ARC Raiders is an upcoming extraction shooter from Embark Studios, creators of The Finals. The player finds themselves in the role of an aptly named ARC Raider, who scavenges the planet’s surface for loot. Along the way, they’ll come across other players and ARC machines, the true monarchs of the planet’s topside.
The aesthetic is straight out of the 1980s, spun with a dash of Mad Max. Weapons are cobbled-together works of violence that play viscerally into your hands. Each has its pros and cons against various enemy types, robots and humans alike.
So far, it’s a pleasure to play, which spells doom for any competition looking to launch alongside it. In this instance, Bungie’s Marathon revival is undoubtedly set up to fail if it comes out anywhere close to ARC Raiders.
You may be wondering how I can compare two games that haven’t even launched yet, which is a fair question. I know we’re still five months away from the launch of Bungie’s extraction shooter, Marathon, but I don’t know if five months is anywhere close to the amount of time they’d need to bring it up to par with Embark Studios’ ARC Raiders.
The aesthetic and perspective are both vehemently different between these two titles, don’t get me wrong, but they both play into the same “extraction shooter” audience. This isn’t a new genre full of untapped potential players to market to.
The market is dominated by the likes of the controversial Escape from Tarkov, Hunt: Showdown, alongside Dark and Darker. Other entries into the space have come and gone, like a personal favorite, Marauders, which now has barely 100 players on Steam.
Games like Call of Duty and Delta Force have also tried their hand, pitching their versions of the game type. Even now, more games are on their way, like Arena Breakout, which promises to offer a blend of realism and arcade-like combat.
With the market aging and becoming more refined with time, where does that leave the likes of Marathon and ARC Raiders? Especially with both planning their release in late 2025?
What makes ARC Raiders better than Marathon?
Look, enough people on social media have been on Marathon’s case for not having that extraction shooter “hook”.
The whole “let’s play one more” feeling isn’t there. It’s frustrating with something that looks and plays as good as Marathon.
When it comes to gunplay, Bungie is king. In Destiny 2 and Halo before it, the moment-to-moment combat always came through clean. That’s why it’s so heartbreaking; Marathon looks like it should be fun, but it isn’t. The game is going through an identity crisis.
Marathon takes the extraction shooter formula and attempts to break it down to a more digestible formula. As a result, every mechanic becomes a watered-down mess that isn’t interesting to potential extraction shooter fans, all while missing many mechanics that players love in their extraction shooters.
ARC Raiders embraces the history of the genre and is working to perfect systems while making them more approachable. It looks to find an ideal balance of welcoming newcomers while allowing veterans to thrive, explaining itself at a fundamental level while allowing players the chance to discover.
Marathon tries to do something similar but removes too much of what makes the genre great. A short, but not definitive list of things missing from Marathon includes:
- Traditional crafting
- Solo play
- Skill trees
They may not seem like much, but these features give players more objectives and a functional sense of progression. For example, let me break down crafting.
ARC Raiders has multiple benches for the player in their hideout that they can build and level up. Each bench needs specific items to be built and another set of items to upgrade. These benches can be upgraded three times each. Easy to understand, right?
Alongside that, players will uncover a variety of blueprints in a raid. If they make it back, you’ll most likely need an upgraded workbench to build said item. This becomes a damn good reason to upgrade that workbench. It grants the player tangible progression, which they can see, earn, and feel good about doing.
Marathon doesn’t have that.
Then there’s solo play, a hallmark of the extraction shooter genre. Escape from Tarkov is the pinnacle example of this.
ARC Raiders and Embark Studios have perfected it. I went into a few grouped matches and came across other groups. I followed this up with far more solo games, and I never even saw another group, just solo players.
When I play a game like Tarkov, I don’t want to be forced to play with random players. That’s why most battle royale games have a solo mode. Sometimes, I need to go in alone and play how I want to.
I have missions to accomplish that others won’t. In many instances, forced group play isn’t the way to go when making headway. If everyone has their own agenda to accomplish, no one is getting their stuff done without someone else sacrificing their mission progression.
ARC Raiders has better PvE over Marathon
Everyone who’s played Escape from Tarkov knows how punishing the AI can be when ignored or misplayed. Extraction shooters demand good PvE combat to provide legitimate threats to be avoided or tackled for riches.
ARC Raiders provides a ton of PvE (Player versus Environment) content through ARC machines. Each machine has its unique value to the overall enemy experience. Some scout ahead to mark Raiders, while others are literal behemoths that only an experienced group should attempt to bring down.
When playing solo, these enemies need to be almost entirely avoided. Some demand heavy weaponry to penetrate consistently, meaning most weapons won’t be suitable for eradicating them.
Anything above your most basic enemy will often take more than a single magazine. As a solo player, you’ll need to avoid a lot of fights unless you’re willing to take the risk of attracting players over while you’re busy unloading on a single ARC over and over.
They also coordinate with one another, becoming a larger threat if they’re not dealt with appropriately. Rocketeers, stunners, scanners, every enemy has something they do that complements the rest when grouped. The photo above perfectly illustrates a scenario where this happens.
I called in the elevator to extract below the surface when the sound alerted a behemoth of an ARC to my location. I had to deal with it and a couple of other roaming enemies. Using a well-placed lure grenade distracted the enemies just enough for me to dive into the elevator and extract.
That doesn’t exist in Marathon. Instead, we’re given soulless robots that don’t give off that sense of dread when faced. They’re not as nuanced, which is a shame from the studio behind the Destiny series, whose central premise revolves around groundbreaking PvE content.
I don’t get it, but they need to get their act together if they’re going to have any chance of taking on the masterclass that ARC Raiders is currently putting on.
Does anyone else share my thoughts on either Marathon or ARC Raiders? Is anyone else getting the same vibe I am with these games, or am I alone?
Let me know in the comments or on social media!
