Sandtrap

Sandtrap is a multiplayer map featured in Halo 3.

Summary
Sandtrap is a vast desert with rolling sand dunes, it is the largest multiplayer map in the Halo franchise, the second biggest map is Infinity from Halo: Combat Evolved.

It features odd Forerunner buildings and is encircled with a minefield that features vertically-launching mines to prevent players from venturing beyond its boundaries. Six large towers surround the outer extremities of the map, all connected by a large wall. The purpose and origin of these structures is unknown. The September 07 EGM stated that this was the site of a Brute excavation and UNSC forces (deployed from the frigate Aegis Fate, which hovers in the sky above the map) came along and removed them. It has a heavy emphasis on vehicular combat. Most of the vehicles in the game are on this map - for example, the "bases" are a pair of UNSC Elephants at opposite ends of the recently unearthed Forerunner ruins.

History
It was first announced in the June 2007 issue of Gamepro. It may also be the "large map" Bungie sparsely talked about in one of their updates. This was not one of the three maps featured in the public Halo 3 Beta. This map was originally named Shrine, but was confirmed to have been renamed to Sandtrap in the July 13, 2007 Bungie Weekly Update.

Weapons

 * MA5C Assault Rifle
 * Brute Shot
 * Rocket Launcher
 * Spartan Laser
 * Missile Pod
 * AIE-486H Heavy Machinegun (on the elephant)
 * Gravity Hammer
 * SRS99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
 * Battle Rifle
 * Shotgun

Equipment

 * Regenerator
 * Trip Mine
 * Bubble Shield (3 near Rockets)

Vehicles

 * Brute Chopper
 * Warthog
 * UNSC Aegis Fate (Unusable, in the background)
 * Phantom (Unusable, crashed near the Banshee spawn)
 * Banshee
 * Albatross Crate (Unusable, crashed near one of the Elephants)
 * Elephant
 * Mongoose

Strategies & Miscellaneous

 * Bungie accelerated the respawn timer for vehicles to 15 seconds. Take advantage of that.
 * Avoid fighting on foot through this large level.
 * If stuck try heading for the ruins at the center of the map.
 * Make sure you have plenty of grenades and explosive weapons.
 * A strategy for VIP and CTF is to drive the Elephant on one of the hills on a slant, that way attackers can't breach the front and have to get through the rear.
 * GamePro has stated that Sandtrap "...has few ties to older Halo 2 maps, but it's massive size recalls Relic."
 * At E3, a map was shown on video. It was said by viewers to be called "Sand Trap" — in contrast to having been called "Shrine" before that point — and was labeled "... the largest map ever to be in Halo." The new name of Sand Trap was confirmed in the July 12 Bungie podcast.
 * Note that all vehicles at full speed (or players in custom matches where player speed is increased) can outrun the land mines surrounding the shrines. Note that land mines will attack the player even if in a low-flying Banshee. Driving into the minefield might be effective for losing pursuers.(Also note that there is NO safe place in the minefield, not even places where mines have already gone off, they will quickly respawn)
 * If the player manages to flip the Elephant, when approached, instead of the "Hold RB to flip [vehicle name]" message, the player will receive "Hold RB to flip... wait, what? How did you do that?"
 * Some players say that the Phantom is a Scarab because if you look at the top details it's more in a shape of a Scarab than a Phantom. This is false though. In some campaign missions you can see crashed Phantoms which look same as Phantom in Sandtrap.
 * Close inspection reveals that the minefield outside the map is probably Brute made because the explosives that lift out of the ground have several small spikes. Each mine is shaped like a Spike Grenade, only without the handle.
 * One fun thing to do is to have two or more pairs of people on a mongoose chasing each other down with heavy weapons, such as the brute shot, spartan laser, or rocket launcher. If you're insane enough, you can grab a hammer and try that as well. This activity is called "Mongoose Jousting."
 * A bird's eye view of sandtrap proves that the map looks like a head.
 * A UNSC Frigate hovers over the map
 * In Forge, you can add 2 UNSC Hornets, as well as tanks, Mongooses, and Gauss Warthogs.
 * Several references are made to Half-Life 2 in this level including the name "Sandtrap", which is a chapter in the game "Sandtraps", and a crowbar (Half-Life's trademark weapon) that can be found in one of the structures.
 * Sandtrap shares some similarities with the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Burial Mounds.
 * A tower structure resembling the exterior of Epitaph can be seen in the distance. When playing on the Epitaph map, the area below and around it resembles a mostly barren desert. This has obviously led to speculation that the two levels could be within kilometers of each other. Although this is not true as 1. The tower is too small. 2. On the Epitaph map, no other towers can be seen. And 3. The area around Epitaph is completely flat and Sandtrap has lots of hills.
 * There's an interesting glitch on Sandtrap. The large structure opposite the spot that the Rocket Launcher spawns, has two small alcoves (on the side location shown on picture) if you go inside either during multilayer, with at least 2-players, and look down to where the wall meets the ground. There is a small gap you can see into, in this gap you will see the screen of the other player's. Doing this you can figure out what gun they have, where they are etc. without actually 'screen-cheating'
 * The most INSANE and LAST thing players would want to do this map is to have a 1v1 head-on battle. Usually, it means customizing this in Forge, where the weapon is supposed to be a medium assault weapon, like the CC, or the AR, etc, then set to no weapons on the map, which makes it infinite. Then, change all vehicles to solo-assaulting ones, excluding the tanks, which means Ghosts, Choppers, Banshees and Hornets. But when playing this, make sure your opponent is about your skill.( Try to bully a young noob by doing this)This way, it will show who's better than which.
 * THE ANTI GRAVITY CHAMBER: This is an amusing glitch found on sandtrap. Take one of the two elephants on the map, and drive it to the rear of the other. Drive the elephant into the back of the other Elephant until yours begins to lift into the air. Once you've reached a good angle, dismount your Elephant and take its mongoose. Drive it into the back of the other Elephant. It will be tossed into the air helplessly. Any vehicle will exhibit this behavior. It is a fun and amusing trick to play when you are being chased by a warthog. Also, this is an easy way to flip an elephant.
 * Another glitch it is possible to escape the map and go on the outside and then on theater explore the ship above the map
 * It is possible to have a mongoose bounce up and down forever in the grav lift tower. Simply drive it in carefully until both you and the vehicle are bouncing, then dismount.
 * There have been numerous reported ghost sightings in Sandtrap.
 * It is possible to get onto the high towers of the bases. A banshee should do the trick.
 * This is currently the only map to have the tripmine on it outside of custom games.
 * Due to a little investigation. It looks like the spires are actually in control of when the Mines spawn. To best see this drive a Banshee along the bottom of the floor on the outside, when you see an orange-ish laser cross over your vehicle, quit and go to Theatre. When in theatre follow the laser to both ends. At one you'll see the Mine spawn, the other end will lead to a spire at the other end of the map.

Related Links

 * Gameplay footage