Blackout

Blackout is a multiplayer map featured in Halo 3 and is a remake of the classic Halo 2 map, Lockout. It will be featured as one of the three maps in the Legendary Map Pack available on April 15th, 2008.

Rather than a Forerunner facility, like its predecessor, this map takes place in the Northern Arctic of Earth, on Weather Station z/41. The layout is almost identical to that of Lockout, but features more grenades and now includes equipment. Most of the jumps, even the crazy ones from Halo 2, are still there. However a number of things have been modified or removed such as one area which was altered to make it more difficult to lock down part of the map.

Blackout's code name was Moonlight Sonata during its development due to the levels dark nighttime sky. It replaces Purple Reign in the Halo 3 Legendary Map Pack. Purple Reign will be included in a later map pack.

Bungie almost didn't make the map, because they already had Guardian, which was inspired by and has always been considered a "spiritual successor" to Lockout. The reason they made Blackout was because Lockout was one of the most popular Halo 2 multiplayer maps and was one of the most requested maps for a Halo 3 remake.

Trivia

 * Blackout's codename was "Moonlight Sonata" (A reference to the dark night sky)
 * It is so far the only map in the Halo series to take place during the night.
 * The Aurora Borealis is visible in this map.
 * The layout of the map is a direct remake of Lockout from Halo 2. The only other direct remake in Halo 3 is Last Resort which is a remake of Zanzibar.
 * Bungie claims that the model for Blackout was rebuilt because the original model of Lockout was too messy to work with.
 * The only weapon spawn point differences is that the SMG near the Gravity-Lift tower has been removed and the spawn points where the Needlers used to be have been replaced by Brute Spikers.
 * It has been confirmed that the old death defying jumps can still be acomplished.
 * Blackout has more Plasma Grenades than Fragmentation Grenades. It is the only map in Halo 3 for which this is the case.
 * In the Darkness Legendary Map Pack trailer (as seen here), Blackout appears to be slightly larger then Lockout, however this may only be just visual.