Marathon’s server slam ran this past weekend across PS5, Xbox and PC, offering players a chance to preview the game before its release on March 5. The latest game from Bungie, the makers of Halo and Destiny, is an extraction shooter, which has been… contentious. It certainly isn’t the game that fans were expecting. After putting roughly ten hours into the Marathon server slam, I have thoughts.
Extraction shooters seem to be one of those subgenres that people either love or hate. To those who love them, they offer unparalleled tension, with real stakes where every shot counts and getting eliminated means losing everything. To those who hate them, they’re just frustrating, with an obtuse gameplay loop and brutal punishments for mistakes.
Each game in the genre offers a vastly different experience and level of punishment. Arc Raiders is rather forgiving, with a long TTK (time-to-kill) and a community that’s focused more on PvE than PvP. It’s a good starting point for new players. Whereas Hunt: Showdown is known for its intense atmosphere, team-focused gameplay and… vocal community. That’s the nicest way I can phrase that. Unless you have an experienced player to guide you, it’s a tough one to get into. And though I’ve never tried Escape From Tarkov, it seems to be the most intense of them all.
Marathon stands out from the pack thanks to a neon-drenched art style, synth-infused soundtrack and best-in-class gunplay. But despite its polished and inviting exterior, it’s a competitive game that’s highly unforgiving. If you’re planning on playing this solo, expect to have some rough first rounds as you get your bearings. Not only will the UESC bots give you a serious challenge, but you’ll be faced with environmental effects, loot, contracts, shells and of course, other players.
Not for the nice players
If you play like a Canadian, Marathon will be extra challenging. Many of us from the Great White North are polite by nature. We say hello when we meet someone, sorry when we bump into them, and thank them when they pass the maple syrup. In a game like Arc Raiders where there’s proximity chat and a friendly community, that bodes well. You can take on bosses together, trade, and even make friends.
But in Marathon, if you even hesitate to shoot for a second, you’ll be down before you can ask if they want to share a two-four. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in the middle of a quest, being hunted by bots or about to extract; Bungie’s shooter is a player-versus-player experience through and through. Don’t expect anyone to be willing to talk, let alone come to your aid.
While the game does offer solo modes and trios, it has clearly been designed with teams in mind. The bots hit hard, the tight corridors make for great flanking opportunities, and the short TTK demands precise teamwork. While I played most of my time in the game solo, I had the most success and the best time playing with mates. It’s a similar experience to games like Apex Legends or PUBG where, between firefights and objectives, there’s a good chunk of downtime as you move between various landmarks to chat and catch up. So if you’re looking for a new game for your group, this might be a good fit. Just know that currently, there isn’t a mode for duos.
Bungie’s gunplay is still the best around
In terms of game feel, Marathon has some of the tightest shooting mechanics I’ve ever experienced, which is no surprise given the studio’s pedigree. The weapons have some real weight to them, even when they are energy weapons, and the audio feedback is crunchy and satisfying. I also love the world of the game so far. Not only does the art style stand out from any other game on the market, but the subtle storytelling given through contracts and brief cutscenes really sells the idea that you’re a contractor who’s trapped in a loop of life and death until you pay off your debt.
And those contracts offer a satisfying levelling system that provides some much-needed goals to work towards. You can work with various companies who demand different things from their contractors. Some will want you to steal confidential data, others will want you to collect resources, while some will task you with taking out fellow players. Depending on your playstyle, you can align with a faction and level up in that area to dominate.
The issue at the moment is that the tasks on the contracts aren’t always clear. Early on, I was tasked with activating a TAD Station. What’s a TAD Station? Good question. I had no clue. I eventually found it by accident when searching a building, but beyond knowing that it was on the Perimeter map, I had no way of knowing what it looked like or where to even look. A quick search brings up a bunch of Reddit threads from similarly frustrated players. Hopefully, Bungie listens and adds some additional language to smooth out these issues.
The UX isn’t much better, especially on PS5. While the UI looks great, navigating the menus and inventory on a controller is a nightmare. Bungie have carried over their system of using the thumbstick like a mouse to navigate their game from Destiny, instead of allowing players to use the D-pad. And trying to find important information is even worse. To figure out where on the map you need to look for certain mission items, you need to hover over the mission so that a text box pops up revealing additional information.
There are also the issues that Bungie has already said it’s addressing, such as limited ammo and healing resources, aggressive heat generation with movement abilities and general PC performance, but I’m confident that those will be fixed with time.
But is it worth the $50 CAD?
So that leaves me with the $50 question: is it worth it? Honestly, I don’t know. The server slam only featured a few maps, didn’t have all of the character classes (shells) and limited progression, so this is by no means a review. As the game rolls out and more content is added near the middle of March, I should have a better idea of where I and the game stand.
But there’s one major issue that I haven’t mentioned that may take more than just a few patches to address: the gameplay loop.
Currently, I’m not sure what’s exciting in the game besides the occasional firefights. Despite being built entirely around the idea of collecting loot, none of the rewards feel meaningful at the moment. I pick up a bunch of stuff with no meaningful value, extract and then do it all over again. If I die in a match, I lose those items, but it doesn’t really matter because I don’t have any attachment to them. It doesn’t feel like there’s a clear enough objective or high enough stakes.
If there was a plethora of unique weapons like Borderlands to find, then I’d feel far more inclined to explore, and I’d definitely feel the pressure to safely escape if I got an exotic hand cannon. But there’s nothing like that.
When I play Hunt: Showdown, there’s a clear goal of finding and eliminating a massive eldritch boss at the end of the match. And once you’ve eliminated the boss, you then need to wait a painfully long time before you’re able to escape, all the while hoping other players don’t take you out and steal the reward that you worked so hard to earn. There’s a clear purpose to each round — and not only do you lose your weapons, you lose the character you’re playing as forever. Real stakes.
Even compared to battle royales, where you’re collecting loot and only getting into scraps a couple times per round, there’s a clear end goal of being the last team standing. Marathon currently lacks both purpose and stakes.
Still finding the gameplay loop
For players like me who need a bit more of a goal to work towards, Bungie will need to continue to build out that gameplay loop. I love the gunfights, I love the aesthetic, and I definitely love the world-building. But I don’t know if I’ll be itching to queue into matches a couple weeks from now if they don’t find that hook.
But that’s not to say I didn’t have a good time during the server slam. There were several matches that got my heart going a kilometre a minute. My team would barely get through a fight, find the extraction point, only to get downed by the UESC and barely manage to escape alive. The Bungie magic in the moment is still there, I just hope they can expand on it and make this something truly great.
And hey, if you do check out Marathon, all I ask is that if you’re playing and the other player doesn’t shoot first, at least say sorry before you end them.
You can play Marathon on PlayStation, Xbox and Steam.
Image credit: Bungie
