The first time you set foot on the murky banks of Backwash, you may feel a strange sense of déjà vu. This familiarity isn't exactly by accident, as Backwash draws some loose inspiration from the swamp level from the Halo 1 campaign.

Designer Rob Stokes explains how the initial idea came about:

"We were interested in doing a very small scale, 4-player map that would work well for Slayer. In talking about possible environments, our design group (Justin, Eamon, Shiek, Luis, Barrett, Vic, C Paul, Jay, and I) came up with the idea of the swamp from Halo 1. We were hoping we could use the fog and general murky atmosphere to make an intimate map where people could hunt each other. Some of the visual (and aural) inspirations were stalking enemies through swampy water like Rambo, seeing gunfire in the distance through the fog, and listening for footsteps slogging through the muck."

Take a look at these screenshots and you can see exactly what Rob is talking about when he says things like "murky", "muck" and "fog." The mood and aesthetic components of Backwash are unlike anything else in the Halo 2 lineup and it offers a totally different experience from some of the other like-sized maps.

How would we describe Backwash in one word? Here's what a few Bungie folks had to say:

Rob Stokes, Designer: "Hunt."

Frankie, MP Whipping Boy: "Humid."

Shishka, Art Monkey: "Spooky."

The map itself is essentially a symmetrical circular layout, with a large two story Forerunner structure in the center and bases at either end. The textures have been stripped away in this image to reveal the wireframe structure that Backwash is built upon. A variety of trees, roots and hills are spread around the outer portions of the map, adding ample opportunities for cover and sneakiness. A slight trench outlines the outer perimeter of the map, creating a nice pathway for Ghosts to run down unsuspecting foes while making laps.

From end to end, Backwash is actually a rather small map. However, when you add in the dense fog, it feels even smaller. The screenshots below illustrate just how much difference the fog can make. In the left shot, with the fog turned off (an option only available in our special debug versions), you can see from one end of the map to the other. The camera position is literally right above the red base and at the far side you can see the lights that make up the blue base. Now, with fog enabled (right image) you can barely even see midway across the map. Add this fog to a dense array of trees and you can begin to imagine the intimate hide-n-seek gameplay that ensues.

Even though Backwash is a fairly open and small environment, it wasn't without its share of design challenges. Here, Rob explains a few of the considerations that had to be made while developing this new map:

"The design of Backwash isn’t enormously complex. We were going for a simple arena, and that’s what we ended up with. But of course, that did result in some problems. For instance, the openness and ease of seeing distant conflicts make it really easy to hunt down and capitalize on someone else’s fight. You could even toss grenades from across the map and soften up (or kill) those targets before even reaching them. Framerate was also a problem, with the openness of the map making it hard to get much visibility blocking. In the end, we had to make some concessions, both on the design side and the art side, to get the sucker to run."

Lucky for us, these concerns were ironed out and the final map that is shipping in the Map Pack plays great. My personal favorite aspect has to be the overall atmosphere on this map. It's literally so thick you could cut it with an energy sword. A little thing like fog adds a whole new dimension to the game as you can't see more than a few feet in front of you at any given time. What you can see, however, are the bright flashes of muzzle fire in the distance, a great indicator of which direction the action is.

What is Rob's favorite aspect of Backwash? Here's what he had to say:

"I love the trees. I can’t think of any other map where I can better retreat from combat and avoid taking fire. The trees are especially useful for avoiding rockets, swords, or the occasional Ghost. And they sure look better than a bunch of space crates littered around for no good reason."

What does Frankie like the most about Backwash?...

"I like the fact that Backwash is almost perfectly circular. That means it’s both big and small. Some Gametypes call for straight shots across the radius of the map, and some call for long, protracted chases around the circumference. Either way, you can’t really be sure what’s ahead of you, and there’s usually a nasty surprise lurking in the mist."

And what about Shishka. What's his favorite aspect of Backwash?...

"The murky fog. There are levels in Halo 2 that have fog in them, but I think Backwash is the only level where the fog is a major element that actually affects the way you play the map. Moving through the plant life and the fog makes you difficult to track visually, which really adds to your opponents’ tension. Further, it’s gorgeous; the way the fog catches light is breathtaking."

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