| | Map Strategy: Elongation
Sitting down in a conference room deep within the bowels of the super-secret Xbox® bunker, I eagerly previewed the final multiplayer maps for Halo® 2. Clicking through the names of the new content, I hesitated on Elongation. The name was kind of familiar. It reminded me of…
That's right! Elongation marks the return of a personal and fan favorite arena from Halo®: Combat Evolved. It was called Longest in Halo, but the slight makeover earned it a new name. Still, it continues to embody frantic excellence in level design. Those that played Longest over and over again in Halo know almost exactly what to expect. For everyone else, here's a quick summation.
Color coded, so you don't get lost.
Long and Thin
Imagine an extremely long but very thin room. Now split that room down the middle lengthwise, add a second level to it, tack on two small side rooms in opposite corners, slap some moving conveyor belts on each side's main hallway, drop some giant crates on the conveyor belts, and you get some idea of what Elongation looks like.
In a nutshell, it offers the most chaotic deathmatch experience you could hope for with its two-sided and dual-leveled offering. There's very little room to hide or even stealth around while crouching. Use constant awareness and quick-witted movements to survive the next few moments. Even with great skill, you need to accept your own mortality. Everyone will die here. However, utilizing some level tactics increases your life expectancy … for a few seconds, anyway. 
Point blank with Brute. That's just wrong.
Some Particulars
Like any Halo 2 offering, a variety of unique quirks lurks within this map. A few things that stand out for Elongation: - Color Coded: It's very easy to get turned around and disoriented in Elongation. However, foresighted as Bungie Studios was, they decided to color code the different hallways: one red, one blue. There are only two, so you get your bearings with just a quick glance around. This is especially handy in Capture the Flag (CTF) matches.
- Weapons: The default weapon selection for Elongation is pretty standard (battle rifle, plasma rifle, plasma pistol, etc.), but it includes one rare weapon: the Bruteshot. Seldom have I experienced a level more fitted to the lethal madness of its ricocheting grenades.
- One Flag CTF Fast: This mode is tailor-made for this particular map. With the color-coded hallways and the cramped surroundings, every mad dash for the flag (only two minutes per round) becomes particularly intense.
Elongation marks the return of an old friend, but with all the improvements Halo 2 has offered to the multiplayer community, it seems like a completely new arena. It's the map everyone grew to love in Halo, but now it's got a bunch of new options and features to play around with. Enjoy!
Elongation is one of five new maps included in the appropriately titled Maptacular Map Packfor Halo 2. Hardened warriors can purchase these playgrounds of destruction in one of two ways. For a paltry $11.99, Xbox Live® subscribers download the pack to their Xbox hard drives. Unlucky offline gamers (non-subscribers) who can't take their consoles online can get the new content on DVD in a deluxe edition called the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, which includes the five Maptacular Maps, bothKilltacular Maps, two Bonus Maps, the Halo 2 1.1 update, and some extra goodies—all for $19.99. By Alex McLain |
