If you’ve spent any amount of time on the internet as of late, you’ll have seen the big game on everyone’s mind: Marathon. It’s Bungie’s next big release, and last week, the whole world was able to sit down and gorge themselves on new gameplay footage. The game looks pretty darn good, if I say so myself. It looks as though we might be getting a new avenue for that Bungie quality that has kept fans loyal all these years. But, some are skeptical. There’s good reason why, but after weighing up both sides, I’m still moving forward with optimism when it comes to Marathon.
I was shocked to find myself excited at the gameplay trailer. I have struggled more with extraction shooters than I’d care to admit. I came too late to Escape from Tarkov, only dipping my toes in when cheating issues were at their problematic height, and what time un-murdered I did spend in the game felt largely unappealing. The Forever Winter nearly won me over, with its doomed future of a world in the midst of permanent robot holocaust, but once the aesthetics wore off I grew tired of scavenging for scraps. This happened over and over, and each time I just could feel the same hooks others had in me. It seemed to me that it wasn’t meant to be.
Yet, for some reason, Marathon has caught my interest. I am not a diehard Destiny fan. I played a bit of the game for work, and have enjoyed the odd exotic quest here and there, but I’ve never dropped more than a month or so into the game at a time, with yearly chasms between my sessions. I have always admired the work Bungie has done from afar, though, and I think maybe it’s some of that Bungie magic that could make all the difference. I should clarify straight away, I’m not referring to the magic that execs seem to believe their staff can use to put out a growing game while slashing budgets. I refer – of course – to the talent of their artists, combat designers, and countless others.
What we saw from recent Marathon gameplay is exactly what I expected from Bungie. A game that’s visually stunning, and not just in a “look at all that raytracing” kind of stunning. I mean like a real distinct art direction. There’s no game really out there at the moment that gives off the same vibe, certainly not one with Bungie’s budget. When hopping into a new genre and taking on the big hitters that’ve already fostered a community, you can’t just push out something that’ll blend into the crowd.
The weapons, environments, and the characters themselves all scream out “hey look, I’m something new”. It all blends together an obvious futuristic aesthetic with hints of retro tech here and there. It’s set in what looks to be this far-future space dystopia, sure. But it contrasts that with a vibrancy that pops out and drowns out the sort of dreary misery you’d see from other developers looking to make a game in a similar setting.
The artists at Bungie have, through the Destiny series, proven that when given freedom to push the boundaries in a new setting that they can really release some extraordinary work. From the small glimpse we have, I’m getting that same wanderlust I felt back when I saw The Hive for the first time.
Then there’s the action we see. Tight, fast, co-operative first person shooting that makes good use of the setting with interesting abilities and quirky takes on modern weaponry. The gameplay trailer is sure to emphasize that Bungie is bringing its “best-in-class first person multiplayer action to the forefront”, and yeah while that stuck me as a little self-congratulatory for my British sensibilities this pat on the back isn’t exactly undeserved. Destiny has had absolutely killer PvP for years upon years. Many players don’t care for the raids and narrative Destiny is better known for (instead sticking to the Crucible), and it’s hard to argue they’re in the wrong for doing so.
This will only help Marathon. The extraction shooters we have right now are predominantly military sims, or at least somewhat grounded in realistic gunplay. What Bungie has is decades of sci-fi FPS experience that it can use to make sure Marathon doesn’t just look like something fresh, but that it feels like something fresh too. That, I feel, will be the bigger reason folks will stick around rather than hop back into more senior titles in the genre.
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I think the game looks totally solid, I think Bungie has earned some trust when it comes to creating a FPS that feels good to play, especially in a futuristic setting. What I do concede may be the game’s biggest barrier is its price point. Look, it’s no secret that live service games have a hard time gaining a significant following. That’s been the case for years, as evidenced by an ever-growing graveyard of admirable attempts that have come out and wasted away.
It’s likely worse now than it’s ever been, with a potential recession coming on, consoles and PC parts potentially getting more expensive, and everyone pinching pennies. It’s not an easy thing to sell people on a multiplayer only game with no offline single player content whatsoever. Titanfall struggled to do it, and that was a game so good it should have defined a generation.
Here’s my counter argument. Bungie, through Destiny 2, certainly has had practice rolling out an engaging narrative through limited-time major updates. While many out there will jump into a major expansion, play the new raid and dip out, those who stick around know that the team can keep interesting threads going. These aren’t just for story nerds too, interesting new game modes come hot and ready from Bungie’s oven all the time. This, in spite of multiple waves of layoffs and a reduction in Destiny 2’s scope.
If there’s any FPS company out there who I believe has a good shot at actually making a live service extraction shooter with compelling enough updates to warrant a buy-in, it’s Bungie. Now, this is something the Marathon team will have to prove to people, and continue proving for months. I surely hope they’ve got staff working hard on post-launch plans as we speak. If they can walk the walk, with Marathon looking how it’s looking, I’ve got to say I’m officially excited for Marathon. Past experiences aside.