Map Strategy: Zanzibar

Flat beaches peppered with protective boulders against a crumbling seawall. A green open valley between two small fortresses, ringed by sniper-friendly hillside paths and caves that can conceal a single enemy or a platoon. You're most likely to find yourself fighting it out in maps like these if you choose the Team Skirmish or Big Team battles.

Tactics in such games will often depend on the clock, as your squad races against the opposition across a relatively vast distance to reach key weapons—a game objective like The Bomb—or that punk in the Ghost who won't leave the cover of a stand of rocks.

I'd bet good money, were I a bettin' man, that the first team game you play on Xbox Live™ will be on the Zanzibar map. I'd give you double or nothing that the game will be one-flag Capture the Flag (CTF), too. It's small for a "big" map, but that's one of the reasons it's so much fun, with plenty of vehicle action (a pair of Ghosts and a Warthog await the CTF offense team on the beach outside), long-range attack opportunities, and stealthy close-quarters combat. It's well-defined, not prone to confusion, and perhaps the best multiplayer team map I've played in any online game.

This article takes a closer looks at the key locations and weapons on the Zanzibar map and offers some valuable tips.

The Beach
This is where the offensive team begins play and must bring the flag in one-flag CTF. You'll begin with the aforementioned Warthog and Ghosts available to storm the base, but if you want to take a more methodical and sneaky approach, head left on foot up the stairs leading into the seawall. There's a Sniper Rifle about two-thirds of the way down, near a stack of four handy Plasma Grenades.

Gate Control
I have a personal affection for this location and always either head straight up the stairs to defend it or hop into a Ghost and charge the rightmost access point into the base (the path that leads up through small boulders and onto the base's second level).

Unless you're camouflaged or reasonably sure the coast is clear, go ahead and toss in a Grenade first. Then, run like crazy straight ahead, taking the second right. You'll be on a platform over the flag. Just face the control panel and press X to open the base gate. If you make it away from the gate control alive, consider swinging by the Rocket Pad outside for some heavy firepower, unless you already grabbed it, of course.

The Gate
The Zanzibar flag base for one-flag CTF has a huge, barred garage door just begging to be opened. Even if you can't get to the controls, either because of tenacious defenders or abject incompetence, you can still toss Grenades or fire your Sniper Rifle through the bars to provide cover as teammates rush the flag, just beyond the gate.

If you do get the gate up, a simple but effective strategy is to rush in with a Ghost or two and the Warthog. Just be ready for the defenders to turn the vehicles against you if you don't get away with the flag.

Rocks Outside the Gate
Directly facing said gate is a perfect place to hide and snipe defenders. The Sniper Rifle is out in front of the tower, on the left side as you come up from the beach. You might also try the nearby sniper's hill, which is a bit closer to the Sniper Rifle, but farther from the base.

The Stairs
Stairs flank the flag in the center of the base, and one set leads up to both the gate control and the Rocket Pad. It's a natural place for one prong of a multi-pronged attack, so defenders are wise to watch it. In one-flag games with a 30-second flag respawn, you'll end up defending or charging this stairwell a lot.

Beach-Facing Base Entrance
Directly in front of this oblique entrance—which is eerily reminiscent of the entrance to an airport men's room, except darker—sits a Shotgun. Savvy defenders will run out, grab it, and lurk in this entrance to blast intruders at the flag or outside. Astute attackers will hop off the 'hog and grab it on the way in.

Rocket Pad
Directly above the shotgun and behind the gate control, a Shotgun sits out on a launch-pad-type deal. The defenders have the easiest access to it, but offenders might catch it on the respawn. The Rocket Pad also leads straight out to the most convenient "upper level" path to the beach, once you grab the flag.

Windmill
The Windmill is a tricky beast with a toy surprise inside. From the beach, head up the right tower, and when you're halfway up the tower, head straight out toward the big round thing in the middle. Look for a glowing metal lever that holds the Windmill in place and strike it with a melee attack about four times. It will change color and fall over backward, opening a ramp that goes straight to the center of the cylinder, where (with careful timing) you can drop down and nab that all-important Energy Sword. Only speedy defenders will get the sword before a determined offense.

Tower on the Right, Coming from the Beach
In multiplayer, active camouflage can make the difference between a win and a loss, and though almost everyone who plays this map knows where to find it, you still might get there first. From the beach, head straight up to the right (take a Ghost to beat any intrepid defenders) and run up the ramp into the tower. Keep turning left until you see the little blue pyramid; then, fade into the stonework. From here, your nearest effective stealth weapon is the Shotgun directly under the Rocket Launcher in front of the base. A camouflaged attacker can wipe out a whole team with a Shotgun, good aim, and cover provided by the base's front door.

Tower on the Left, Coming from the Beach
This shorter tower offers a Sniper Rifle on the patio out front. If you're camouflaged, you're aces now. Head up the dirt hill alongside this tower and open up on the defenders, or move into the boulders facing the gate and get to work. Defenders can actually get this pretty quickly, too, if they want to get that far from the base and camp out in the same places to turn the tables.

Don't forget to check out Bungie.net for exclusive overhead maps of your own games!

By Danny Chihdo