Bungie has officially revealed Marathon, uncovering the core gameplay loop, operating model, and narrative concept. It’s a somewhat traditional extraction shooter that’s going to try to disrupt the genre by introducing unique social mechanics and an original art style that has started turning heads in the gaming space.
However, many have already written off Marathon, pointing out glaring flaws in the game’s reveal and the news and rumours that followed. It’s bold enough to try breaking into the extraction genre, but to do it with so many risky choices sitting front-and-centre is downright ballsy – or foolish.
Has Bungie already done everything wrong with Marathon?
What’s Wrong with Marathon?
As a game, Marathon looks just fine. The combat mechanics look entertaining, the impressions built off preview sessions are strong, and it’s backed by Bungie, a big-name, big-budget studio. But that’s the tip of the iceberg, and when you start digging deeper, the flaws surface quite rapidly.
Firstly, extraction shooters rarely survive in the open market. Escape from Tarkov is the only extraction game to have remained consistent over the years, and the Russian shooter’s market cap is nothing short of overwhelming for newcomers.
It can also be argued that Bungie is late to the extraction shooter boom with Marathon, but other developers are still trying to crack that nut. It’s battle royale games all over again, but more of those have survived their uptick than the smattering of extraction shooters that appeared in recent years.
It was revealed that Marathon will be a premium title with a moderate price tag, which many have suggested is the wrong foot forward for Bungie. It has been said that ‘a game like this’ should be free-to-play with microtransaction support, and I’m inclined to agree. It’s hard to land sales for a game like this, given that it’s a niche genre and a never-before-seen IP (if we ignore the original game that debuted in 1994).
On the subject of release, Marathon is contending with another big-budget first-person shooter, releasing on the same day as Borderlands 4. That game already has millions of fans around the world, and Borderlands is nothing if not loaded with quirks and a similarly unique art style, which could mean it’ll already outpace Marathon with ease.
The cacophony of mechanics and features wrapped up in Marathon are great, but it’s an overly complex way to present the extraction shooter genre, which at heart, is quite simple. You load up, you run a map, and you leave again – that’s it. Despite claiming to be super accessible, Marathon might be doing the opposite by putting up a convoluted learning curve.
With that being said, it’s too much of an arcade game for the hardcore extraction fans, and it’s likely too challenging for arcade shooter fans, so what exactly is Marathon’s target market?
I’m all game to give it a try, and I’ll go in with an open mind, but I’m worried about Marathon. It has been years in development at Bungie, and I just don’t want the team to fall flat with the project when it hits the market.
We’ll know more soon – the closed alpha is on the way.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Verdansk should be a bold revival for Warzone
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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