Marathon

I came into Marathon a bit unexpectedly. I was planning to totally ignore it. I am a hardcore Destiny lifer, and it felt like Marathon was negatively impacting what I actually wanted to play (I no longer completely believe that). Not only that, but the previews that had come out a year prior looked like garbage, however the art style of the final product is much improved. As I was saying, I wasn't expecting to even pay attention to this game, but my son decided to download it on the server slam before release and the rest was history.

First, this is a very Bungie game. Instantly it feels like a mixture of Halo and Destiny. The second you land into the tutorial you feel that and you start to get curious. On initial release, this game was brutal. No handholding for anything. You'd get wiped for 10 straight matches and thank them for the pleasure. There was a spark of fun somewhere in there during all those losses. It was scratching an itch you didn't know you had.

Unfortunately for this game's popularity, they anchored it in an extraction shooter. No one was out there hoping for this type of game from Bungie. I will say it's a very good extraction shooter. Gunplay is perfect as anyone that has played Bungie before would expect. Most of the weapon perks were stolen from Destiny, which is fine with me. This game can feel like a survival horror at times, especially solo. It's so unforgiving that you don't really mind you lose all your weapons at season reset. You'll lose all of them every match if you are anything like me. Again though, you'll thank them for the pleasure. This games about the ride. The 5 second fun loop when you are in a match is the tightest and most interesting thing in shooters for sure right now. It is insanely immersive. Largely thanks to what I truly believe is the special sauce here...the sound design.

Sound is one of the most important aspects to the gameplay here. Everything you do makes sound, and giving your position away in this game is imminent doom. Deciding to kill an add because he's in your way may be your death sentence a couple minutes later.

This game is a visual feast. Bright and high contrasted colors abound. I know what you think it'll look like based on prior press/cover art/press images, but as you play it you won't see it the same way. It just works. It feels more grounded than you expect. It's like a serious shooter inside an alien landscape.

My favorite part of this game is the progression. Yes, it sucks to lose supplies on a wipe, but you are constantly making progress with your contracts. Season 2 made this far less painful too. Now you can farm materials in essentially a PVE mode. The cradle also allows for easier build crafting. The characters you get the contracts from are so well done. This is elite sci-fi. The imagery and subtext here are a delight for those paying attention.

The maps in this game are 11/10. So expansive and detailed, yet approachable. Angles are perfectly thought out, the vertical dimensions allow for all sorts of attack paths. The PVE enemies have real teeth, especially if you are under equipped(which is often). Anyone coming from Destiny would be excited to know there are dozens of exciting secrets buried here. There are a couple standouts, outpost has often been declared the best map people have ever played and it's amazing. My personal favorite is Cryo though. You have to put up an ante to join. It's huge, full of secrets and paths, and difficulty. I've only ever made it out once from a bunch of tries, but when I did the loot wealth was insane. Jackpot mofo city. But again, it's not really what you make it out with that drives this game's fun. It's the 5 second fun loop inside of these awesomely cool places that you want to immediately dive back into.

The real problem with this game is the niche appeal. Who is it for? Destiny fans try to kill it, extraction shooter is a crowded market, it's one of the least accessible games to dive into casually. Ostensibly it is for hard core PVP players that love bungie, love lore, and love pain. That cross section doesn't really exist as evidenced by the waning player count. That's not exactly who it is for though. Those willing to try it and dive in a bit will find it's for almost everyone that's played a game where you shoot a gun on an alien planet. The sad irony is Destiny fans would love this game to pieces if they didn't think it killed Destiny.

This game is one of the best values on the market right now. A low entry fee, no real recurring fees at the moment, and only about 25 gigs to install, which is massive this day and age.