Hello, Forgehub! This will be my first map post onto this site. This is an Invasion gametype featuring all three objectives: Assault, Capture Point, and Data Core. This is the order that these will be in. The Spartans will attack. The Coastline on the part of the map with the huge cave is where the first objective will take place. Here are some quick pictures, which is why you're here Bonus: That's me! Now for the first objective: An Assault bomb is placed underneath the tall structure at the opposite end of the beach. The bomb has a quick fuse and is planted against the side of the cave, so that when the bomb goes BOOM, a hole is blown through the cave wall, allowing the attackers to move up to Objective 2. 2 different spawn locations for the attackers are placed in the cave. Before bomb. After! This, by the way, is the inside of the cave. Very Halo CE - like. Moving on to the second Objective, the Spartans will need to secure a position on top of the Covenant structure on the other side of a huge cave door pictured below. This door leads to the canyon with Objective 2. Here is an overview of the structure. The elites will be able to spawn in three locations away from the structure: one location is overlooking the front of the structure, which is high ground. It is approximatley the bottom left corner of the picture. The second spawn is on the "boulder hill" - as I like to call it - behind the structure. Finally, the third spawn point is next to the huge wall in the mid-left part of the screenshot. It is on the ground. If the spartans can successfully capture the hill during phase two, they move onto the Spire. The first picture is the way to get to Alaska from phase two. The final phase incorporates pretty much all of Alaska (the arae of the Spire). There are two ways to get onto the Spire's lower structure. Pictured here is by jumping on the rocks right next to the tree almost center screenshot, while on the other side of the structure lies a nice ramp to get you up there. The center of the structure contains a gravity lift in which you take to get to the top of the Spire (similar to another Reach map, eh?). Here are a few pics of the are in which the two armies will duke it out. This screenshot shows a few things: one, the back side of the structure, the playing field, and on the two opposite sides of the map, vehicle spawn points. On the far right, mid picture, two warthogs and a spawn location are set up for the Spartans. On the far left, where the "landing pad" structure is, a banshee, a wraith, and a ghost spawn in roughly the same area. Elite spawns are mostly towards the back left corner of the map, with the exception of a spawn area around the tree directly behind the structure. Spartans have a plethra of places to spawn, most of which are near phase two. Although, there's an extra one that you will find out for yourself And finally, if the Spartnas secure the core, and make it down from the Spire safely, they will carry it quite a distance. Here's the capture area. This is indeed sitting over the lengthy area between Alaska and Montana. This is where the journey ends, Forgehub. Thank you for taking a look!!
Lol at your last line. My invasion map called Journey's End also takes place in Alaska and Montana. Cough* back on track. The map certainly looks nice aesthetically and I like the idea of cave combat. Nice work!
Did you take ideas from CE campaign? Almost every phase here reminded me of CE Campaign missions. the first phase reminded me of Silent Cartographer, and then the cave reminded me of 343 Guilty Spark, and the last phase had some parts in it from the 2nd mission. Total nostalgia there.
Why thank you. I loved the Halo CE campaign a lot, and I loved the structures that they used, and I feel that if I needed to make something look Covenant, I'd start from what was seen in the Halo CE campaign.
Official Review Hub Review Databound: Halo As the counter beeps down and the players are thrown into combat, there is an immediate connection between enemy and ally. In a similar style to the battles of olde, the two sides face off in two parallel lines at a distance away from each other. However, unlike the battles of olde, everyone has guns, and no amount of distance can make them safe. And since there is little to no cover, the instant the game starts is an instant of surprise and panicked shooting. Such a carelessly designed beginning establishes a consistent theme of mediocrity throughout the rest of the game. In every phase, there are several balance and durability issues which greatly damper the player’s enjoyment. In the first phase, after everyone kills each other off, the failure to place spawn locations at decent distances from each other encourages spawn killing. Also the relatively short fuse on the bomb makes the objective unenjoyably easy and anti-climactic. Most players may find themselves unaware of where the bomb was meant to go in the first place, and this lack of easy orientation leads to confusion and makes it hard to grasp where exactly the elites are supposed to defend. During the second phase, balance issues worsen to weave a tale of a single, fatal choke point. For Spartans, it becomes a matter of ‘Throw enough of us at them, and one’s bound to get through.’ The case is often that honor rules are put in place for the Spartans to have a chance at completing the second phase. It even becomes boring for the elites; players grow bored when doing the same thing over and over, even if that is repeatedly killing Spartans. Very little effort was put into the design of the second phase, as the forerunner-themed structure holds little to no barriers around a single objective. This leads to bland gameplay which heavily favors the defending elites. Unfortunately, the one-sided gameplay goes on unabated in the third phase. This is when balance issues affect the game’s enjoyment the most. Elites receive Banshees and Wraiths that can easily overpower Spartans, however while it is very unenjoyable for the powerless and defenseless Spartans, who are inappropriately labeled as invaders, Elites will have a wide variety of methods for repeatedly killing the enemy. Players may camp next to the only entrance to the objective with a sword, run around in the open with one of the many available Fuel Rod guns, or overpower the Spartans with either a banshee or a wraith. Perhaps the only semblance of enjoyment for the Spartans lies within attempting to bring down the banshee with grenade launchers. With this tactical objective, Spartans are capable to balancing out the difference in power. However the capture of a banshee is practically required to have a chance at a Spartan victory. But when everyone’s enjoyment is taken