If, like many, you bought the new Call of Duty 3 maps last week, only to be horrified that you had effectively poured some MS Points down a drain, then you will be pleased to know the maps are back up on the Marketplace and running smoothly. If you did buy them, then worry not as the drain has coughed up your Points, and you don’t need to re-purchase the download, as many feared you would.

From the forums:

Hi Call of Duty 3 fans:

Thank you for your patience as we worked to resolve the issue surrounding the Valor map pack. We are happy to announce that we have resolved it, and that the map pack is now fully available for download over Xbox Live Marketplace. We have also released a Title Update which, in addition to addressing the map pack, also remedies key issues regarding Ranked Lobbies and Ranked Matches that some users have experienced.

If you downloaded the Map Pack on January 18, please download the new Title Update which resolves these issues. If for any reason you deleted the Valor Map Pack after your purchase, you are entitled to re-download it without charge.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you, and look forward to playing you in the new maps!

– Call of Duty team

Has anyone tested the new update yet? Is it actually possible to get into ranked again now (since I couldn’t even after the original update)? Let us know in the comments below, it will be interesting to see.

For those that missed it first time around, here are the details again:

• Name: Call of Duty 3 Valor Map Pack
• Price: 800 Points
• NOT Available in: All Xbox Live regions
• Dash Details: Five all-new Call of Duty 3 multiplayer maps for online, split-screen, and System Link play! Battle it out in abandoned prison camp in Stalag 23. Engage in epic house-to-house fighting in a rural French village in La Bourgade. Navigate the battered warehouses and naval machinery of an oceanfront shipyard in Ironclad. Launch an all-out assault across a battleground choke point in The Crossing. Take cover in the thick trees and overgrowth of a mountaintop listening post in Wildwood.

(This was from Major Nelson last week; I presume he meant the maps were available in all regions, as opposed to not. As it turned out, he was right, since they wouldn’t work anywhere!)

Let us know also how these maps compare to the originals; do you prefer them, or do you just play Call of Duty 2 anyway?