With amazing live-service shooters like Destiny and Destiny 2 defining what modern FPS games can be, the hype for Marathon is exceptionally hype. There’s plenty to be about excited as we wait for a Marathon release date to emerge.
There’s a good chance that Marathon will be one of the best FPS games out there – you only have to look at how well Bungie handled Destiny 2’s The Final Shape exception to get a sense of its expertise. With a PvP focus, this will be a truly high-stakes extraction shooter with a unique visual style to boot. So here’s everything you need to know about Marathon.
Marathon gameplay
While we wait for a Marathon release date to be confirmed, we can dive into what the game’s first trailer appears to tell us about the game’s gameplay loop. In Marathon, it appears that you’ll be playing in teams of three players, as was suggested by the below shot in the reveal trailer and confirmed by Bungie in its Marathon Vidoc. It’s unclear whether you’ll be able to play solo or as a duo, but three appears to be the team size that gameplay has been built around.
A brief description of Marathon’s gameplay on its official website also reveals more: “Become a Runner in Bungie’s new sci-fi PvP extraction shooter. Compete for survival, riches, and renown in a world of evolving, persistent zones, where any run can lead to greatness.”
The objective of Marathon is to enter a match to complete challenges and extract with artifacts. Artifacts appear to be of different sizes, values, and importance, and one of their main purposes looks to be unlocking new zones of the map. In the Marathon Vidoc, game director Chris Barrett describes such a scenario.
“Imagine if one crew happens to find an alien key, they place it on this altar, and then they get immortalized for opening up the next zone. And they have to go and figure out how to unlock that [zone] for everyone else,” he says. While the main focus is on PvP moments, there will also be PvE elements in Marathon as well. A Q+A with Barrett and general manager Scott Taylor confirms that “AI-controlled” enemies will be present.
The leadership team overseeing Marathon’s development is also packed with Bungie veterans: Barrett, Taylor, and senior design lead Lars Bakken collectively have over 50 years of experience at Bungie between just the three of them. As a result, the game will feel typically Bungie, meaning that you can expect “incredible feel of the weapons to beautiful and evocative world building, rich in lore, immersion, and opportunities for incredible adventure”, according to Barrett.
If you’re a fan of extraction shooters (or at least open to trying one), Marathon is one of the best games to keep on your radar. And if you’re looking for the latest games to play while you wait for Marathon, there’s always tons of great new PS5 games and new Xbox games.
Marathon platforms
Bungie’s new extraction shooter Marathon will launch on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles, as well as PC. And yes, just like Destiny 2, there will be full Marathon cross-play and cross-save functionality. Unfortunately, this does mean that Xbox One and PS4 players won’t be able to join in on the fun, unlike Destiny 2.
While this should result in a more ‘next-gen’ feeling game, it is nevertheless unfortunate that many won’t be able to play the game. However, by 2025, we’ll be well and truly into the current-gen consoles, with five years behind us.
Marathon story
Marathon takes place far in the future on the planet of Tau Ceti IV. A “massive ghost ship hangs in low orbit” over the planet, and a colony of “30,000 souls” that settled there have vanished, according to Bungie.
You play as a Runner, who goes to the planet looking for answers – and loot. “Strange signals hint at mysterious artifacts, long-dormant AI, and troves of untold riches.”
That’s all we know about Bungie’s upcoming extraction shooter. Of course, this isn’t the only thing Bungie is working on – the Destiny 2 The Final Shape release date is also on the horizon, which will be the last expansion of the game’s Light and Dark saga. Oh, and did you know that the worlds of Destiny and Marathon are connected? Bungie sure does go deep when it comes to lore.