Marathon has moments when it feels like it could be the next big thing for shooters, but right now, it’s getting in its own way with a messy UI, confusing onboarding, and too much friction for newcomers.
Since this is a live service game, I’ll revisit the game throughout the first month and take a look at Cryo Archive, Marathon’s endgame zone, when it opens later in March, for a full game review. For now, these are just straight-up impressions from time spent with the game ahead of its launch.
Extraction shooters have become a very popular genre. The only extraction shooter I’ve played before Marathon was Rainbow Six Extraction, and that game left a bad taste in my mouth. ARC Raiders blew up, but I’ve never tried it. But knowing Marathon was coming out and that it had a studio like Bungie behind it, it only felt right to give it a shot.
What Marathon is, and what a run looks like
At its core, Marathon is an extraction shooter. You pick your character, or “Runner Shell” in this instance, build your loadout, choose a contract, then drop into a map to scavenge for loot, fight PvEvP and then hopefully extract with all your goodies intact.
For now, there are six Shells for players to choose from: Destroyer for offensive play, Vandal for faster movement, Recon for Intel, Assassin for stealth, Triage as your medic, Thief for tech and Rook as your scavenger. The point of the “Rook” shell is to drop into games that are already mid-game with no loot and scavenge for loot. This way, you don’t lose anything, but you have a ton to gain. Each Runner Shell has a prime ability, a tactical ability, and traits, which are usually passive bonuses such as double jump, power slide, HUD alerts and more.
If you’re starting out and don’t have much gear, Marathon offers sponsored kits so you can at least get into a match. The problem is you can’t add anything to them. Literally nothing. Not even ammo. Kits are a much bigger issue than they sound once you realize how punishing Marathon can be and how scarce ammo is.
Contracts tie into factions, which are basically different groups in the world you do jobs for. There are six factions in total, including CyberAcme, NuCaloric, Traxus, MIDA, Arachne, and Sekiguchi Genetics. Each with their own reason for being on Tau Ceti IV. As you complete contracts, you progress through your current faction and unlock the ability to work for others as the story moves forward over time. Completing faction contracts unlocks story beats, items in-game like runner shell upgrades, stronger starting loadouts, expanded vault space and more.
Marathon isn’t for the casuals
Marathon does not ease you in. Between factions, cells, Runners, upgrades, contracts, loot tiers, and all the systems layered on top of each other, Marathon genuinely gave me a headache at first. Not because it’s some insanely complicated game, but because it throws so much at you and doesn’t explain it well. In my opinion, using this approach is a big mistake on Bungie’s part. They should have rolled this game out with fun social media content explaining these mechanics to better prepare players for what they’re going to experience. It’s a fun, unique way to add to a player’s “tutorial” without having them go through an expansive in-game tutorial. This type of rollout would help Bungie attract the new players they’re looking for.
The barrier to entry feels high, and it’s hard to tell if that’s intentional. It almost feels like Bungie wants a sense of discoverability where you learn by being in the world and slowly figure things out over time. In that sense, Marathon plays like Destiny. If you try to join as seasons have passed, you’re going to be lost. That’s fine in theory, but it will turn many players off, especially given the upfront $49.99 CAD investment. Which is a fair price, but when you consider other games that are out or coming out, it’s hard to justify.
Bungie can still make a polished FPS
There are moments where Marathon is genuinely fun. The gunplay feels good, and combat is satisfying when everything clicks. There’s great feedback when you kill an enemy. The skull indicator and the audio cue give combat a nice punch, and that’s something that’s always appreciated in shooters.
The addition of abilities in this game also helps. I was a big Apex Legends player, so using abilities is always a fun strategy. The Triage Shell I played as had an ability that could EMP an enemy, but you could also use that same skill to revive teammates. That’s a great idea, because reviving your team in a game like this is crucial to staying in fights.
For right now, it doesn’t feel like the game is pushing microtransactions in your face, which is a big win. Cosmetics like charms, stickers, and skins seem to be earned in-game. Even if some of them aren’t amazing, it reminds me of older shooters where you’d just unlock stuff by playing.
And even though I’m not fully hooked, I have an urge to return to Marathon and play it. Partly, it’s due to the series’ history. I’ve been diving deeper into the lore and seeing connections to other Bungie games like Halo and Destiny, which has piqued my interest. The moment-to-moment combat is also doing a good job at making me want to log back in.
