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'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 Fortnite. The addition was announced by Ninja and several Red vs. Blue characters. References Video game levels Video game locations Halo (franchise)