Marathon

It's been a while since I've written about a video game here. But this week, I gave Bungie's first effort since being acquired by Sony a bash; Marathon. Which is released next weekend, but they decided to do a freebie for everyone on PC & PlayStation with a server bashing test.

I have an odd relationship with Bungie. I've been a Mac user since I was a kid. And have a vague memory of Marathon on Mac many moons ago. In fact, the memory is so scant that I don't even think I had the game, a friend did. I recall Halo, before that was acquired by Microsoft to be the flagship title for Xbox. And while my brother had an Xbox and as a result I did get to enjoy Halo, I never got fully engrossed in it until it arrived on PC. And when it soon gets a full re-release for modern hardware including on PS5, I'll get knee-deep in it. Particularly the online component.

Destiny is a title I never really got into. As attractive as any shooter from Bungie is (and it's really hard to describe how beautifully Bungie, and almost no one else, can develop console controller shooting mechanics), I just never had the time or energy to devote to a persistently online game. I never got into World of Warcraft, PlanetSide or anything else. I get Destiny was an enormous success, got a huge sequel and is still the mainstay of many people's console experience. But it's just never going to suit me.

But then Marathon came along. It doesn't really look like Marathon. There's no story per se (other than the hints and tips you get while things load), and it's always online. You play in a squad of 3 people, each who can choose a different skill-based shell (one is stealthy, one is a sniper, one's a brute soldier, one's medic, etc. etc.). In the map, and there's a few to choose from, you play against squads of other people as well as AI robotic foes. You're given objectives to hit in-game, and in the end the winner is the crew who manages to clear any objectives as well as get off the map in the allocated time. Not getting to the post to initiate a departure from the map means you'll be eliminated after the timer runs down.

It's a familiar mechanic, an 'extraction shooter.' Arc Raiders is probably the best example of it in the ether today. But I've not played that. In fact, I've not played any extraction shooter before this weekend. So my context is extremely limited. What I will say is that most of the mechanics and vibes are wholesale taken from Battle Royal games. Which is another genre I've not touched in years. But it is important to note that I spent inordinate amounts of time during Covid with friends in Verdansk.

The similarity is that you can learn the huge map inside-out, but each round is going to offer a wholly unique experience based on your squad, objectives and the other squads around the place. Moreover, you have to go looting for weapons, upgrades and health. Which is very Battle Royal-esque. What isn't, is that there is some persistence in what you loot and don't sell (to buy more permanent upgrades to your shell). As long as you don't get eliminated in a round, you get to keep what you looted. Which to my uncontextualised mind, is very clever.

The game feels incredible. Of course it does, it's Bungie. I played on my PS5 Pro, sitting on my couch with a coffee next to me. I gave it a few hours while the kids played around me. And it was wonderful. The visuals pop, the gunplay is sublime, my squadmates were helpful, even with me as a noob, the sound design (which was put to the test on my surround sound kit) made me wish there was a playlist on Apple Music. Everything was great.

I walked away feeling good. I'll buy this next week and enjoy it. I'll drop in and out of it every few days, enjoy a bash on it and leave it at that. My mainstay is racing games, notably GT7. But if I can bash about on Marathon for an hour to wind down, great. Battlefield is too samey and too military-sim to be fun, COD is an expensive mess and I don't have the time or energy for anything else.

But then I went online to check out if I missed anything on Marathon. And while some streamers enjoy it, a lot of poorly placed commentary is in the ether. Some bugs (it's a pre-released bug bash weekend!), gameplay tweaks and balance issues are causing folks to decry the end of Bungie, and even the end of Sony.

Which brings me to a very different point to this whole piece: stop going online for reviews and commentary before you get to experience something yourself. I immediately disagree with any of these declarations of disaster. I had a great time in the game, bug-free and with squadmates that were helpful. I mostly did poorly at the missions and overall objectives in rounds but I'm an old hand at shooting mechanics, so tended to be better there than my squad-mates, who took up the healing and supply slack.

Gaming brings people together. It also helps people escape the ridiculous reality of our intense lives. I found that in Marathon. And found it ironic that online chatter was of doom & gloom. Because of course, if I said that Marathon was a disaster, Sony will go under and the industry is in turmoil I'd get more hits. It's a great game, Bungie-esque and a lot of fun is not what people get riled up and click things about.