it is ridiculous.
guardian. fo sho.
Foundry for being the forgers playhouse of Halo.
That’s a close decision, but I’d say Avalanche, then Vahalla, then Foundry (for the forge)
The Pit, closely followed by Foundry for its Forgeability.
Best halo 3 map. I really like foundry. Forge is one of the things that made halo 3 great. Foundry lets players build what the want. You can build anything that fits in that big, ol room.
Foundry hands down. No better map for forge.
Guardian!!
as much on each individual category page
I love Guardian, but I usually lose there, so I’m going with The Pit because of the many BR spawns and the stuff you can do there. Second up would be Valhalla :D
Voted for The Pit.
Because its a great place to play for a team game. You spawn on your side, and the map is symmetrical. Its like the ultimate map, you can play nearly all game types hear.
im gonna have to go wit guardian
Valhalla FTW!
avalanche. So much detail! plus i love it’s size and snow! lol
I absolutely love Avalanche. Not only does it have gorgeous scenery and great gameplay aspects, but it can also double as a second Foundry due to its massive size. <3
Gotta be Standoff. The ability to play a lot of different game types and the fact that you can do all this stuff in forge is amazing. Standoff is Halo 3′s MVP of all maps.
Guardian because i enjoy the sniper vantige points
I voted Guardian. Guardian is a true Halo players dream. It requires skill and “ninja” like ability to fully understand the genius of the map. Players who under appreciate the map only see the paths that are laid before them. They don’t see the jump from middle to elbow when running from oddball or any of the many other paths those who appreciate guardian see.
I like Avalanche because of its wide open space and how it has teleporters in it. Thats what Valhalla needs and it will be a good map.
Avalanche is continuously fun. It’s great how it has some old flair with new touches.
valhalla is beautifull
Foundry the ultimate test of courage. Who could get tired of being crushed by hammers in an adrenaline filled game of grifball.
Foundry. I like the DIY aspect of it.
Guardian.
Something about the fact that there are literally a thousand different angles that you can damage an enemy from.
I voted in this category.
used to be i would have voted valhalla…but the pit has been growing on me… its probably the one map that never frustrates me, its always fun.
Guardian is the best map fo all time
Valhalla, but The Pit is a close 2nd.
Valhalla. Blood Gulch v.3.
Foundry. We need more blank Forge maps like this.
I voted for The Pit…Valhalla is a ridiculously close 2nd followed by Guardian
guardian cause its a bad ass map i lts the best for swat or snipers
Its hard to choose a favourite =/ I picked Guardian because its always fun, The Pit is second. Valhalla would be third but im bored of it now.
Yay I voted. Secret.
I say The Pit since it is one of the most balanced maps in my opinion, and not only that it has long halls for sniping as well as close quarters for the shotty’s. it has the perfect balance and even a sniping perch that you can team or grenade jump to.
Sidew…….. sorry Avalanche. It’s so good to have you back.
I voted!
i vote valhalla.but this was a tough decision for me.there are also maps i love other then the ones listed.basically i like all the halo 3 maps so its hard to pick a favorite.I HATE ISOLATION THO!!!