Cold Storage

Cold Storage is a Halo 3 Multiplayer map. It is a remake of the Halo: CE map, Chill Out and was released for free at 2am PST on July 7th, 2008 (Bungie Day). The map was announced by Bungie at MLG San Diego on June 14th, 2008. During development, it was codenamed 'Smuggler'. Bungie has also stated that Cold Storage is considered to be a part of the Legendary Map Pack.

Bungie made an official statement online about the level in their Bungie Weekly Update on June 20th. It was first shown in an exhibition game between Bungie members; Lukems and Shishka, and MLG Pros; Karma and Legend, which served as the map's debut. It was then revealed in the Weekly Update on July 3rd that the map will be released, for free, July 7th.

It is set in a Forerunner facility, with one screen showing Flood bio-mass. By the "transmissions" revealed in several Bungie Weekly Updates, it was speculated that Cold Storage was somewhere on Delta Halo, possibly a Flood Containment Facility. This was confirmed by the in game description of the map.

Design
Cold Storage is a Forerunner research facility that has had an outbreak of the Flood Super Cell. Being derived from a Halo 1 map, many changes needed to be made to Cold Storage to bring it into line with Halo 3's updated physics and graphic design. Many of the jumps and railings have been tweaked, like Blackout's, but they stay well within the layout of Chill Out. The "Monitor" in the ceiling, follows your movements if you stare at it for a while, but will stop once you leave the room. The Pure Form in the study container will sometimes move in his tube. The map's mood is considered "competitive", and it is best played with small FFA (Free-For-All) Slayer games. Combat tends to be rather chaotic, and because of the multitude of teleporters, it is very easy to get from one area to another and smite your opponents. The only major change to the map's weapon layout is that the Halo: CE Pistol that was in Chill Out has been replaced with a Battle Rifle.

Forge
Very few new objects are known to exist to Cold Storage, but one known one is a new Energy Blocker, derived from the ones on Avalanche. There are also Forge Filters that effect the color and overall tone of the map. The Soccer Ball is a confirmed object, and the Mongoose and Ghost can be placed in as well, though the map is not especially designed for vehicles. The Flamethrower is available, but only in Forge. Teleporters have a new design to them, as they now have a circular base, instead of the three-pronged base in other maps. They also have purplish-blue color, and not the usual green color theme.

Smuggler
Before the map was revealed, it was known as Smuggler. Two transmissions about it were posted on Bungie.net.

In the Bungie Weekly Update 5/30/08, the following transmission was shown:

Part 1
"REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE

LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] has experienced catastrophic specimen containment failure. All apertures into facility will be locked until further notice. Atmosphere evacuation and [reduction of ambient temperature] protocols have already been enacted. Request maintenance and security detail [at earliest opportunity]. [8 minutes] elapsed since initial containment failure.

REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE

Waiting for maintenance and security detail. [32 minutes, 9 seconds] elapsed since request.

REPORT: CONTAINMENT FAILURE

Still waiting for maintenance and security detail. [24 hours] elapsed since request.

REPORT: SECURITY BREACH

LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] has experienced a security breach via emergency [slip stream space] transportation conduits. Emergency [slip stream space] transportation conduits have been placed in recursive mode to contain unauthorized hostile lifeforms. Request emergency security detail. Still waiting for primary maintenance and security detail. [2512332 hours, 14 minutes, 6 seconds]elapsed since initial request.

REPORT: DERELICTION OF DUTY

2401 [PENITENT TANGENT] has been lax in the areas of maintenance and security."

Part 2
A new conversation was given in the 6/6/08 update.

LOG: QUERIED ADJACENT FACILITIES LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility [alpha, beta, gamma, epsilon, zeta, and kappa sites] have all replied [systems normal] within expected constraints. This would tend to signify that the containment failure was purely mechanical in nature; perhaps a manufacturing flaw. As no [outside agent] has accessed [delta site] in the past [874068942 hours, 4 minutes, 46 seconds]—[allowing for a 61360 hour, 54, minute, 2 second margin of error]—sabotage would seem unlikely.

