I Loved The Original Marathon Games and I Wanted to Be Skeptical, but the New Marathon Looks Genuinely Fantastic

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Bungie is nearly prepared to reintroduce the beloved Marathon series to global audiences with a fresh perspective on the intellectual property. Expected to debut in September, this Alpha phase has already allowed fans worldwide an initial exploration of Tau Ceti IV and its enigmas.

Once I manage to play it (since the initial release is limited to North America), I’ll be reminiscing about an iconic series that significantly influenced my gaming development during my younger days.

Back in 1994, a naive Alister – who had never touched a PC game before – embarked on his first adventure with Marathon. Filled with excitement and no other choice (you’ll soon understand why), he fired up their family Mac with a familiar ‘DUNG’ sound and spent the entire Summer engrossed in this game.

Permit me to share my personal journey with the Marathon Trilogy, a saga that’s grown close to my heart over time. Each installment has left an indelible mark on me, and the prospect of the latest addition only amplifies my excitement. It truly appears magnificent!

Back in the 1990s, I didn’t possess a computer running Windows. Instead, I was fully immersed in console gaming. Unfortunately, this lack of a personal computer prevented me from experiencing numerous games that my peers enjoyed during that period on their home computers.

Instead, we had an Apple Mac.

In one corner of our living room, the vintage Macintosh Performa 630 sat unused, except for when we needed it for school tasks or my father’s work. One day, during a heated game of NHL 94, my brother emerged victorious. After he discarded the Genesis controller from his head, where I had thrown it in frustration, our mother promptly confiscated the console from my room, temporarily. My brother eventually lost interest in games following that incident, but let’s move on.

Given a choice between stepping out for playtime or settling down with my Mac, I opted for the latter.

Or, more casually:

Rather than going outside to play or sticking with my Mac, I picked the Mac this time around.

Browning through my father’s collection of CD-ROMS, I stumbled upon an unknown section containing discs I hadn’t noticed earlier, among them one labeled “Marathon”. Sliding this disc into the drive, I launched the game and became captivated by it immediately.

Until then, I hadn’t tried any first-person shooter games. My transition from the Master System to the Genesis had only recently introduced me to a handful of titles beyond Streets of Rage, NHL 94, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Discovering these new games was an eye-opening experience!

Exploring rapidly through bizarre, extraterrestrial-looking landscapes, firing at the unusual and fascinating alien mobs while advancing my narrative using game terminals offered a thrilling journey for me back then. That summer, nothing else on my Sega compared to that experience.

Although there were moments when I found myself unsure about the plotline, the engaging gameplay has won me over completely, ensuring my loyalty as a customer of Bungie for life.

Looking back now, it’s hard to imagine a time when I wasn’t deeply immersed in the universe created by Bungie. From the moment I first donned Master Chief’s armor in Halo, to standing alongside Guardians in the Destiny Alpha and Beta, I’ve been hooked on every title they’ve released. The memories of my time with Master Chief are still vivid, and I can’t wait to reconnect with that world once more when the latest installment of the franchise that ignited my passion for gaming arrives.

It appears that numerous individuals don’t seem to be as enthusiastic about it as I am. A swift exploration of the game across social platforms will present an abundance of opinions discouraging its enjoyment. I eagerly await the moment when everyone stops discussing it in September.

Is it possible that my expectations might turn out to be incorrect? Indeed, this is always a possibility when it comes to new titles or fresh spins on long-neglected intellectual properties. However, I have an inkling about this one, based on my experience. You see, I didn’t take to Destiny 2 at its initial release. In fact, I only revisited it recently after the Marathon reveal. Despite logging countless hours in Halo and the original Destiny, Destiny 2 failed to strike a chord with me until now. And that’s where my thoughts are headed.

Bungie doesn’t often miss.

Here’s my attempt: As a gamer, I see they are constantly working on their projects, incorporating fan feedback to make improvements (mostly). Even if some might criticize their creations as less than perfect, I can attest that I’ve spent days immersed in their games, and those fans have every right to voice their opinions. Just as they do, I am excited, and so are you.

2025’s Marathon is a distinctive shooter game, unlike many others due to its striking visual style, which stands out amidst the congested market of brown-toned shooters. Yet, imagining a Doom 2016-style revamp for Marathon wouldn’t lessen my enthusiasm; instead, it would be fantastic. However, the prospect of returning to the Marathon universe is truly exhilarating for me.

A more leisurely gameplay style, which might not suit the most intense Call of Duty players, is exactly what I’m after currently. The strategy involves taking time to complete objectives and strategically selecting loadouts that can change in an instant, resulting in heart-pounding, nail-biting matches each time you enter the game. What I’m seeking isn’t a high kill-death (KD) ratio; instead, I need an engaging mission that allows me to gather loot and make a quick escape!

What I find intriguing is that Bungie aims to explore the niche of extraction shooter games, a genre not commonly seen, particularly on consoles. Tarkov stands as the well-known representative, but it’s quite challenging and only playable on PC. Marathon could pave the way for extraction shooters to enter mainstream popularity, potentially surpassing Battle Royale games in time.

Could there be a hint of nostalgia influencing me? Absolutely. Yet, I can’t help but feel that just as Fortnite disrupted the Battle Royale genre, Marathon could revolutionize the extraction shooter scene come September. Will it win my heart when it launches, or will it be Bungie’s first misstep? Time will tell. However, as a long-time fan, I genuinely anticipate that Marathon will be the game to catapult extraction shooters into prominence.

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2025-04-23 00:12