Following a recent string of alternate reality game (ARG) puzzles discovered and solved by fans, developer Bungie gave players their first in-depth look at its upcoming multiplayer game Marathon. First revealed in Spring 2023, the PvP-focused extraction shooter reboot is now officially slated to release this year on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5 on September 23, and is the first new game from the studio since the 2017 release of Destiny 2.
The gameplay reveal, the longer gameplay overview, and Bungie’s lengthy hour-long showcase were all released this past weekend, and it’s been…interesting, to see the wider community react to the presentations. Overall, it seems most gamers have mixed feelings about what they saw; Marathon’s high production value is undeniably apparent, but many felt what was shown lacked distinguishing features and mechanics to set it apart from its peers.
Overall, I can see where people are coming from, even if I do like what I’ve seen of Marathon so far overall. I dig its glitchy, futuristic, almost punk-like aesthetic with utilitarian architecture and vibrant colors, and everything about the core gunplay and movement looks snappy and satisfying thanks to punchy sound effects and beautifully detailed animations (granted, a few of these were clearly borrowed from Destiny, but still). Indeed, what Bungie showed makes the game look like a fun shooter, even if it hasn’t helped it to stand out as a unique one.
Notably, though, content creators that were quietly invited to playtest Marathon in past months were also given the green light to share their thoughts over the weekend — and a feature I’ve heard about from a few of them (YouTuber Skarrow9, in particular) has me wondering why the developers didn’t choose to spotlight it in these reveals.
According to them, the game’s Marathon colony ship map — along with the others, albeit to a considerably lesser extent — will have PvE puzzles and secret mechanics for players to figure out as they battle other squads of Runners. In essence, it sounds like Bungie is drawing inspiration from Destiny’s beloved raids and dungeons to add significant flair to this new PvP experience.
“The Marathon ship map, I think, is going to be very exciting. I hesitate to call it raid-like, in terms of Destiny, but it is definitely like, ‘you are trying to solve puzzles and secrets … while you are in the midst of PvP,'” explained Skarrow9 in a recent video, grinning with clear excitement. “That sort of thing is going to be the secret sauce for this game. … All I want to do is go back to the ship and solve the secrets, and fight the enemies.”
Pseudo-raid mechanics going on in the middle of tense, tactical PvP engagements sounds wild in the best way, and is exactly the kind of thing that would help Marathon catch the eye of FPS players that already have an abundance of titles to play. Which, again, makes Bungie’s decision to not talk about that all the more intriguing.
Perhaps the developer wasn’t ready to show these types of PvPvE engagements off, but polished or not, I’d argue attention should have been drawn to it. Marathon — a “premium title,” albeit not a “full-priced” one — will likely be around $40, and will have a battle pass, too (and a microtransactions shop also, I’m willing to bet). That’s a tough sell in today’s era where nearly every PvP game is free-to-play, and if Bungie wants people to fork over their cash to get over that entry barrier, it needs to impress them; the ill-fated Concord, shut down permanently in October, is a glaring example of what can happen otherwise.
Showcasing raid-style mechanics are one way the studio could do just that (I’d like to see more of Marathon’s classic aliens have more of a presence, too), and in the months leading up to the game’s September release date, I’m really hoping it does. We’ll see what happens.
