Marathon PC Review | GameWatcher

Marathon doesn’t welcome vacationers. Bungie’s newest FPS may play by the foundations and even share DNA with the studio’s previous works and up to date extraction shooters hits like ARC Raiders, however the unnatural hostility of Tau Ceti IV after the catastrophe of the UESC Marathon isn’t softened to accommodate gamers. Its mechanics and methods are the textual content. Ludonarrative dissonance? I don’t know her.

Following a $3.6 billion transaction to accumulate the legendary FPS developer behind the unique Halo video games and Future, it was cheap to anticipate Marathon to be a palatable on-line shooter that felt inviting whereas sporting its “graphic retro futurism” aesthetic with confidence. As a substitute, Bungie has delivered one thing that may very well be rapidly described as “all killer, no filler” and appears squarely focused at “sweaty” gamers, however its actuality is extra advanced.

Should you’re a newcomer, you solely have to know Marathon (2026) is a unfastened follow-up to Bungie’s authentic Marathon video games, which took cues from early FPS like Doom whereas telling a reasonably formidable story about an alien invasion aboard the colony ship UESC Marathon within the 12 months 2794. The premise is easy sufficient, however the narrative was filled with twists and turns, with rogue AIs and existential dread rapidly taking up the story. The sequels solely made issues zanier, resulting in even alternate realities and god-like forces people can’t even aspire to grasp.

This “comfortable reboot” kicks issues off with a strong hook: As soon as comms with the colony ship had been misplaced, individuals on Earth grew anxious and demanded solutions. In the meantime, forces gathered to journey to Tau Ceti IV and examine what occurred to the colony and its colonists. Within the 12 months 2893, 99 years after the occasions of the primary sport, companies descend on the planet utilizing Runners, people who’ve sacrificed their our bodies as a way to use upgraded cybernetic ones. They’re successfully “ghosts” who inhabit Shells anticipated to be misplaced sooner relatively than later. However they will all the time return to complete the job, because the completely different teams seeking to make some credit will spend as a lot cash as wanted to retrieve precious tech and information from the misplaced colony.

The very ideas of Runners and Shells not solely make the dangerous visits to the planet “make sense” narratively; additionally they encourage aggression and avoiding attachments to the bodily. Your physique and precious loot may be misplaced typically, however the mission and momentary thrills are everlasting. Go on the market, present no mercy, and extract as a lot worth for shareholders as attainable. Marathon is explicitly in regards to the grind and could be very upfront about it.

Satirically, the precise online game isn’t practically as grindy as most of its contemporaries. Whereas extraction shooters like Hunt: Showdown don’t actually take form till you may have developed a hunter’s meta development sufficient and located the right loadout (which you’re prone to lose sooner or later), Marathon makes positive each Runner can break a whole squad’s day in the event that they play issues sensible. This is the reason we shoot Rooks on sight.

Certain, weapons of upper rarity provide higher damage-per-second and might need thermal scopes which might be tremendous precious whereas combating in darkish environments, however even when you have a purple protect defending your well being bar from injury, such tools will solely provide you with a few further seconds tops of response time. Likewise, everlasting passives purchased from companies/teams (you’ll earn cash after which spend the identical cash on merchandise bought to you by your employers) slowly take away friction with out all of a sudden turning Marathon in a run-and-gun expertise.

It’s a fragile equilibrium, and when you spend sufficient time with the sport, you’ll start to understand how troublesome it was to correctly take a look at and stability the entire thing. Marathon isn’t totally free from fashionable development methods or the significance of loadouts that are determined earlier than beginning a mission (until you’re broke after too many failures), but it affords sufficient alternatives contained in the runs to wager small and are available out profitable. It’s all about the way you play the playing cards you’re dealt and the way you select to have interaction with the enemies you come throughout. Usually, you don’t need to have interaction in any respect.

As cool as Marathon’s cleanly designed weapons and Shell expertise are, it’s low-key a stealth sport. The very best run is the run throughout which you don’t hearth a single bullet. Even in the event you keep away from enemy Runners and squads earlier than extracting (by way of restricted teleportation factors), likelihood is that you simply’ll be working into the roaming UESC bots eventually. They’re imply, they’re many, and so they’ll break your day, particularly as you attempt to skulk round empty command centres and labs whereas in search of particular keys, gadgets, and samples, amongst different issues.

The NPC menace on Tau Ceti IV is severe sufficient to make ready for enemy Runner squads to be “softened” by them earlier than attacking a viable technique. Use distractions and chaos to your benefit with out being in a foul spot your self. It sounds easy, however randomised spawns and occasions will preserve any solo Runner or staff on their toes. The maps in Marathon (4 to this point) may be static, however there’s sufficient variance in them (alongside the unpredictability brought on by enemy gamers and traps) to maintain issues contemporary and fascinating, no less than for now. Each serves a objective and affords various ranges of depth, successfully making the sport’s very off-beat method to “development” evident.

Regardless, you’ll be doing a number of taking pictures, and Bungie has unsurprisingly nailed the gunplay as soon as once more. Even the smallest handguns have a great feeling to them, and each piece of deadly {hardware} has kick and oomph that additionally interprets to strong efficiency beneath the correct circumstances. Runners are bloodthirsty canine, so killing has to really feel good even when essentially the most smart plan of action really is to staff up with different mercs to maximise everybody’s income. Not like ARC Raiders, Marathon doesn’t need you making mates, and the moment-to-moment gameplay and each little enjoyable design choice displays that.

