Let's face it.  Coagulation was kind of close to being the remake of Blood Gulch.  And we know HALO 3's Valhalla wasn't quite Coagulation or Blood Gulch.

A new map is being released by Bungie for Halo 3.  It's called Avalanche it is a near-remake of Sidewinder.  "It has the same familiar U-shape, multiple ways from base-to-base, and a whole sandbox full o’ vehicles to play with."

Avalanche and the rest of the Legendary Map pack will be launched on April 15th and cost 800 marketplace points (or $10 for those counting beans at home).

In an interview Bungie map makers have described Avalanche.

• No ladders in this map (or since HALO 1 for that matter).  Thus, they had to change the interior of the bases.
• Hallways connecting bases removed because it was too easy to overtake vehicles in those tight quarters.  Bungie wants gamers out in the open sections of the map.
• Man cannons have been added to help you get around the map on foot.
• There are new attack routes.
• More vehicles with icy texture maps.

I look forward to the map and hope it brings back memories.  I expect it to be as close to Sidewinder as Coagulation was to Blood Gulch.  That will be enough for me to spend $10 for the map pack.

Strikingly during the interview, Avalanche level designer Niles Sankey said "we also needed another big vehicle map" when asked why they remade Sidewinder.

Queue Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update segment called "Really!?!".

If Bungie keeps thinking that we need bigger maps, I guess we won't be seeing Chill Out, Rat Race, Prisoner, or Hang 'Em High anytime soon.

Epic is releasing 2 free maps, a video, and a patch for Gears of War on this day. More info about this event can be found here:

http://hushedcasket.com/node/1623