Marathon Final Review: A Triumphant Extraction Shooter Experience
Against all odds, the creators of Halo and Destiny have delivered a compelling extraction shooter with triumphant highs, provided players are willing to navigate its peculiar quirks and steep learning curve. The journey to Marathon's launch has been turbulent, marked by dramatic layoffs at developer Bungie, plagiarism controversies, lukewarm player tests, and the shadow of Sony's graveyard of cancelled live service projects.
Overcoming Initial Hurdles
Miraculously, through all the internal and external upheaval, Marathon proves surprisingly enjoyable once players push through its initial idiosyncrasies. Early concerns about overproduced menus, steep learning curves, and poor tutorials still linger to some extent. However, supported by a bevy of smart progression systems, Marathon becomes difficult to shake off once players acclimatize to its distinctive design philosophy.
Since the Server Slam beta, Bungie has ironed out significant wrinkles. The AI robots, while still challenging, have been toned down. Health and ammo drops are now more plentiful in the first major area called Perimeter, and generous sponsored kits provide free loadouts whenever players suffer punishing losses.
The Extraction Shooter Experience
Despite its name, Marathon's runs are short sprints rather than lengthy marathons. Players jump into fairly large maps, either in teams of three or solo, attempting to complete missions while scrambling for resources to sell, use for upgrades, or store in vaults for future runs. Once accumulating sufficient wares or approaching the 25-minute time limit, players must find an 'exfil' station to escape with their backpack contents intact.
The game maintains constant tension through its competitive nature, smart AI, and various hazards across the Tau Ceti system. Red fluorescent tick bugs emit haunting screams to signal proximity, deadly toxic plants threaten survival, and scattered sentry turrets create additional challenges. This oppressive atmosphere means most runs will likely end in player demise.
Progression and Learning Curve
Marathon's learning curve represents where the game might struggle to connect with some players, as understanding that frequent death is part of its design becomes crucial. Many contract missions, obtained through six different factions, can be completed without successfully escaping the map. Even when dying during a run, any discovered datacards will still contribute to credit accumulation.
For players in dire gear situations, the solo-only Rook class offers temporary disguise from enemy robots, allowing for supply stockpiling before the next mission. These safety cushions don't eliminate the sting of losing beloved rifles or valuable gear after ambushes, but Marathon provides enough versatility in options that players rarely feel too disheartened to dive back in.
Rewarding Progression Systems
The game's generously stacked progression systems ensure players always feel rewarded, even during repeated defeat spirals. Between faction skill trees, seasonal levels, codex challenges, and unlockable cosmetics, Marathon maintains engagement through constant advancement opportunities. When players hit their stride, the experience becomes electric, with condensed extraction setups built for close scrapes, sneaky getaways, and unpredictable encounters.
Countless memorable moments emerge from dashed dives to exfil stations, defying odds by reviving eliminated teammates across the map, dramatic stand-offs in creepy foggy foliage, and desperate attempts to sneak around threats through vents while clinging to minimal health.
Solo Versus Team Play
Marathon feels surprisingly different tonally between squadding up and going solo. Solo play resembles survival horror games, with the absence of supporting players accentuating the high stakes of intimidating environments. While some players might appreciate this slower, tense pace, team-play offers more camaraderie with slightly less cut-throat firefights. Shared XP for completing contracts together encourages collaborative approaches with higher rewards.
Core Gameplay Strengths
Marathon layers smart reasons to maintain player investment both mechanically and through progression, but none would work without exceptional gunplay. While it's almost predictable to compliment Bungie on this aspect given their Halo and Destiny legacy, the finely tuned, punchy fizzing head pops and chunky sci-fi weapons deserve recognition. Marathon's mobility feels distinctive compared to those games too, with less floaty movement complementing the more suffocating maps.
The unsung hero remains the audio design. The sharp mechanical siren of alerted robots will likely reverberate in players' nightmares throughout the year, while other creatures and faction leaders gain atmospheric presence through their sonics. This helps compensate for sometimes inconsistent visual design, which veers from brilliant during matches and dazzling cut scenes to overly busy when navigating interfaces.
Areas for Improvement
Despite Marathon's strengths, Bungie appears to still be figuring out some elements. The endgame map, Cryo Archive, represents a superbly designed vision of the game's potential future—a labyrinth of chilling corridors and interlocking passageways wrapped into a raid-like puzzle box with escalating security clearance levels and hidden vaults.
While it stands as the best map by some distance, its steep barrier for entry combined with Bungie's odd decision to limit access to specific weekend windows creates challenges. Players unwilling to invest hours into levelling up, or those who aren't full-time streamers, face a long climb to experience its glories.
Seasonal Reset Concerns
This limitation becomes more concerning given Bungie's confirmation that gear, contract progression, and player levels will reset after every three-month season. Essentially, Bungie expects consistent commitment to Marathon to experience its best offerings—a degree of dedication likely impossible for many players. While this short seasonal cycle might provide refreshing jolts through constant addition of new maps and contracts, it remains a lingering, unanswered concern at this stage.
Final Assessment
Based on current offerings, Marathon emerges as a dense, dynamic, and unexpectedly invigorating shooter in the modern live service space. Contrary to Sony's potential dismay, this isn't a vapid, all-pleasing experience designed to attract general masses, but rather a thorny, hardcore niche title dolled up with stylish verve.
Whether Marathon will achieve lasting success remains uncertain at this stage, but for those firmly converted to its unique extraction shooter formula, the hope for longevity persists. The game represents a tough, flashy, and surprisingly versatile experience housing a magnetic loop of death and loot beneath its occasionally obtuse idiosyncrasies.
Pros: Excellent gunplay as expected from Halo and Destiny creators; visually distinctive with stunning audio design; mechanically rich with extensive customization options; brilliant Cryo Archive map complexity; progression systems complement extraction loops well.
Cons: Steep learning curve with lacklustre tutorials; some tedious contract mission designs; strange limitation of Cryo Archive access to weekends only.
Score: 8/10
Formats: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £34.99
Publisher: Bungie
Developer: Bungie
Release Date: 5th March 2026
Age Rating: 16