Circling again to the sport’s development and narrative, it’s vital to underline the principle purpose why you’ll need to full contracts (which quietly reshape total runs with clear aims or extra obscure investigation) is to push the story ahead. This shooter is performed strictly on-line and has no marketing campaign, however don’t mistake that for an absence of hard-hitting and shockingly intriguing story beats. The voice forged alone was an indication of Bungie taking issues significantly on that entrance, however every cutscene and dialogue interplay feels significant (or no less than unnerving) so long as you’re within the setting and the “reside” thriller on the centre of all of it.

The combination of six distinct factions with completely different objectives is what pushes gamers to go on the market and progressively be taught the maps and lessons. As a substitute of choosing up random notes which replenish codex entries and do little else, you’re following breadcrumbs that give your runs that means and course. As rewards, you’ll get strong story development and tools which is able to make mercenary work simpler, or no less than cheaper. If you go down far too typically earlier than returning with contemporary rewards, you’ll have entry to free kits, however these provide solely the fundamentals to rejoin the battle and hopefully get the good things from locked rooms, unsuspecting Runners, or kitted-up UESC bots.

Right here’s the factor: You don’t want the “great things” to have enjoyable in Marathon. Even in Perimeter, the sport’s much less daunting space, each system shines and there are enjoyable areas to discover and clear. However the sport will let you know that it is advisable be tall sufficient to hitch the massive boys within the later points of interest. It’s not a roadblock; it’s simply Bungie defending you from hurt and being at an unfair drawback. It additionally makes narrative sense; solely top-tier Runners ought to realistically tackle massive navy bases and even the UESC Marathon itself (Cryo is a unique sort of sci-fi hell you need to expertise for your self).

Some Runner Shells additionally really feel extra tailor-made to solo gamers than others; for instance, the Assassins’ cloaking capabilities make them the right loners. On the opposite finish of the spectrum, Triage is a key a part of any squad that’s severe about staying within the sport and seeing issues by due to therapeutic drones and even faster methods to revive downed teammates. With the promise of extra Shells arriving sooner or later with different items of content material, the “metagame” will solely develop into extra advanced.

It’s laborious to foretell how Marathon might (or might not) evolve over time for a lot of causes. The primary one to this point is Bungie taking a Future 2-like method to updates and ARG mysteries that open up totally new options and content material inside the sport. Whereas there’s a seasonal construction in place and the promise of standard content material drops, something might occur. Even the Cryo Archive map is an elusive chunk of the sport which comes and goes, inviting solely the boldest Runners to enterprise into its corridors.

Whereas Bungie appears aware about previous live-service errors and dedicated to feeding a diehard crowd that “will get” the pitch versus everybody as a way to chase quick income, every thing might change if Sony will get too nervous. Marathon must develop in its personal phrases, however ensuring gamers keep on with its very particular imaginative and prescient appears tough. Taking a look at different extraction shooters which might be equally hostile, like Hunt or Tarkov, it’s a superbly doable factor, but the manufacturing funds on this behemoth little doubt will put extra stress on the studio even when the post-launch and MTX plans appear strong. I do recognize the season move and retailer gadgets aren’t shoved within the gamers’ faces each time they load up Marathon after placing down $40, by the best way. That’s uncommon.

Complete essays will likely be written in regards to the sport’s beautiful, cyberpunk-adjacent visible presentation by smarter and extra well-read individuals than me. As somebody together with his personal (however temporary) educational previous, I can say the governing aesthetic and a spotlight to element of its sci-fi hypercapitalism, which is disruptive however conservative on the identical time, is greater than sufficient by itself to gas lengthy dissertations. Hell, even the load screens are miraculously beautiful for a triple-A shooter. This all provides as much as create environments, weapons, icons, and character lessons which might be simple to “learn” when issues get chaotic quick with out sacrificing model nor efficiency, which isn’t any small feat. I’ll admit the UI and a few menus, particularly on the subject of stock and vault administration, might use additional iteration although.

Equally, Marathon’s soundscape is booming however sharp. The long-forgotten futuristic buildings appear cursed by the souls of those that tried to tame Tau Ceti IV earlier than it swallowed everybody; they’re creaky however semi-functional, as if all of a sudden left in a rush. Opening and shutting doorways can provide you coronary heart assaults as you attempt to discover precious loot whereas listening to each and any sudden sound that may sign UESC bots or Runners are across the nook. That is “lite horror” shared by everybody inside a run, and it’s one thing that you would be able to exploit. On the identical time, be aware of the place (and the way typically) you shoot your weapons, as their synthetic thunders traverse additional than you’d anticipate.

The unique soundtrack by Ryan Lott (of Son Lux) deserves its personal dialogue, because it effortlessly blends sounds you’ll usually affiliate with a daily cyberpunk setting and cleaner, oddly stress-free alien melodies. There’s an edge to your complete work, but it surely typically bounces between peaceable moments in a spot that dislikes guests and beats that aren’t as relentless as you’d anticipate. Anybody who’s accustomed to Lott’s work was excited for Marathon’s OST, however that is actually particular stuff which highlights how robust the general inventive imaginative and prescient is.

At a time when many gamers are beginning to think about whether or not live-service video games are well worth the time (and cash) funding and much too many studios and publishers attempt to hunt whales with lesser copycat initiatives, Marathon is a assured reminder that Bungie prefers to do its personal factor, even when that factor appears like a radical departure from previous inventive endeavours at first look. Its audiovisual presentation alone makes the acquainted cycle of violence refreshing, but it surely’s the shocking concord holding all of it collectively whereas not bending to the gamers’ needs that makes the package deal memorable. This FPS is a caterpillar which deserves to get its wings.

Marathon is now obtainable on PC (Steam), PS5, and Xbox Collection X/S. An analysis copy was offered by the writer for this assessment.