Halo 3: the best of Forge

Lava Pit

Lava Pit – Sandbox – Sacrifice

Proving again that simplicity can be a direct route to good level design, the Lava Pit geometry consists of a single square path with instant-kill drops on all sides, and a large fiery ball of death in the middle. Whilst it does work as a pretty silly Slayer level (try adding several Mongeese into the mix and see what happens), to maximise the potential you must arm your contestants solely with grav hammers and overshields. For an extra twist, turn down gravity and add a dose of Benny Hill movement speed. Welcome to Grifball: Circuit Edition. In space. Without the ball.

Pillar of Smear

Pillar of Smear – Sandbox – Custom

Our final entry is another minimalist triumph of silliness, a set of narrow pillars surrounded by a death-drop. One team spawns on top of the columns whilst the other settles on a concrete platform some distance off. Players have a couple of options at this point. The first is to recoil from the stupidity of it all and head back to CTF on Last Resort. The second (recommended) option leads to some of the most entertaining late-night gaming sessions ever to grace your Xbox. Lack of sleep is mandatory at this point.

Particular highlights include the sticky-jump, where contestants have to avoid incoming grenade tosses whilst balancing on top of their square foot of life-saving space, and the Banshee Run – in which players on the columns are armed with sticky grenades and the other team with Banshees banned from firing. Let boarding commence.

So there we have it: a few (hopefully unfamiliar) contributions to the fires of your Forge. Can you think of anything we’ve missed?