„Marathon“ played: A fateful hour for Bungie
Big studio, big expectations. Bungie wants to shake up the extraction shooter market with „Marathon“.
(Image: Bungie)
Sony spent a good 3.5 billion dollars for Bungie. Now the creators of “Halo” and “Destiny” are expected to deliver with “Marathon.” Not a single-player shooter, not a big open-world spectacle, but an extraction shooter in the style of “Arc Raiders.” This means primarily: collect, shoot, survive. For this, Bungie has revived a proprietary brand that caused a stir thirty years ago.
Old brand, newly dusted off
The original “Marathon” was released by Bungie in 1994 for the Apple Macintosh. The first-person shooter became a hit, followed by a few sequels, and many years later, Bungie made first-person shooters on consoles promising with the Xbox exclusive title “Halo.” “Destiny” couldn't quite repeat the success a few years later, but it was enough reason for Sony to spend billions of dollars on the studio and the development of a major live-service title.
The development of “Marathon” was anything but straightforward. The disappointing feedback from a closed beta test last year initially led to a release postponement to an indefinite date. Shortly thereafter, artist Fern “Antireal” Hook even made plagiarism accusations because some designs in the game were used by her without permission. The case was settled behind closed doors between the artist and Bungie.
„Marathon“ angespielt (5 Bilder)
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)War of the Corporations
The game's plot is quickly told. The colony ship UESC Marathon is stranded on the planet Tau Ceti and loses contact with Earth. Only 100 years later is the colony rediscovered, and powerful corporations vie for dominance on the planet. To achieve this, they send so-called “Runners” on a dangerous adventure to exploit the planet and the colony. The story is just a rough background scenario; some things are revealed in conversations with the quest givers of the six competing factions.
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This is not a major issue. “Marathon” is not a story adventure but a PvPvE extraction shooter for exciting multiplayer sessions, including crossplay and cross-save across all platforms. Players are not meant to play through a story but to return again and again in a live-service game like this, repeat missions, and spend money in the in-game shop for battle passes and cosmetic items. Ideally, this concept works out like with “Destiny” or “Fortnite,” but sometimes it turns into a disaster. The latest example was the multiplayer shooter “Highguard,” which was discontinued after just a few weeks. Even Sony has had catastrophic experiences with the similarly structured “Concord.”
Purist Action Adventure
The first impression is sobering: an unspectacular adventure in a cyber-SF setting. Apart from the impeccable technical implementation, there is little to see of the alleged 250 million dollar development costs. There are no spectacular action set pieces, no elaborate physics effects with collapsing buildings, and no breathtaking cutscenes. Not a must, but a bit more spectacle is expected for a title of this magnitude.
The gameplay is simple. Players are the so-called “Runners,” who complete missions for a total of six factions, each with their interests. Before starting, players choose their mission and their “Hülle” (shell), in other words, their character class. There are seven of them in total, from the robust “Destroyer” who protects their team with a shield to a partially invisible assassin to the battle-hardened Doctor who heals the team with a drone. In teams of three, players compete against each other and against robots in three areas, trying to complete small missions, collect weapons, equipment, or resources, and hopefully escape their adventure alive at the end.
Each game area differs in its challenge level. The “Border Area” is intended as a simple starting area, while the swampy “Dark Moor” or the “Outpost” are packed with enemy, computer-controlled robots. Those who wish can also go alone, but must be particularly careful – this is a built-in hardcore mode. But whether alone or in a team, once dead, all equipment is lost. Only the mission objectives achieved up to that point remain.
Game of Contrasts
This gameplay principle is both a blessing and a curse. Every step must be carefully considered. Communication among players is mandatory; otherwise, any successful extraction is a matter of luck. This leads to exciting moments when, during our preview sessions, we activate various terminals while simultaneously keeping an eye and ear out for enemies. Do we quickly disappear, or perhaps still search this one building for treasure chests to pocket fat loot? Every “run” is a tightrope walk, a balancing act of risk, challenge, and safety. At its best moments, this is exciting and nerve-wracking.
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You have to like this minimalist gameplay because Bungie does little to impress players with variety and spectacle. The missions are multi-stage but simply constructed. Search for a few data sets here defeat a few enemies there. In the large areas, there is often a lot of downtime. Sometimes nothing happens for minutes; players collect some equipment, and then the game ends in a few seconds because they are not careful for a moment and fall into the enemy's trap. A few poisonous plants, prehistoric birds, and a few ticks are supposed to bring the game world to life, but they seem more like hastily implemented placeholders.
Rarely does the game break out of this monotonous gameplay. Once we had to download data, but first had to search for the power source. At another point, we were supposed to infect ourselves with a virus and then find a scanner to analyze the results. Is there more to come? Even after many hours of gameplay, “Marathon” lacks variety. The last area, the endgame zone, is not scheduled to be released until mid-March.
Work in Progress
The fact is, the developers still have a lot of work to do to keep players engaged with this live-service game. So far, there is a lack of content that gives the simple gameplay replay value, and the user interface is confusing. Frustration quickly sets in when all valuable equipment is lost at once during a run. Hardcore gamers won't mind, but the broad audience that “Marathon” aims for will turn away.
With such a large, renowned studio and the budget, a comparison with Bioware's “Anthem” is obvious. High expectations were also linked to the game and developer here. In the end, it became a disaster. The start for “Marathon” is at least bumpy. Just under 90,000 players played it simultaneously on Steam at launch. The indie title “Slay the Spire 2,” released at the same time, had almost five times the player count. Meanwhile, “Marathon” is no longer even among the Top 10 on Steam. This is disappointing, even if the player feedback so far is very positive.
The good news: Bungie is not abandoning its players. A patch is already announced for next week, which will revise the in-game shop and make some details in the gameplay more transparent. At the latest, with the release of the fourth game area, it will become clear whether “Marathon” can continue to bind fans to itself in the future. The pressure to succeed is likely to be enormous for Bungie due to the production effort.
Interim Conclusion
“Marathon” leaves a mixed impression. At its best moments, the cat-and-mouse game between the different teams creates thrilling suspense, but mostly frustration sets in when the game comes to an abrupt end and all equipment is lost. Extraction shooter fans will say, “That's just the gameplay principle,” while others will turn away disappointed.
Currently, “Marathon” is a particularly exciting adventure for players who prefer to fine-tune tactics and equipment in detail rather than engaging in spectacular multiplayer battles. Great for fans, a bit sparse for the general public. In the coming weeks and months, it will show whether this is enough to establish “Marathon” as a firm fixture in the live-service sky of extraction shooters.
“Marathon” is available for Windows, PS5, and Xbox Series. It costs approx. €40. USK rating 16+. For our preview, we participated in the server slam shortly before release and played the Windows version for several hours after its release.
(mki)
