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Halo 4 fans won’t have to worry about boredom over the next few months. While we do advocate food and water and maybe a modicum of movement from time to time, our Halo 4 review, consonant with most others, found that it wasn’t hard to get lost among the War Games and Spartan Ops and Forge and Theater modes of 343’s vastly improved, every-bit-as-addicting-as-Bungie’s-trilogy online component.

Better yet, the baseline offerings are only the beginning.

A little over a month ago, announcing the “War Games Map Pass” for Halo 4, 343 unveiled plans to release a trio of three-level map packs – Crimson, Majestic and Castle – in the months of December, February and April, respectively. Today, the developer made good on the first end of its forecast, officially confirming the Crimson Pack for release on December 10 and further detailing its new set of battlegrounds: Wreckage, Harvest, and Shatter. Crimson also introduces “Extraction,” a brand new, tactical 5-on-5 matchmaking mode.

The trailer above, along with the screenshot assemblage throughout the post, will give you a good visual perspective of the add-on and all of its new trappings. The full explanation of details from 343, however, constitutes a handy field guide for those curious about optimal game modes and combat tactics.

Wreckage

Harvest

Shatter

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Free for those who purchased the $25 (2000 Microsoft Point) War Games Map Pass, the Crimson Pack runs for $10 (800 Microsoft Points) otherwise and integrates eight new achievements adding up to 250 Gamerscore Points. But even gamers who don’t wish to pay for additional Halo 4 content when the maps drop on December 10 aren’t out of luck: 343 Industries announced that the same day will see  “Extraction” inserted into War Games multiplayer, a 5-on-5 team objective mode that reads quite similar to Call of Duty’s Headquarters:

Love or loathe, map packs have long been a fixture of Halo multiplayer; consider them one of the many ways in which 343 is honoring the Bungie legacy. But that’s hardly a complaint. 343 believes firmly in the richness and excellence of Halo 4’s multiplayer universe, and has already proven capable through Spartan Ops of enhancing it with periodic DLC. War Games - like the entirety of Infinity multiplayer, really – already has a ridiculously fun foundation to work on, and it’s not a stretch to think Crimson won’t disappoint.

Ranters, are you planning to pick up Halo 4’s Crimson Map Pack on December 10th?

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Folllow Brian on Twitter @Brian_Sipple.