LOG: REQUEST UNANSWERED LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] is currently being held at [.01 atm] / [184K]. Local maintenance and security hubs have failed to reply within expected constraints. [Bumping maintenance and security request up] to [quadrant oversight].

LOG: REQUEST UNANSWERED LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] is currently being held at [1 atm] / [278K] as atmospheric seals were showing signs of stress. [Quadrant oversight] has failed to reply within expected constraints. [Bumping maintenance and security request all the way up] to 2401 [PENITENT TANGENT].

LOG: UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO FACILITIES LF.Xx.3273 research and containment facility; [delta site] emergency [slip stream space] transportation conduits have been accessed by unauthorized parties.

LOG: FILED COMPLAINT TO INSTALLATION 00 2401 [PENITENT TANGENT], monitor of Installation 05, has been lax in the areas of maintenance and security. Requests for aid in said areas have gone unanswered by both 2401 and [subservient] systems well beyond expected constraints.

Theories
The second time stamp seems to imply that this was when the Flood broke free on Delta Halo, since it equals approximately 99,779 years. Perhaps this level may provide clues as to how, considering this and the mention of how the "best laid plans can fail", as stated by Luke in one of Bungie's Weekly Updates.

Gallery
For many more pictures, click here.

Trivia

 * Cold Storage is a remake of the Halo: Combat Evolved map Chill Out, which was said on Bungie.net.
 * It was mentioned in the ViDoc, And On the 7th Day, that Bungie had wanted to call this map Cold Sore. However, Bungie said this name wouldn't work.
 * Cold Storage is one the first multiplayer map to feature Flood combatants. There is the Tank Form in suspended animation near the Shotgun spawn, and Infection Forms are seen crawling through the Flood infested area.
 * The first time stamp '2512332 hours, 14 minutes, 6 seconds' is the equivalent of 290 years, 7 months, 14 minutes, 6 seconds. The second time stamp is equivalent to 99,779 years, 204 days, 6 hours, 4 minutes, 46 seconds.
 * It is also possible that the "slipspace transportation conduits" is referring to the teleportation grid on the Halos, which 343 Guilty Spark used on Installation 04, and that Gravemind took control over via 2401 Penitent Tangent on Installation 05.
 * LF.Xx.3273 is the Forerunner term for the Flood Super Cell.
 * Cold Storage is the second map in Halo 3 to include teleporters by default. However, the teleporters are blue instead of common green. The Halo 2 multiplayer map, Gemini, also contained blue teleporters.
 * It appears that one of the cryogenic tubes has burst, leaving behind Flood Biomass where the base used to be.
 * The map's weapons layout is the same, or close to, the weapon layout on Chill Out, one adjustment being the pair of grenades removed from the southwestern half and the northeastern half in the curved hallways, originally, four grenades spawned there. Also a pistol is replaced by a battle rifle.
 * A ViDoc was released on Bungie.net soon after the Weekly Update of July 3rd was posted.
 * Also, in the ViDoc, if you look closely at the upper righthand corner after the Halo 3 logo fades away (at the end), the logo of the Superintendent can be faintly seen. This may be a possible reference to the Recon Road Trip, though it could be a reference to the screen before that that restates the information in which the "Love, Bungie" flickers once to "KEEP IT CLEAN".
 * It was shown in the ViDoc that the Monitor in the ceiling looks at you as you walk around the room it's in.
 * Cold Storage is the first and only Halo DLC to date to be released alone.
 * Cold Storage is the "seventh" Halo 3 DLC map.
 * Cold Storage is the second Halo 3 map to be Flood themed, the first being level Isolation.
 * Cold Storage is the first map to reveal what the bottom of a Flood Growth Pod looks like.
 * Shooting the Monitor causes its shields to flicker.
 * 32 minutes, 9 seconds: 3+2+9=14; 14 divided by 2 is 7.
 * Using the Turret Glitch, it is possible to get inside the Pure Form's containment tank. Once inside, your player model will pass through the Tank Form, yet when you melee it, it will make a squishing noise.
 * Flood Infection Forms roam in the outside of the map.