Obligatory Halo: Reach fanboy noise at the news of new map pack available in March: "Woooooooooooooo-oooo-oooo-ooooooooooo"

Yes I'm pretty damn excited about a new map pack all ready, especially as I've barely scratched at the Noble pack. My only problem with these map packs is I wish Microsoft would make them cheaper than 800 MS points so more people would download and play them. This map pack also adds 150 Gamerscore achievements to the existing set, screwing up my perfect achievement score for Halo games even worse than the Noble Pack did. Curses!

The most notable feature of this new pack is that it wasn't actually a pure Bungie production, a lot of the heavy lifting duties provided by something called a 'Certain Affinity'. Bungie no doubt far too busy on their super secret project for Activision.

Enjoy trailer, press release and screens below.

Spartans, ready your assault rifles and prepare to take the fight to new fronts! The Covenant crushed human defenses on Reach, but the fight for humanity’s survival still rages on in three brand new battlefields set on the doomed planet. With maps set on a giant orbital station high above the burning surface of the planet, hidden inside the forest of a military wilderness training facility, and wrapped in the remnants of a civilian mining site, the Defiant Map Pack brings awesome new environments for Firefight matches and all competitive multiplayer modes.

• Condemned: Condemned takes place aboard Orbital Station Gamma, a massive space station high in orbit above the planet Reach. Prior to the Covenant’s overwhelming invasion, Orbital Station Gamma provided long range communications for UNSC fleets and a vital lifeline between Reach and Earth. During the Battle of Reach, the station suffered terrible punishment at the hands of the Covenant but a few fortified sections remain intact, fully pressurized, and ready for combat. Condemned supports 6 – 12 players in a variety of action-packed game types, including Team Slayer, Team Objective and Free for All.
• Highlands: Highlands takes place on the top-secret Military Wilderness Training Preserve on Reach. The Preserve is a large, wooded area where Spartan super-soldiers trained long before the war with the Covenant began. During the Battle of Reach, the Preserve was the site of key battles between the alien invaders and a group of Spartans who used their familiarity with these UNSC training grounds to significant tactical advantage…but not everyone who enters these woods makes it out alive. Highlands expands the fight with massive-scale engagements for 8 – 16 players in Big Team Battle, Team Slayer and Team Objective.
• Unearthed: Unearthed takes the battle for Reach to a large Titanium mine and refinery located in the Viery civilian sector of the planet. This particular mine was built to take advantage of the exposed titanium inside a massive meteor crater. The titanium produced here is used in much of the UNSC hardware, from the chassis of the Warthog to the meters-thick armor plating of capital ships like the UNSC Pillar of Autumn. While this facility was quickly abandoned when the Covenant arrived on Reach, it still has significant tactical (and economic) value and it won’t be long before both humans and Covenant return to battle for control. Unearthed allows up to 4 players to launch a counterassault against the Covenant in Firefight and Firefight modes such as Generator Defense.

Some people will try to tell you Halo isn't actually very good. These are evil, bad, evil people and you should contact the authorities and give a detailed description of them, probably mention they tried to force you into a van for good measure

You're my private dancer, a dancer for Cr, any old music will do

It's the age old battle of surgically modified supermen versus space lizards. Like in the bible, somewhere towards the back I think

I would like my dining room to look like this, with maybe a cocktail slushie machine

While undoubtedly cool the iconic Warthog isn't best described as 'road holding'

If you get a chance to pause and look up you'll notice that's a pretty awesome skyline

Running over Hunters is never wise, but still irresistable, like hitting on girls with too many piercings

Rocket Hog Vs. dropship, there's a certain satisfaction with blasting those over sized massage aids out of the sky