Tombstone

Tombstone is a multiplayer map in Halo 2. It is a remake of the map Hang 'Em High from Halo: Combat Evolved. The map was designed by video game company Certain Affinity.

Description

'Tombstone' has numerous significant changes between itself and the Halo: Combat Evolved Multiplayer map, Hang 'Em High. This map also has the same overall concept as Ghost Town and Foundry in Halo 3 . The place is an abandoned Earth territory (Ghost Town reference) and has many cranes and such scattered about (Foundry reference). Differences include Fusion Coils, the inclusion of background objects such as street lamps and soda machines, certain tweaks to account for Halo 2's jump height, and of course a major graphical and aesthetic overhaul.

Overview

Tombstone features a similar weapon set as Hang 'Em High. Tombstone spawning weapons are unique in two ways; It is the only map where the primary spawning weapon is the BR55 Battle Rifle, and it is the only map to have two starting weapons, the Battle Rifle and the M7/Caseless Submachine Gun. The map features two Overshields, both of which are located on adjacent locales on the map, one in the canal at the bottom of the map, and the other across the map from the first, inside the control room. An M19 SSM Rocket Launcher lies in the canal, opposite of the Overshield.

An Energy Sword spawns on a platform at the top of the map, and the only way to reach it is by running across a long bridge that is completely exposed to sniper fire from almost anywhere on the map. Despite its power, the sword often spends entire matches untouched simply because it is too risky to retrieve.

The large crane in the middle and center of the map sports a SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle on top of it. Also, very clever players will get the Sniper Rifle and the Energy Sword, making them even tougher. There are also far more Shotguns scattered across the map than there are in Hang 'Em High.

Trivia

There is a soda machine that has BLAST soda inside.
A picture of the original Hang 'Em High is seen on the main screen in the control room.
A box with a picture of the M6D Pistol can be seen on a crate that's behind the right side of the fence, stretched over the water trench in the middle of the map. There is also an M6D pistol out of the box, but it is cannot be used as it is out of the playable area and it is a model without proper weapon settings.
The destroyed city of Mombasa can be seen in the distance, and the map itself feels similar to the area of Voi. Thus, this map seems to be set in the time period of Halo 3: ODST.
Tombstone is the only map in Halo 2 to have 8 territories, which is the game's limit. This includes Sword spawn, blue base, red base, red bunker, blue bunker, center, command center and the section of blue base that includes a ramp with a large piece of sheet metal covering it.
Tombstone is exclusive to the Xbox version of Halo 2 which is backwards compatible on Xbox 360. It was not officially available for Halo 2 Vista, but modders were able to port Tombstone to Halo 2 Vista.
This map was used to represent Caboose's mind in episode 100 of the popular machinima series Red vs Blue (Caboose's mind had previously been depicted as Hang 'Em High in earlier seasons). Church commented that "Man, this place has REALLY gone to hell..." and it also reappears in Reconstruction chapter 11 where Church meets Agent Washington and a message from Delta.
Hang 'Em High was originally a Forerunner burial site, which matches up with the name Tombstone, which also references Hang 'Em High's description "Tombstones For Everybody".
It is possible that Tombstone was named after the Arizona city of Tombstone, where in 1881 Wyatt Earp, his brothers, and Doc Holliday participated in the most infamous shootout of the North America's Wild West, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. This would also keep with the western theme of the name of Tombstone's predecessor, Hang 'Em High.
- Another possibility is that Certain Affinity saw that Hang 'em High was the name of a western film, and chose another western film as the remake's name.

Gallery

H2 Tombstone02sm.jpg

Tombstone
CTFTombstone.jpg

A CTF game on Tombstone.
Slayertombstone.PNG

A Slayer game on Tombstone.

Sources

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