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April 27, 2005 The Battle Gets Bigger as New Halo 2 Multiplayer Maps Invade Xbox Live!
Set in a Forerunner environment on Delta Halo, Containment is a massive, icy outdoor environment suitable for vehicle combat and large team-objective games such as Capture the Flag. Warlock, a small to midsized indoor arena set in ancient Forerunner ruins, offers ample opportunities for a variety of gametypes such as Territories, Slayer, Team Slayer and more. Located in the streets of Old Mombasa near the wreckage of a downed Covenant Scarab, Turf is a midsize asymmetrical urban combat environment with narrow streets, dark alleyways and heavily defended buildings. The sunlit remains of an ancient Forerunner temple, Sanctuary is a medium-sized symmetrical environment excellent for Capture the Flag, Assault, Territories and Slayer games. Halo 2, the most popular Xbox game to date, has sold more than 6.7 million copies worldwide since its November 2004 release. Launched to critical and consumer acclaim, the game has earned more than three dozen awards, including several for "Game of the Year," "Best Soundtrack" and "Best Shooter." Bungie Studios was founded in 1991 with two goals: to develop games that combine brilliant technology, beautiful art, intelligent stories and deep gameplay, and then sell enough of those games to achieve its real goal of total world domination. Over the past 10 years it has produced games such as the “Marathon Trilogy”, the first two “Myth” games and “Halo: Combat Evolved”, which have been hailed as classics by critics and gamers around the world. Released in 2004, “Halo 2” for Xbox has achieved phenomenal success and has sold more than 6.7 million units worldwide. Microsoft Game Studios is a leading worldwide publisher and developer of games for the Xbox® video game system and Windows® and online platforms. Comprising a network of top developers, Microsoft Game Studios is committed to creating innovative and diverse games for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/games/), including such franchises as Age of Empires®, Flight Simulator and Zoo Tycoon™; Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/), including such franchises as Halo®, Project Gotham Racing and MechAssault; and Zone.com (http://www.zone.com/), the official games channel for the MSN® network and home to such hits as Bejeweled and OutSmart™. |
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It's time to reload the SMGs and unpin the grenades, as Microsoft Game Studios announced that four new Halo 2® multiplayer maps are available on Xbox Live™. Two of the maps, Containment and Warlock, are available at no cost to Xbox Live subscribers courtesy of Mountain Dew. The other two maps, Sanctuary and Turf, are available together for download via Xbox Live for $5.99 (U.S.). All four maps will be included in the retail Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, which will contain a total of nine maps and is set for a June 28 retail release. The retail package will also contain two new videos: an animated side-story from the single-player story in New Mombasa and a mini-documentary that includes interviews with the map designers, combat strategies and fly-throughs of the new maps. More information on the individual maps and the Multiplayer Map Pack can be found at