Awsome! Thanks for picking my e-mail :)

I bought the last pack but barely played it, so I guess I'll wait for this one to go free. I miss the days when I had so many Halo friends that I couldn't resist these things...

Just been playing them a bit. They are VERY nice.

Am I the only one that thinks ten dollars for 3-4 maps is a lot? At least bungie gives em to me free a couple months down the line.

When does this one go free?

@TheRemedy: I think it's quite a lot when you only have to owait 8 weeks or so to get them free. I guess it's just for the real hard core fans who play in a clan or at least with a regular bunch of mates.

@TheRemedy: MS sets the prices, not Bungie. They'll be free soon enough.

Since Bungie is fond of the Normal->Heroic->Legendary strata scheme they started, I'm wondering if we won't see any more maps for Halo 3 after this, since Legendary is the top.

If this is the case, I hope we hear something on their next title before the end of the year.

@Kyle81: Right before the next one comes out, so probably ~3 months.

actually there are no plans to make the legendary map pack free.

"For those of you who are still on the fence… please be aware that as we've previously stated, we are not currently aware of any plans to make these maps available for free."

[www.bungie.net]

?

If anything, I think the fact that Kotaku receives this many emails from its readers should be taken as a complement. It's a sign that a lot of people are eager to participate in the site, because they love it so much.

Love is a bitch sometimes, ain't it?

I'll be buying them. I show my support to developers who give me what I want (and the mega-corporations who publish the content). If I was only going to play them a few times I would hold off, but I envision myself loving the crap out of these.

With a good mix of the classic maps that I miss playing and a new small map that looks awesome, I'll be all over this. Some of my favorite Halo moments were playing 2v2 on Sidewinder.

I wish these larger maps were included in play lists for smaller groups than 12 or 16.

@poopsonlawn:

Wow that sucks.They have been making them free ( a little while after release) on the past map packs.Or is it a way to get people to spend the money first and then change to free later?

@Ma1agate: There is actually one more level that is not represented in the games. The next level would be mythic and I would think it's a possiblity. I barely played the last set so I will hold off on these.

@Ma1agate: Normal->Heroic->Legendary->Mythic

Pretty sure the next one is named Mythic.

I don't know, buying additional content is just getting stale. Maybe it's because every developer is doing it now, but still, I'm over it. Give me free updates, or give me death I say!

@poopsonlawn: So no reason to buy them since you will barely get them in rotation or never.

@enewtabie:
not sure. i can't help myself when new halo maps come out though, so it doesn't really matter to me. i'm really excited about this pack due to the lockout remake, which was my favorite map from halo 2, so i'm definitely buying this one when i get home.

I haven't even tried the old map pack yet (yes I downloaded it when it was free). won't be getting this one, unless it becomes free.

@Kyle81:
actually, i believe that there are going to be a few playlists added on May 1 that will require the Legendary map pack. i think the new SWAT hopper is going to be DLC-required. Buy yeah, if they didn't have dedicated DLC playlists, it would be useless to get these.

Want to kill two birds with one stone?

[www.xbox360fanboy.com]

Pre-order a (what will be) stellar game and get the new maps for the free-shness!

I waited on the first map pack to be free, but that was because I wasn't impressed with the 2 maps (+1 Forge map). But a remake of Sidewinder is pretty damn tempting! Of course there is no need to pay for them if i'm always on COD4.

@DaiMacculate: Buy a new PC?

Sweet, will get these as soon as I get home from work.

@Ma1agate: There is actually one more difficulty level, Mythic, but you need to find the skull and turn it on to play it.

@DaiMacculate: I've had this error message for the last couple of months. Started when I got my 360 back from its second reapir (RROD this time). I was told by customer support that unless it happens every single time the 360 is turned on they won't do shit for me, even though it obviously was their fault. It only happens when it is first turned on for the day, but it takes more and more restarts every day to get it to work. Today I restarted 8 or 9 times before I got any visuals. What more can we expect from Microsoft? At least the games are good when it does work.

Only suggestion would be make it RROD, but not sure if they can tell if you did it on purpose, and if so whether or not they would replace it.

@Kyle81: I've got one of those Kyle...please tell me how I can run Ikaruga, Halo 3, GTA IV and Ninja Gaiden 2 on it, and you will have indeed solved my problem :P

After COD4 I'm never buying another map pack...again! (EVER!)

I loved the COD4 map pack for the initial two weeks, when the option to only play those new maps were there. Since then, I have only played a new map once. Everytime it comes up in rotation (very rare) everyone immediately votes to skip it.

@Kyle81: Perhaps no reason for you to buy them. If you are a normal Halo player there is plenty of reason to buy them.

1 - They will probably (hopefully) add to the fun of Halo 3.

2 - If you've played the past Halo games there is sentimental value (a big reason for me to get them).

3 - Team SWAT and the double experience weekends will require the new maps (I personally don't care for this reason).

4 - You get 4 free months of Bungie PRO with the purchase (oh boy).

That may not be enough of a reason for you or many other people, but to some of us it is a worthwhile purchase. As always, vote with your dollars.

Halo 3- when you first came out, the two of us had a fantastic time together. Almost magical. I played you online more than any game I'd owned before you. We had a lot of good times- late Friday nights, teaming up with my buddies...good stuffs. I even became a better FPS player because of you. Thing is, a while back...I met this new game called Call of Duty 4. Since then, well... I'll be blunt. That magic that you and I once had? It's gone. Call of Duty 4 just satisfies me so much more. I'm sorry. Don't worry- we can still hang out once in a while- the rocket launchers, plasma grenades, and hammers all still amuse me. And I sure don't get to drive vehicles in COD4, so you've got that going for you. But I hope you understand that I'll be waiting until your new map pack is free before I grab it. I just can't justify the money. Well, I've gotta run- I think I hear those new COD maps calling me. You take care, Halo 3- I'll see you around someday. Sincerely, Hootie Mac

Damnit, we won't be getting our flat screen back for another three weeks. Grr, Samsung!

