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Blood Gulch is a multiplayer map in the
first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...
'' Halo'' video game series. It first appeared in '' Halo: Combat Evolved'', and was remade for ''
Halo 2 ''Halo 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. ''Halo 2'' is the second installment in the ''Halo'' franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed '' ...
'' as "Coagulation", as well as for '' Halo: Reach'' as "Hemorrhage" and '' Halo: The Master Chief Collection'' as "Bloodline". It also had spiritual successors in '' Halo 3'''s "Valhalla", in '' Halo 4'' and '' Halo Wars'' as "Ragnarok", and in '' Halo 5'''s "Basin". Taking place in a canyon on the Halo ringworld that resembles the
American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...
, it was designed for the
Capture the flag Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...
game mode but can also be used for other modes, such as
deathmatch Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill (or "frag") the other players' characters a ...
. Blood Gulch was one of ''Halo'''s most critically acclaimed and influential multiplayer maps, and played a significant role in the
machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words '' ...
series '' Red vs. Blue''.


Level content

Blood Gulch takes place in a
box canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...
on a Halo ring that is enclosed on all sides by high natural walls. The canyon's interior is a "vast expanse of undulating landscape and scattered pieces of natural cover", with a base on each end for the Red and Blue teams. The map is balanced but asymmetrical in terms of tactical advantage, with the Red team having access to a ridge, while the Blue team is located near a tunnel system in the canyon wall. Each base is conducive to traditional FPS gameplay, with "two entrances, an open ceiling, and sloping paths to the roof". On top of each base, a teleporter can transport players (from either team) to the midst of the valley's
no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
, leaving them vulnerable to snipers.
Warthog ''Phacochoerus'' is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs (pronounced ''wart-hog''). They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly cons ...
jeeps can easily traverse the landscape, making them ideal for escaping with the flag. In the ''Halo 2 ''variant of the map, each base has a third, below ground level, in which a Banshee can be found. When playing the gamemode “Rocket Slayer”, the Warthogs are replaced with Scorpion tanks.


Development

Jaime Griesemer, the designer of ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', stated that the design of Blood Gulch was responsible for the Scorpion tank remaining in the game, saying that the developers wanted to remove it, as it was not used in the game's campaign mode enough, but found it fun enough to drive around Blood Gulch that it was left in the game. He also stated that the game's sniper rifle was given a
scope Scope or scopes may refer to: People with the surname * Jamie Scope (born 1986), English footballer * John T. Scopes (1900–1970), central figure in the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution Arts, media, and entertainment * Cinema ...
due to the distance between Blood Gulch's two bases.


Reception

Wes Fenlon from ''PC Gamer'' opined that "if there's anything truly and utterly timeless about Halo, it's that voice playing over the warm blue sky and dusty fields of Blood Gulch". ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...
'''s Ryan Mccaffrey consider Coagulation, the ''Halo 2'' iteration of Blood Gulch, to be the ''Halo'' series' arguably most famous map, "the boxed desert canyon that's been home to countless CTF matches and ''Red vs. Blue'' episodes". ''Edge'' called the map a "showcase" for ''Halo'''s "wonderful ability to segue in and out of tense firefights and moments of ridiculous slapstick". The publication praised the map for its wide open design and combination of ground combat and third-person vehicles, which, while taken for granted in the modern day, was rare at the time of ''Halo'''s release and required "a different approach to map design". In ''Engadget's'' coverage of the reveal of the Blood Gulch map returning for ''Halo: Reach'', Richard Mitchell remarked that it is "probably the most well-remembered map in ''Halo'' history", while the version in ''Reach'' is "very familiar and very different", drawing attention to the fact that players can leave the canyon. Good Game called the map "''Halo'''s most iconic" and said that "teamwork is at the core of the Gulch", while "the best way to experience the gulch has always been behind the wheel". GameZone called the map "easily a standout of the franchise", citing how often it has been remade across games. Ryan McCaffrey of Official Xbox Magazine called Blood Gulch "one of the best multiplayer maps to grace any first-person shooter" and praised the map's successor, Hemorrhage, that carries over the map's terrain. Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox brand, called Blood Gulch his favorite ''Halo'' map, citing its terrain, large amount of vehicle combat and the excitement of coordinating friends to capture the flag. Blood Gulch was recreated by a fan for the game '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', with '' Kotaku'' calling the map "very nicely done".


In other media

Blood Gulch was popularized in part due to it being the main setting of the first five seasons of Red vs. Blue, a web series that first aired in the early 2000s. It was later featured in the
battle royale game A battle royale game is an online multiplayer video game genre that blends last-man-standing gameplay with the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game. Battle royale games involve dozens to hundreds of players, who sta ...
''
Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to-p ...
''. The addition was announced by
Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 21� ...
and several Red vs. Blue characters''.''


References

{{Halo series Video game levels Video game locations Halo (franchise)