Cold Storage

This is a new map announced by Bungie at MLG San Diego on June 14, 2008, Cold Storage is a Halo 3 remake of the Halo: Combat Evolved map Chill Out. It was previously known as Smuggler.

Bungie made an official statement online about the level in their Bungie Weekly update on 20th of June. 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 3rd of July that the map will be released for free on 7th of July.

It is set in a Forerunner facility, with one screen showing Flood bio-mass, and by the "transmissions" revealed in several Bungie Weekly Updates, it may be evident that Cold Storage is located somewhere on Delta Halo, possibly a Flood Containment Facility.

"Smuggler was the code name for Cold Storage. It will be included, along with Purple Reign and Moonbase Alpha, in the next map pack"

- Faerr, a Bungie.net member

"The first sentence is a fact. The second one is an incorrect assumption"

- Luke Smith

This implies that one of the three aforementioned maps will not be included in the third map pack. It would seem as if Luke was referring to Cold Storage being in the next map pack as the incorrect assumption, though it is very possible he was referring to one of the other maps mentioned by Faerr. It was later revealed on the July 3rd Bungie Weekly Update that Cold Storage will be released for free on 07/07/2008 (Bungie Day) and remain available for free thereafter.

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, speculated to be 2401 Penitent Tangent, follows your movements if you stare at it for a while, but will stop once you leave the room. The Flood Pure Form in the study container will sometimes move in his tube, although if any noise is heard/made is not known. The map's mood is considered "competitive", and it is best played with small FFA(Free-For-All) Slayer games. Combat is usually 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 is 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. The Soccer Ball is a confirmed object, and the Mongoose and Ghost vehicles can be placed in as well, but the map is not designed for vehicles roaming around though. 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 are purplish-blue in color, not the usual green.

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 mention of Installation 05's monitor, 2401 Penitent Tangent, would seem to suggest that the map would take place somewhere on Delta Halo.

The second time stamp seems to imply that this was when the Flood broke free on Delta Halo the first time, since it equals approximately 99,779 years. Perhaps this map shows 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

 * 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 of the first multi player maps to feature even a slightest sight of a Flood combatant (let alone any combatant from Campaign mode), albeit in a state of suspended animation.
 * 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 most likely that this level is a Forerunner containment structure on Delta Halo, because 2401 Penitent Tangent was in charge. The Flood may have broken free in the facility and the computer monitoring send a message to 2401 Penitent Tangent. When it had received no message back, it reported directly to Installation 00.
 * 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 has also blue teleporters.
 * In the two screenshots released on 6/20/08, one shows a Flood Tank Form being stored in what appears to be a cryogenic tube, and the other shows a monitor, possibly 343 Guilty Spark or 2401 Penitent Tangent locked in some sort of a holster on the ceiling. A Flood Infection Form was also seen during the ViDoc.
 * Cold Storage is a remake of the Halo: Combat Evolved map Chill Out, which was said on Bungie.net.
 * It appears that one of the cryogenic tubes has burst, leaving behind Flood Biomass where the base used to be.
 * The map's weapon placements are 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 if you look up towards the Monitor in the ceiling and walk around it will continue looking towards you.
 * Cold Storage is the first and only map to date to be free right from the start and to become a stand-a-lone release, not a map pack.
 * Cold Storage is the seventh Downloadable Halo 3 map.