@HootieMac: Section 9 Reject: HootieMac, just because you take 300 words to say "Halo suxxorz COD4 FTW" doesn't make you any less of a troll... I just thought I'd point that out to you.

These maps look pretty great, I was going to try holding off on buying them, but I doubt I'll be able to hold out for long.

It'd be really nice if there was a way to actually PLAY the new maps once you've downloaded them. Sure, they'll probably have playlist update next month specifically for the new maps, but that's NEXT MONTH. Halo's got all these playlists; Bungie should make all DLC required for just a few of them, like, say, ranked Team Slayer, Ranked Objective? Maybe Ranked Big Team? Court to your most dedicated players, the ones most likely to be picking up the new maps?

No, Bungie, it's much better that I just spent $10 and have no way to play your maps.

@Kanik:

The CoD4 maps haven't been out for two weeks yet.

so wait how many maps do you get in COD3?

sorry COD4

@HootieMac: Section 9 Reject: A bit brutal but honest.

@jay427: Only this is true for PS3 (still waiting for them...)

Alas, GTAIV ftw!

@itsburnsie: I actually wan't trolling, at all, thanks. If you read it, you'd see that I bought, played the crap out of, and still enjoy Halo 3, but am getting more enjoyment out of COD4 right now. I was trying to be funny. Sorry if you didn't find it amusing, but it was not trolling.

@itsburnsie: To complete my thought, just because someone doesn't like a game as much as you do doesn't mean they're a troll.

@NPlace:
there is a playlist live right now that only has maps included in the DLC. It mainly consists of the Legendary maps, but is peppered with the Heroic maps just for good measure. That way, it's only the new DLC, no old maps.

@HootieMac and anyone else: I've been a hard-core Halo player since it first hit Xbox, and love it still. That being said, I had my first taste of COD4 a few weeks ago. I played a few missions in the single player, and loved it. It may have been that I was playing on my bro-in-laws huge Sony HD Bravia, while I have a 27" SD TV. But I want to play some more.

That leads to the question: Has anyone seen any sweet deals for the game (360 version)? I know around Christmas or Thanksgiving that BB and CC were running good deals ($40) for the game. Now I can't find it cheap anywhere, even eBay. Any deals that people know of?

/Yes I'm cheap. I'm married and my game budget is small.

@HootieMac: Section 9 Reject: While reading your post the little Cartman in my head popped up and said "the gilted lover returns" (as in Halo 3 coming round to your place asking if you wanted to hang out). Funny stuff but rings true with a lot of my friends.

@poopsonlawn: One of my classes got cancelled today, and I've played 10 games on that playlist with no new maps.

HOLY SHIT BLACKOUT! Nevermind.

@jay427: I have a poor grasp of time, I keep thinking I'm living in the age of BladeRunner where Atari has billboards.

While it has been out for roughly a week (12 days) I meant the initial weekend up to about Wednesday, when they stopped having the "Variety" option for multiplayer modes.

@NPlace:
really? i wonder if the Heroic is still the main mapset for the playlist for now. if you wanna set up some customs at all tonight, send me a FR. gt = Hintzilla.

yes, i expect to have the same reaction to blackout. i'm soooo looking forward to that map.

@caleb: Cool thanks for the link. I was ready to do that but no love for Canada. :(
You should send that into the tips address.

@HootieMac: Section 9 Reject: Agree to disagree, I guess.

I consider anyone commenting about "how much better game B is than game A" in an article devoted entirely to game A is merely trolling or "fanning the flames" if you will.

COD4

@itsburnsie: *ugh, accidentally hit submit*

COD4 is a great game, but I get tired of COD4 fanboys telling me how much more they enjoy it over Halo 3.

I guess at this point, it's not a very original thing to say, regardless of how "witty" you're trying to make it sound.

/my 3 1/2 cents

I'm still downloading it.

@poopsonlawn: You got it. My gt is NPlace. I just played on Blackout, and it's sooooooo great.

@skrame ☆: Sadly, you just missed it for $35 on Amazon yesterday. @itsburnsie: My intent certianly wasn't to say "COD4 roxxorz Halo is teh suck!" I really do enjoy Halo 3 and will definately be playing more of it, I'm just playing COD 4 more right now. I hate fanboyism in all its forms, but I think people need to exercise a bit of restraint before yelling TROLL!/FANBOI!/FLAMER!, especially 'round Kotaku where we don't cotton to such nonsense. It's easy to see something as being trolling/flaming when it counters your own thoughts/feelings. I'd like to believe that the (attempted, apparently) humor in what I wrote was fairly obvious, though if it came across as trollish or fanboyish, I apologize. I'd also like to apologize for the excessive use of "/" in this post.

@skrame ☆: Man, how could you ever manage 2v2 on Sidewinder? It's fun for about 10 minutes, and then it just gets boring. Not enough bodies :|

Isn't work over YET? I wanna go play! :(

Gah! Steve is eating the line breaks again! BAD STEVE!!! Do we need to put in tags for line breaks now?

We'll see how fast this thing downloads once everyone gets off school and work tonight.

Dam cant play this till i get a new copy of Halo for one, but also i need to get the MS points and i wont get them till like next friday oAo

@itsburnsie:

I think this happens in any Halo related thread now.

I bought them are they're amazing.

Avalanch...omg....beautiful.

Bungie stated on their recent weekly update that THEY HAVE NO PLANS TO MAKE THESE MAPS FREE.

I am more interested to the updates for Forge with the map pack. I also wonder if that is why this one will not be free because of the forge updates.