High Ground

High Ground
Map overview
Game:	Halo 3
Map file name (?):	deadlock
Lore information
Location:	Outpost C9, Africa, Earth
Gameplay overview
Terrain:	Beach, Urban Fortress, and plateaus
Recommended number of players:	4-12
Recommended gametype(s):	One Flag One Bomb Territories One Sided VIP Team Slayer

“

A relic of older conflicts, this base was reactivated after the New Mombasa Slipspace Event.

”

High Ground is a multiplayer map in Halo 3, and later included in Halo Online where it was known as Elevation. It was one of the maps playable in the Halo 3 Beta.

Universe and lore

Main article: Outpost C9

High Ground is located around Outpost C9, a former-NATO military base in Voi, Africa, designed to combat "earlier and simpler enemies" than those later faced by the UNSC in the twenty-sixth century. The base was reactivated after the New Mombasa Slipspace Event in October 2552. The base was utilized by the UNSC to test captured examples of the Paegaas Workshop Spiker recovered from fallen Jiralhanae in the wake of the Great Schism.

Due to the old NATO architecture and newer UNSC technology, the facility has a mix of crumbling bulwarks and high-tech military equipment. The base has a concrete bunker and large partitioning wall to divide the beachhead and base itself, with a single large blast gate overlooked by an AIE-486H machine gun. A single watchtower is above the bunker, while the other side of the wall has decayed due to time. The back of the base has a small courtyard with an ASRGAM-10X Surface-to-air missile launcher.

Overview

Layout

High Ground is an asymmetric map featuring an elevated, crumbling UNSC base positioned along a beach. Low, eroded cliffs lie to the north, east, and west of the base, with the beach lying south of the base. There are multiple ways to approach and enter the base; through the main gate (that is closed only in asymmetric gametypes), or through side passages, which offer more protection and discretion. As one of the few asymmetric maps in the game, High Ground is great for one-sided objective games such as Single Bomb|One Bomb, One Flag, and Territories.

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  High Ground Map.

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  An annotated map of High Ground.

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  The heatmap for High Ground.

Beach

Attacking players spawn at the south side of the map, aptly named "the beach". If the main gate is open, it can be used as a quick entrance to or exit from the base.

A variety of weaponry and equipment has been placed near the beach to aid attackers in storming the base. Perhaps the two most valuable weapons are the sniper rifle and the rocket launcher, though the latter can be reached by the base defenders if they use vehicles. In most games, a battle for control of the rocket launcher ensues at the start of the game, and repeats whenever the weapon respawns. Players can also find a shotgun, gravity lift, bubble shield, active camo, and overshield to aid in their attack. In addition to the weapons and equipment, players can choose between a Mongoose or Ghost to get to the base wall faster.

Fortress

This large, crumbling base on the northern side of the map is where defending players spawn. In the back of the base, there is an unusable surface-to-air missile launcher. Several vehicles, including Mongooses and a Ghost, spawn just east of the launcher, allowing defenders to quickly catch fleeing attackers, or for attackers to make a quick getaway.

A broken-down control room is located in the center of the base, complete with computers and a radio set. This control room is the objective area for CTF and Assault game types, containing the flag spawn point and bomb plant point, respectively. Farther east is the "Pipe Room", where attackers can enter the base via a small pipe that connects to the front of the base.

The western half of the base is mostly indoors and offers two levels of play. The lower level connects the base to a pillbox bunker lying just outside the base's walls; the level also has multiple entry points inside the base. The upper level is used as a choke point to keep attackers from reaching the gate controls on the catwalk. If a player is able to access the gate controls, the base wall gate will be permanently opened, as is the case with the gates in Zanzibar and Last Resort. The base is designed to promote dual wielding, and as such, a number of dual-wieldable weaponry can be found behind the base wall.

The base wall is an important area for defenders, as it gives them a view of most of the beach. Defenders on the wall, however, are vulnerable to battle rifle and sniper rifle fire from the beach. The wall acts as a bridge, connecting the base's eastern side to its western side. On the western edge of the wall, there is a tower where a Spartan Laser and two fusion coils spawn. In addition, a machine gun turret is mounted above the main gate, which is useful for beating back approaching rushes and vehicles. The rocket launcher can be accessed by defenders as well, if they quickly rush up and over the base wall, beating the attackers.

Callouts

• Beach
• Base
• Bunker
• Bunker Cave
• Broken Wall
• Missile Launcher
• Bunker Cave
• Beach Tunnel
• Broken Tunnel
• Ledge
• Tower
• Gate
• Gate Switch
• Pipe Room
• Backside

Production notes

A diagram of the "big ass mortar gun" and AI-controlled turrets from early development.

Originally called given the name "Deadlock" during early development, High Ground started off as an idea exploration from designer Steve Cotton; "Could we build a wall that one team had to take from the other team?" Later inspiration came from the D-Day landings, and the Halo 2 map Zanzibar. Monkey Mountain, a map in development near the end of the Halo 3's pre-production, similarly explored the concept.

During development of the map, the SAM Launcher in the back of the base was originally to be an AI-controlled "big-ass mortar gun" that would fire down on players attempting to advance up the beach. The map would have also featured AI-controlled machine guns in the watchtowers firing down on the attacking team, though these features were cut as they made the map impossibly stacked against the attacking team and too difficult to play on. The watchtowers were scaled back to just the one watchtower—now the spawn of the Spartan Laser—and the one player-controlled chaingun above the main gate.

High Ground was one of the first multiplayer maps unveiled for Halo 3, alongside Snowbound and Valhalla. These three maps were playable in the game's beta.

Trivia

• The Cortana on High Ground easter egg can be found on this level.
• The radio inside the fort where the flag spawns transmits three different Morse Code messages. When translated they are:
  • "frogblast the ventcore"
  • "SABABWL"
  • "Don't Make us Kick Your Ass" - a classic Bungie saying.
• The radio inside the fort where the flag spawns also transmits Under Cover of Night from Halo: Combat Evolved's soundtrack.
• There are small fish that can be seen and killed, and will wash up on the shore.
• It is possible to go deep into the water on this map by overloading it with Trip Mines then sticking a respawn point out side, or by using teleporters and having one player go through a Sender Node while another holds a Receiver Node beyond the map.

Gallery

Browse more images in this article's gallery page.

Development images

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  Concept art of the exterior of the base on High Ground.

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  Concept art of the interior of the base.

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  More concept art of the base interior.

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  An early layout for the map.

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  A screenshot of High Ground, at the end of Halo 3 pre-production.

Pre-release screenshots

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  The Base Wall in the Alpha, showing the M247 GPMG in place of the final release AIE-486H chaingun.

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  The base from above in the Alpha.

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  The base interior in the Alpha.

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  A battle at the base wall in the Alpha.

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  An early Halo 3 multiplayer Spartan on High Ground.

Final release screenshots

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  Red team in the bunker.

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  Spartans on a Mongoose.

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  A battle inside the base.

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  Defending the base interior during Territories.

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  The hill leading up to the base.

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  A view of the base wall.

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  The bridge leading to the flag.

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  The door leading from the base courtyard to the bunker.

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  The base building holding the flag.

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  The surface-to-air missile launcher in the base.

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  The NATO symbol in the base.