Before you REPLY: Please do not respond with comments about whether or not you like or dislike the map unless they are backed up with specific reasons regarding the maps features and why the are good/bad. Orbital has its uses. I'm sure there is some gametype out there that would work great on it...however, as a Team Slayer map it is absolutely horrific. Although it looks really cool, it doesnt have any of the defining qualities that make it a great map. Heres why: Orbital is a map strictly of a set of 2 hallway segments that connect 2 bases. There is only 1 point on the map where one hallway overlooks the other, and there is 1 point outside each base where the hallways connect. Add in 2 stairwells, and thats essentially the map. So what you ask? Why is this bad? Specifically for team slayer? 2 hallway segments - First of all, hall ways aren't exactly the most complex terrain out there. These hallways are the same size throughout, and only interact with each other at 3 points on the map. Think about that. This means that all of the battles you will fight will be either against someone straight on, in a hallway, or at the one point on the map where one hallway looks down upon another. First and foremost, a map is a weapon. It is a weapon that you master and learn. You take advantage of lines of sight, elevation, and terrain, all of which influence the way you do battle. Complex surfaces, corners, hills, intersections, windows, and any combination of those affect the way you use your weapon, grenades, vehicles, and equipment to tilt a fight in your favor. The way your team-mates position themselves on a map (say guardian for instance) affect the flow of gameplay and how well you are able to defend your ground, escape it, or trap an opponent. Orbital has none of this. The few terrain features it has are 2 escalators, an elevator, and 2 bases (neither of which pose any strategic advantage to stay inside, nor are any kind of defendable position). If in any circumstance you need to escape an opponent, or steer clear of them, your only option is to hide along the sides of the map, or run in the opposite direction. There is generally only 1 way to get behind your opponent, and that is through the other hallway. Grenade bouncing is simply a throw around a corner, or straight forward. The only real flow this map has is towards the center of the map. That is the only strategic ground to hold, and there are only 2 ways to get there. The map lacks any sort of complexity or character. Really, its nothing but a few basic hallways. The most important thing to a map are its lines of fire and how they interact with its lines of movement. Orbital has only 1 point where a line of fire is different than its available movement (elevator shaft). Points like this are what define a map and quite frankly 1 is never enough. Look at guardian (great map). You can look from sniper tower to blue room, but you run that line of fire (the lift is 1 way). The map is filled with lines of fire that cross and intersect. Each area of the map holds a different strategic value and the positioning of teammates is always important. There are many ways to get to every point on the map...great for evasion, coordinated attacks, and making strategic attack routes. Orbital has barely any of this. No cross map interaction. No attack choices, no evasion, no strategy involved. Just run forward, and shoot. This map had huge potential. The escalators and the rooms they lead into, and the bases, are all well designed portions of the maps, and could easily be connected or featured to pose strategic locations that look out upon other parts of the map. They could be connected in a complex way that provides the player with a map that offers intricacy, strategy, and most importantly options to the player. Instead the map is characterized by a set of long, basic tunnels, which I'm sure could be great for a mongoose course or something...but not team slayer. A quality map is a map that is fun the first time you've played it, and the thousandth time you've played it. For this to happed a map needs to have a basic enough design concept that is easily understood by any player. Take high ground for example. The simple concept: A hill with a castle wall at the high ground to defend. Simple. A map like this is hard to get lost on because you can always orient yourself based on key map features (the slope of the ground, one side being higher). Orbital has a map structure that is repetitive and does not effective make use of color coding to orient a player within the map. Because the hallways are so simple it is playable at first glance. For a map to be good it also need to be fun the thousandth time. For this to happen a map needs to contain variety within itself. When a certain scenario is too basic or too repetitive, it becomes boring. A map must have enough complexity to keep a player constantly finding little things, angles, edges, to bounce grenades off of, new tactical jumps and ways to evade opponents. Orbital lacks this depth. Look at a comparison of Blackout and Lockout. Surely anyone that can tell a difference in structure will agree that lockout is a better map. Why? Look at the sniper tower on Lockout. There are 4 ways to jump or run from sniper 1 to sniper 2. Look at sniper tower on blackout. There is 1 way to run or jump (run) from sniper 1 to sniper 2. The complex options and jumps were removed in blackout, along with many important lines of sight (library window now has bulletproof glass)(snipe ramp can look upon elbow). Sure, many of you who havent played halo 2 or played blackout alot will think its great, but what really makes a map playable thousands and thousands of times are the intricacies of the map. A category that Orbital FAILS in. Case closed. I dont care what your opinions of the map are because orbital is such a simple map that it might sit well as first. But will it go down as a Last Resort or Coagulation or midship that players love game after game? No, not even close, but a closed system on a space ship had the potential. Thoughts? [Edited on 05.26.2009 9:42 PM PDT]