Art is Subjective, As They Say
The art style is where Marathon loses me a bit. The graphics are nice, but the art style is weird. We’re going to see discourse around it, but it isn’t the biggest issue. The biggest issue is that once you’re in the world and in a fight, everything starts blending together because of all the colours. It makes seeing enemies harder.
There’s so much colour and on-screen clutter that it feels like the game is fighting your eyes. Sometimes you get attacked, or something breaks, and this massive effect takes over your screen. It’s a lot. I genuinely think some people will walk away from this game with a headache.
It also creates real gameplay problems. I ran into a poisonous environmental effect that killed me. That’s just insane. And what made it worse is that I couldn’t even properly see what I stepped into because of all the colour distracting me.
Apparently, you’re supposed to carry a specific item that clears elemental effects. I didn’t have it. Why? Because I had a sponsored kit equipped, and you can’t add anything to it. So, I stepped into something I could barely see, it depleted my health fully, and even my normal heals and my tactical, a little robot helper that heals shields and health, couldn’t save me.
If Bungie wants the world to be harsh, fine. But at least make the hazards clearer.
The art style of the guns plays into the sci-fi world of Marathon. Someone online said the game looks like a Roblox or Minecraft shooter. They were obviously being toxic, but that kind of stuck with me because the guns are big and blocky and had weird logos all over. The guns also felt very similar. Some of that might just be me not spending enough time with enough variations yet, but right now, a lot of the arsenal blurs together. Shooting a pistol sounded the same as shooting a rifle, which shouldn’t be the case.
The UI is a mess, and onboarding is not clear
Marathon’s menus are genuinely confusing. There are too many tabs and too many places to look. Top right menus. Left-side menus. Pop-ups. Icons that look almost identical. On top of that, the game’s use of colour makes it hard to tell what’s highlighted or where your eyes should go.
At one point, a large prompt appeared with text and a large block background, and I still couldn’t find the button it wanted me to press.
Loot and item descriptions don’t look great either. They’re not clearly laid out; it’s usually just white text and descriptions that don’t explain much. In an extraction shooter, you need to loot fast and keep moving. In Marathon, reading item descriptions feels like it slows the whole pace down. I’m still reading what I’m picking up, and my teammates are long gone to the next fight.
The loot colour system is also confusing at first. Apex does a great job teaching players that grey is weak, then blue, then purple, and so on, and it’s consistent across everything: weapons, armour, magazines. Marathon has a similar progression system, but it doesn’t really teach it to the player. You have to dig. In this interesting world Bungie built, there should be a simple area, like a gun range or a training space, where you can see gear tiers and understand what “better” even looks like before you’re learning the hard way in live matches. This would also give players the chance to interact with the different healing items and loot found in the world.
Little things that can get annoying
This game, being first-person, makes it hard to peek around corners. In a lot of gunfights, it feels like you have to fully expose yourself to enemies to fight them, even when you’re trying to play cover. This mechanic is not specific to Marathon, but it does indicate the level design could use some tweaking to provide better cover you can shoot behind, so your full Shell isn’t exposed.
As mentioned before, ammo also felt scarce. I learned pretty quickly that buying ammo and shields in the armoury is almost mandatory, at least for right now. Hopefully, Bungie addresses ammo in the future. It should be something Bungie can easily fix in a few patches.
And I’ll say it again: please give us a constant sprint option. Auto-sprint ON. Thank you. And no, I don’t think having a perk that provides a cooldown on your sprint makes it okay. Auto-sprint just makes the game fast-paced and fun in my opinion. It can help you get out of a jam quickly.
Where we’re at right now
Overall, Marathon feels just okay, and I don’t think that’s enough when the game feels like it should be great.
If you like extraction shooters, you might like Marathon. If you like Bungie games, you’ll probably be more patient with the gameplay loop. If you love the art style, you’ll have an easier time getting past its visual loudness. But for many general players, I can see the barrier to entry being too high, especially given how messy the UI and onboarding feel.
We’re reserving final judgment until Cryo Archive opens later in March. If that endgame content makes progression clearer and gives the whole thing a stronger purpose, it could change the conversation around Marathon.
[This review in progress covers the Marathon Server Slam and retail launch.]
Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
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Author: 360 Technology Group
