(Image courtesy of Bungie. “Players are pitted against each other and the surreal sci-fi environment in ‘Marathon’.”)
Aaron Preziosi
Connector Editor
Nearly one year and one plagiarism scandal after its previous public playtest, Bungie’s extraction shooter “Marathon” is getting ready for its March 5 launch with a “Server Slam”, an unrestricted public playtest meant to stress test the game’s multiplayer servers. It ran from February 26 to March 2 and allowed players to experience a vertical slice of what the full game will have to offer, including two maps, progression trees and objectives, and five unique Runner shells, which are equivalent to player classes. Players were able to play solo or team up with up to two other players, which will carry into the full game.
The gameplay itself is very well put together, as expected for a Bungie game, despite the studio’s logistical and administrative troubles. In the ruined sci-fi colony of Tau Ceti IV, players may take control of one of six cybernetic Runners whose abilities allow them to turn the tide of a gunfight by disrupting enemies, employing powerful integrated weapons, scanning the battlefield, or supporting allies. Every match of “Marathon” drops eighteen players split into six teams of three into a large map, where players are tasked with grabbing as much loot as possible, including weapons and upgrades, fighting off other teams of players as well as hostile NPC combatants. Most importantly, however, players must survive and successfully exfiltrate in order to claim their winnings, as is the norm for the extraction shooter genre.
Upon successfully exfiltrating, players are able to spend gathered resources to permanently upgrade their Runner and the weapons they wield. After becoming strong enough, players will be able to embark on matches that take place within the titular “Marathon” colony ship, the most dangerous environment the game has to offer, where they will face as-of-yet unknown foes and hazards with mechanics that demand coordination and teamwork. During the public “Server Slam”, such matches were inaccessible.
Though despite its well-designed gameplay, some players have found that the game is not free of flaws. During the public “Server Slam”, some found that resources were too scarce and enemy players were spread out too thinly. Two players were reached out to for opinions, and they had the following to say: “For how small the map is, I’m not finding a lot of weapons”, says player “localgarbage”. “I’ll find low tier weapons and then like no ammo”, says player “meatball”. Though, despite the shortcomings, other players have met Marathon with glowing praise. Another player, “pr0m37h3um” remarked “I regrettably must hand it to Bungie again. Marathon is pretty sick.”
It would seem that “Marathon” has a lot to offer, and in classic Bungie fashion, fancies itself a familiar yet fresh take on a popular genre. Following their success with the Halo and Destiny franchises and a long period of solely working on the latter, it is certainly refreshing to see something new and bold like “Marathon”. It is scheduled to release on March 5 for all platforms priced at $39.99 USD, and worth trying for players looking for a new shooter to sink their teeth into.
