Halo 3 Downloadable Map Packs Available Now

Halo3 game's screenshot

Today, everything Halo 3 is new again.
Bungie has released a downloadable pack of new multiplayer maps for the blockbuster Xbox 360 shooter.

For $10, Xbox Live members can download three brand-new areas called Standoff, Rat's Nest and Foundry.

If you don't want to put down the $10, just wait -- Microsoft says the maps will become free whenever the next Halo 3 map pack is released, which should be sometime this spring.
To go along with the new maps, Bungie will add a "New Maps Only" option to its matchmaking service, which ensures that you are partnered up with other Halo players who just want to experience the new.
In a FAQ explaining the new maps, Bungie paid particular attention to the Foundry, which it says is "designed from the outset to be the most customizable Halo 3 Forge map ever created."
Foundry takes the form of a large warehouse filled with crates, ramps and even the legendary "man-cannons" that rocket Master Chief through the air.

"Stuff you never had access to before and objects that can be used to create fully functioning level designs, rather than simply altering our existing map," writes Bungie's Luke Smith.
The team of wacky machinima experts at Red vs. Blue have put together a video preview explaining the new maps.

We have to applaud Bungie's decision to eventually make these maps free. Sure, $10 isn't a bad deal for those who will play these maps hundreds of times, but for those of us who have to buy gifts and meat products for large Italian families around this time of year, $10 is the difference between holiday cheer and starving to death in the snow.