8 O’Clock Reminiscence

By REMkings

Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y'all's neighbourhood

Welcome everybody to my second map in Halo 4, named "8 O'Clock Reminiscence". The inspiration for the name comes from the fact that the map takes place at dusk, hence the "8 O'Clock" part, and that terrible events went down at that hour which may not be forgotten by the ones who lived through, hence the part "Reminiscence". Anyway, as you may already know, 8 O'Clock is another take on the concept I used for my Reach map "Deadborough", in which tall buildings with multiple accessible levels as well as warthog gameplay in and around the cityscape play a vital role. Be reminded of the fact that this is not a remake of Deadborough though, just a way of bringing back what worked in that map when it comes to gameplay technical features and the fact that it takes place in an urban environment.

What has changed in 8 O'Clock in comparison to Deadborough:
- The apocalypse is only starting up
- The warthog track is a lot more unpredictable and focuses more on the streets through the city rather than a track around it
- The buildings are not as tall but are more equal in size and strength, and traversing between one another has become a lot easier
- There is ordnance on the map resulting in more available ammunition - which is mostly neutralized by more regular zombie encounters

The changes above aren't necessarily changes for the better; I'm not stating these things weren't right in Deadborough. I'm only establishing what is different so you know what to expect.

The beginning of a round
The humans will initially spawn behind the tank station, facing main street with a Warthog lying flipped on its back. This is the focal point where most humans will also head towards when starting a round, after which the group usually gets divided into segments of players entering the many different buildings or driving one or two of the vehicles present on the map. It will definitely help to discuss with some of your friends which building to take residence in. I'll come back to that in the paragraph "Teamwork".

Movement between the buildings is enhanced by the addition of many naturally looking shortcuts, such as street lights, traffic lights, phone booths and jersey barriers. Make sure to use these to your advantage in order to traverse the map in a faster way.

Some of these objects are also very useful to hide from incoming bullets.

The gametype
8 O'Clock makes usage of a custom gametype called "The Beast Within". This gametype allows for vehicular combat, and gives the humans an Assault Rifle off spawn, as well as the option to strengthen their weaponry by scavenging the field for more weapons. Humans can take two hits before being infected and will regain their health after 5 seconds of staying free from hits, which is a lot more balanced than it may sound, as turned out while testing. Be aware that although this gametype would've been legitimately possible in Halo Reach, modding was needed to enable some of these options in Halo 4. I did not do the modding myself but I'd like you to know that if you have something against modding, this gametype might not be for you.

The Beast Within (gametype) can be found in my fileshare.

Teamwork
Teamwork is a great deal on 8 O'Clock Reminiscence. Defending a room on your own might work for a couple of minutes, but eventually you will get overrun. By communicating well with fellow human players and coordinating an organised defense against the horde, you'll stand a lot longer and might even be able to withstand the dead for an entire round, as I've seen happen quite often.

The Warthog
One of the most enjoyable parts of 8 O'Clock is definitely driving the Warthog. At first, this vehicle wasn't very appealing due to its usual early loss in the round. This was significantly improved after changing the health of humans from one to two hits, resulting in a quick rush at the beginning of the round between the many human players trying to grab a seat in this beloved vehicle. Even though your chances of survival are likely to decrease when entering the Hog unless you are a gifted driver and also have an intelligent gunner with you, it is most certainly a great way to distract zombies from humans holding out in the buildings and giving them a moment to catch up. Not to mention, it is also one suitable way of putting down a lot of the geeks before meeting your own demise. I mean, who doesn't like slaying zombies?

Some more screenshots for your pleasure

lol another way to survive the apocalypse:

Map review by HaloForgeNetwork: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC032nrhPKk

Warthog Run:
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More videos will be added next week, such as an awesome Warthog run I had together with El Trocity.

That is all, thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you will all download my map! Constructive criticism and other kinds of feedback are always welcome.

Special thanks to:
El Trocity
PA1NTS
Mr Pokephile
Pol Wah
NARB GUY
Starship Ghost

And many others helping me with testing this map numerous times and giving me any helpful feedback