Bungie has revealed the all-new and experimental PvE mode coming soon to Marathon, the struggling extraction shooter that released in March and has been suffering in the traction stakes ever since. There were hopes that a PvE gameplay loop might reinvigorate the title or attract those wary of PvP, but given what has been revealed, that might not be the case.
In July, the mid-season update for Marathon arrives, and it is set to introduce Vault Breaker, the game’s new PvE mode. However, it’s not exactly an extraction shooter mode, as the items you find when exploring Vault Breaker are left behind, eradicating one of the fundamental elements of what an extraction shooter is.
Marathon’s Vault Breaker Mode Sounds Interesting
Marathon is getting a PvE mode; that much was confirmed weeks ago by Bungie, but now, a new announcement has painted a picture of what that mode will look like.
It’s called Vault Breaker, and it invites players to explore Cryo Archive, the ‘endgame map’ that was released on March 20th. It’s the game’s toughest environment, and with Vault Breaker, it takes on an entirely new facet.
Players will launch into a raid on Vault Breaker, embarking on a journey to Cryo Archive once having secured a special Sponsored Kit. They can play as a crew, duo, or solo player, and when they land in Cryo Archive, they’ll face a progressively challenging series of vaults.
As the raid unravels, players will become stronger, taking their newfound knowledge and power into other raids unique to the Vault Breaker circuit. There’s a grand vault resting at the end of the loop, with a ‘mysterious entity’ within, which many have assumed is the Compiler.
Now, this is where Vault Breaker takes a non-extraction-focused turn. When you extract from a Vault Breaker run, you won’t be able to take any gear or items you’ve found during the run. You can pull out Vault Data, but that’s it. It’s an all-new currency that’s found within the vaults in Cryo Archive, and it can be exchanged for upgrades to your new Vault Breaker Sponsored Kits.
In Bungie’s words, this allows players to experience all the fun (perhaps) of Cryo Archive ‘without flooding the economy with low-risk, high-power Cryo loot.’
Do you think you’ll be playing Marathon’s new PvE mode? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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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.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
I’d love a PvE mode where it’s basically the same game just only against NPCs. Basically what Tarkov has. I don’t need to be able to switch between PvP and PvE. It’s almost like I’d rather not have to deal with PvP at all. Funny how people are worried about “easy PvE loot” finding it’s way into PvP when most PvE enjoyers would like nothing more than to be able to play PvE ONLY. How I see it, PvP people are still the problem here. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This game’s problem is that it sucks and it’s very repetitive, boring and unfun, not that it’s PvP.
I couldn’t get past the open beta day one…
When ti explains how you don’t get to keep any of your loot at the end of a round, whatever hype this mode might possibly have had, is gone. But lets just be real, there is nothing this game is going to be able to do at this point that will actually get the game turned around and have a healthy player base. It is being played by 10k or less people since like week four of being released (and only at like 1 5k the previous weeks)
I have over 800 hours almost 900 hours of Arc Raiders under my belt since that game launched.,, and Marathon has only gotten me to play it when it was free to play. And this most recent FTP weekend when the season started… I played for maybe an hour and was completely disinterested. It felt like a chore playing the game. Obviously I do enjoy the niche genre, Marathon is just way to focused on giving only the most dedicated and high skilled players the best experience imo.
Honestly, I could be looting a body or crate or something, and the way they have the loot UI set up…. I have no idea if I found something awesome and rare or just budget and common. I like the graphic art style, but it just doesn’t read easy to the newbie. With Arc Raiders the loot is going to flash bright Pink and make a noise that conveys this is something special to everyone, experienced or not. Little things like this make a big difference, especially when going with such a bold visual aesthetic (stolen or not).
This game is supposed to get a big update season 4 or 5 or something.. I feel like it is almost guaranteed to not even be around long enough to see that update.