Marathon Discussion - Bungie's Next Big Thing?

Today was an interesting day to say the least. After a long while of not really knowing what this game is (at least with lack of game footage), we finally got some proper information on Bungie's next FPS game, Marathon, from there Gameplay Reveal Showcase. And so far my thoughts are... Interesting. On one hand I am interested in checking out this game, as I have since it was announced, and being a massive fan of Bungie and their shooters. But also wondering how well this game will do not only in the general gaming community, but also for people who are fans of extraction shooters. So I want to talk about my current thoughts on the game and what we have seen so far.

Personal History

COD 4 Promo Art

Before getting into the game proper, I want to talk a little bit about my personal history with not just Bungie but also shooters. Because even though I've only mainly talked about RPGs and a fighting game, I am a massive fan of shooters. In fact one of my favorite games of all time is Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare, for its excellent story, modern setting, and at the time incredible gun play. Later on I would play shooters like Halo, Gears of War, and what ever new Call of Duty that came out at the time. But I think the main shooter I put the most time in was Bungie's Destiny. I don't want to get to deeply into it as I could possibly make that its own post in the future. But I started playing the game on PS3, and while the story at the time wasn't much to write home about, the game play was something that completely drew me in. Picking from one of the three classes, and getting different types of armor and weapons was incredibly fun. And then when I got the PS4 version I was able to play the additional expansions and then later on Destiny 2 on PC. I won't lie, Destiny as a game franchise after playing for little over ten years has been a hit and miss type of experience, but compared to other live service games where I play for a few hours then drop it later on, Destiny has been one of the few live service game I have consistently gone back. Because at its core, it is an incredibly fun game with plenty of things to go after and get interested in. The only other game that's come close to that for me is Zenless Zone Zero. So I'm definitely interested in what Bungie has made as there next game after Destiny 2.

Marathon Information

(Gameplay Reveal Trailer)

(Gameplay Overview Trailer)

We got a lot of brand new Marathon info at there Gameplay Reveal Showcase, where we were introduced to more of the world, gunplay and even classes. I'd recommend checking out their Gameplay Reveal Trailer and Overview when you get the chance, as this will give you an idea of what the game will look like and play. And so far the gameplay looks fast, it looks fun with how the guns look and feel, and the map seems varied and overall looks fun. Some of the animations looked to be similar to Destiny animations like a Titan punch in the reveal trailer. But from a general perspective of seeing the livestream and other peoples gameplay footage on YouTube, it seems similar to what Bungie has had in the past. This could be disappointing for some as the easy thing to ask is, what makes this different from a game like other fast pace shooters. But I'm always interested in trying a game if it looks fun, even if it looks similar to others on the market.

Although, one thing that makes it slightly different from something like Destiny 2, which I would call a looter shooter with an overarching and constantly updating story, Marathon is leaning more into the Extraction Shooter genre. For those who don't know, an extraction shooter is a subgenre where players enter a dangerous environment to collect loot or complete certain objectives with the goal of extracting safely before being killed. If you die you then loose that loot from that round. One example and the one I hear the most about is Escape from Tarkov, which is more of a hardcore experience known for its detailed maps, realistic weaponry, and intense gameplay.

Now I will say, despite playing my fair share of shooters, I've never really gotten into an extraction shooter like this, mainly because I didn't see much interest in the genre. But I do know that this genre is a very popular one, with Escape From Tarkov having many high stats of players playing the game and many people streaming the game on sites like Twitch.tv. So there is a market for this and it makes sense to make a game like this, especially if you can break into a more casual market. Or at the very least, a less hardcore experience.

One of the more notable examples of this is them having what looks to be, classes or as they call them, Runners. The cyborg characters you'll be playing in the game, they manly talked about four that will be coming to the Closed Alpha test, but there will be a total of six at launch.

