When Marathon’s second season kicks off on June 2, Bungie will give new players a chance to try the game for free for a full week. In blog post published today, the studio said the preview, which is slated to run through June 9, will be available on Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, with any progress players make carrying over to the full game if they decide to purchase it afterward.
As previously announced, existing players will see their item vault and armory reset at the end of the current season, making this a great time to try the game since everyone will be on equal footing when it comes to weapons and upgrades. In Wednesday’s blog post, Bungie also shared new information about season two’s biggest additions: the new Sentinel class, nighttime Dire Marsh map and Cradle customization system. The reimagined zone will see Marathon lean into more of its cosmic horror inspirations.
“This new zone introduces new mechanics, new combatants, and locations to explore on Dire Marsh,” Bungie explains. “It’s built to be slower-paced than Day Marsh and plays more like a survival horror experience, with slightly fewer players and extra environmental challenges with navigating the darkness and threats within.”
As for the Sentinel shell, Bungie describes it as defensive specialist, with a kit built around controlling space. Its prime ability, Defender System, allows it to deploy a point-defense drone that can briefly protect you and your crew against grenades and missiles. If I had to guess, the new shell will be popular at high levels of play where grenades of all types fly thick and fast. In a call back to the Halo series, one of the Sentinel’s other abilities allows it to activate a short-range, motion-tracking system. “Use this to gather a bit of extra intel on who or what’s moving around you, and set up your defenses accordingly,” Bungie suggests.
Lastly, there’s the Cradle, which will allow players to convert extra weapons and other equipment into experience they can put towards stat upgrades and perks. Bungie says this system is designed to give players a way to progress their character separate from the game’s faction system, which can get tedious when you need to find (and exfil) specific high-level salvage to buy a single upgrade. The studio also notes players can tweak their Cradle builds at any time to encourage experimentation.
Earlier this month, Bungie outlined its plan for Marathon’s future, saying it would make the game’s onboarding experience better for new players, and that new PvE modes would arrive during season two. Less than a week later, the studio announced it was ending development on Destiny 2. Then a day later Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier published a report claiming Sony was planning “significant” layoffs at the developer. It’s probably fair to say a successful preview week would do a lot to boost morale at Bungie.
