Halo3 First Map Pack Dated

Microsoft announced today that the first map pack for Halo 3 will arrive on Dec. 11 as part of the Heroic Map Pack, the first in a series of downloadable content from Bungie Studios to come via Xbox Live. Available for 800 Microsoft Points, each map presents a totally different play style:

Standoff’s symmetrical valley, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types, while Rat’s Nest’s vast, labyrinthine passages bring something new to the “Halo” multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise, strongly influenced by the Campaign mode, ideal for big team battles. Finally, Foundry is the ultimate Forge map – players can edit every single object in this voluminous industrial warehouse, place stairways, walls, bridges and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any kind of map they can think of.

All three maps will become available for free download via Xbox Live Marketplace in Spring 2008, just prior to the next wave of all new “Halo 3” multiplayer maps.