into account, Databound: Halo is most likely going to annoy most players. However, it does appeal to the rare player who either likes an impossible challenge, or is able to spawn kill repeatedly without ever growing bored. Written by Zenixlio There is very little balance in the map Databound: Halo. The Spartans barely have a fighting chance. First and foremost, when comparing the Spartan and Elite load outs, the Elites are more powerful. In the first phase, the bomb that the Spartans must plant spawns behind the Elites. The beach is very large, and it is fairly easy for the Elites to spot the Spartans due to their spawn locations. They are also given a Concussion Rifle to defend the planting zone with. Though it is a long run to get to the bomb in the first place, it is fairly easy to get the bomb to the planting zone from here. With a short arming and explosion time, there should not be an issue with taking the bomb and shortly after being killed. There are very few balance issues here. During the second phase, the Spartans can spawn from where they did during the first phase, the entrance of the cave, or the middle of the cave. The Elites can spawn at the end of the cave, behind the tower which holds the territory objective, or the ridge directly above the territory. This is the point where the Elites become more powerful than the Spartans. The territory that the Spartans must take has a thirty second timer on it. The Spartans must hold this position while being shot down, from the ridge directly above them, with Needle Rifles and from the incoming Elites the spawn a mere 30 meters away from the territory. This makes it very difficult for the Spartans to take the objective. The third phase is the most difficult and unbalance phase. The Spartans spawn on the edges of Alaska and down on the tower they just took control of. The Elites spawn near the Core spawn tower, near the bridge between Alaska and Montana, and in between those two spawns. The only good weaponry the Spartans spawn with is either a Shotgun or a Grenade Launcher. The Elites get the choice between a Sword, a Concussion Rifle, or two separate classes that both have a Needler in them. The Elites get a Banshee, a Wraith, and a Fuel Rod Gun. The Spartans get a Warthog and a Mongoose. The vehicle choices for both sides could have been better. The tower in which the core spawns in can be heavily camped by the Elites. The only thing that really stands out as fair for the Spartans is that the core carrier can ride passenger for both the Warthog and the Mongoose. Most players do not know this though, because they are used to walking when the core carrier. So what happens is the core carrier walks from the tower to the bridge, which is highly improbable. Considering that the Elites have a Banshee and a Wraith, they would quickly take out the core carrier once he/ she has been spotted. Over and all, the balance on this map progressively got worse and worse as the game leads on. The Elites were completely over powered and the spawns were to close to key points of the map. The Spartans were underpowered and spawned to far away from key points of the map. The classes were to too powerful for Elites and there was not enough variation in the Spartan classes to balance it out. The distance the Spartans must go to get the core captured is to far and leaves the Spartans open and defenseless. The territory capture time is to high and should be lowered. The spawning for the Elites makes defending against the Spartans to easy. For most cases, respawn locations were too close together and encouraged spawn killing, especially in the first and second phases. By the third phase things begin to clear up and the game can hold together. However, there was still a notable possibility of camping near the entrances to key objectives. This is nearly impossible to counter, and stops the progress of the game dead in its tracks. In the first phase, it is very difficult for players to drop down from a ledge on which they spawn, and onto the main battlefield. The ledge is simply too high and players tend to either commit suicide or seriously injure themselves while attempting the fall. Seeing as it only requires a single piece as a stepping stone, it is a shame that such an issue dampers the gameplay this much. As invasion maps go, Databound: Halo has no obvious durability issues within spawning, progression etc. However faulty spawning and design are fundamental flaws that often ruin the rest of the game. Databound: Halo has nearly no aesthetic value at all. Apart from a few minor instances of slight decoration, there is no consistent theme or interesting structure. Most of the map is function over beauty, but even the function fails to deliver. Even the bridge at the end, a great premise for some dazzling architecture, is the straightest and plainest bridge imaginable, consisting of rectangular prisms placed side by side. During the second phase, the main structure shows a resemblance to forerunner structures around the Halo installations during the franchise’s campaign missions. Considering that the map itself is called Halo, it is evident that such is the theme of the game. During the end of first phase, a bomb seemingly explodes a rock wall to expose the pathway to the second phase. Although this is very unoriginal, it is still noteworthy. Although there is nothing amazingly decorative or pleasant to look at, the map does not look particularly sloppy or bad. There is, however, very much that it is lacking. The third phase bears a nearly identical, perhaps intended resemblance to the invasion map Spire. This striking resemblance is in no way original, whether it is intended or not. The gameplay surrounding this structure is similarly identical in basic function; however the experience is added to in no way. In fact, Databound: Halo is more like a downgraded version of someone else’s map. Even the shape of the map, the way players must travel from the beach to Alaska, is fairly unoriginal and is often used in maps which span across a large percentage of forgeworld. Players are brought from the beach, and through the caves which, as is usual, fail to provide a decent competitive setting. In the places where structures were built, they were often scarce of any defining difference. All in all Databound: Halo is just your run of the mill attempt at an invasion map. Rating Multipliers [floatleft]Enjoyment: Balance: Durability: Aesthetic : Originality:[/floatleft]3 x 3.0 = 9 out of 30 3 x 3.0 = 9 out of 30 4 x 1.5 = 6 out of 15 4 x 1.5 = 6 out of 15 2 x 1.0 = 2 out of 10 Final Score Understanding the Review Hub's Ratings Have a question about your review? 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