We have Locus, a solider or push forward character meant for more aggressive play styles. I noticed in additional gameplay that this class has a shield ability you can use to push forward and block gunfire, then counter with a sudden close range assault on the attacker. Blackbird is your recon class, with them able to figure out where players and enemies are on the map and punish poor positioning. Glitch is a sort of run and gun type of class, where you disrupt the enemy teams for a moment, then getting out before getting killed. Finally there's Void, your stealth class, with them able to pop down smoke to blind opponents and go invisible with active camo like in Halo.

While these classes seem fun, I do wonder if this is something that players of extraction shooters would want. From what I understand its a game where you go in with certain gear, get what you can against players and AI and then get out alive. Its a very grounded experience, where this seems to make it more into something like Apex Legends, while that is a battle royal, its one where you can select certain pre-made character with there own set of abilities to help there three player squads. Heck it was even advertised that you could also go solo, and from what I saw in other footage go into groups of two. I'm not saying this isn't an extraction shooter, from how there describing it, it definitely is, I'm just not sure if this would be something that fans of the genre would want. Though, I guess that would have to be seen with people actually playing the game as there is only so much you can get from an edited trailer.

Other than that the game is advertised to have a couple of maps to play on with varying number of players, with the most seeming to be 18. And with this being a live service game, we'll of course have things like micro transactions, cosmetic skins and a battle pass. How they will handle this we'll have to wait and see, but from my experience, Destiny 2's live service features are notoriously egregious and is probably one of the first things you learn about the game if your looking into it. Though with that being Free to Play Marathon being paid, I can only hope it will be less like Destiny 2. Oh yes... You read that right, this is a paid game. Once again we have a company announcing a bunch of things that makes a product exciting or in Marathon's case, enticing if true, but not actually give any details on how much this thing is going to cost or even if its Free to Play.

Heck we even learned the release date, Sept 23rd of this year, which is a pretty surprising announcement, as well as the announcement of Closed Alpha Tests. But not price. From what I can find online, the Marathon account on Twitter stated, "Marathon will be a premium title. Marathon will not be a 'full-priced' title. We'll announce details this Summer." I've seen some reactions to this, with some worried that this is going to be a full 70 but I think its most likely going to be $40. For example, Helldivers 2 which has been Sony's most successful game in their live service push was $39.99 at launch. Same for Concord for the two weeks that thing was alive for, so with Bungie being owned by Sony, I think it only makes sense to charge a similar price point to that. It really wouldn't make sense to charge more for something like this when others like it weren't.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, its still early days for Marathon, and the fact that it is paid has pretty much stopped me from wanting to check it out during launch time. I obviously still want to check it out, but with Borderlands 4 coming out on that same day, well I think I know what I'm getting that month, and I have a feeling that's going to be the case for a lot of people. I think my main thing with this game is, who is this for. Yes there is the extraction shooter genre, but it is a bit of a neesh in the shooter genre, with Tarkov being their biggest, and as a Destiny player unless the game really got me hooked, I'm not likely to drop my game to switch to their new one. It also doesn't help there isn't much in turns of story here, while I will always appreciate a gameplay first game, knowing what Bungie can do with stories, I expect a little more from them, where as this seems like it will mainly be multiplayer with some story/lore sprinkled in.

I can understand why many people are comparing this to Concord. As its another Sony live-service game that seems to be going a similar route. But unlike Concord, I feel like theirs more going for this than that game. Bungie of course is usually really good at creating awesome and engaging gameplay and from what I've seen so far that seems similar. I also like the music we heard so far as well as the awesome look there going for and how their using this sort of Brutilism Graphic Design to enhance there style and to not just make it photo realistic. Everything pops and is something I haven't really seen in games too much, and as someone learning Graphic Design I can highly appreciate it. If you want to understand more of what I'm talking about, go check out Jake the Alright's video on the subject called the "Marathon Art Style Breakdown" its a fantastic video that tells you everything you need to know.

All I have left to say is I hope this game can see some modicum of success, I do see a vision here and I will always want to support that, but if that vision is marred by bad practices, then there's only so much I can do with my interests. Good luck to Bungie and Marathon, and thank you for reading if you got this far.