The Optimist’s Case For Bungie’s ‘Marathon’

Ever since the debut of Marathon’s gameplay this past weekend, “discourse” has been swirling about how the game looks, and it’s a bit burying your head in the sand to say most chatter wasn’t majority negative.

This ranges from very pointless “the clones are woke” debates to actual criticism of how it seems to play, and how it might perform in the larger competitive PvP industry at a higher price point and a somewhat content-bare launch. I’ve participated in that myself quite a bit.

So, can I look on the bright side today? I’ll try to make an optimist’s case for Marathon here, and even if all of this doesn’t pan out, if anyone can break into a crowded market, it’s Bungie.

It’s Bungie – That’s my first point here. This is a studio that made Halo and Destiny, meaning they have not worked on a failed franchise in 25 years. They have some of the best-feeling gunplay in the business, and I know you’re about to say “almost all the old Bungie people are gone,” but well, Bungie is still pumping out great-feeling guns and sandbox changes in Destiny to this day, so that is clearly still in their skill set. And is a game that blends the hugely popular Apex legends with the hugely popular Tarkov and Destiny-feeling gunplay really that bad? I’d argue it’s likely to be the opposite.

AAA, More Accessible Extraction Shooting – There just isn’t a wide-ranging extraction shooter on the market at this scale. Especially one that will take aim at the console market in a way few have attempted so far. We’re all saying “well I don’t want to play an extraction shooter,” but we’re largely basing that on the hardcore ones like Tarkov which are pretty much inaccessible on purpose. Bungie could change minds about that, and this idea may be better than simply doing another arena shooter or battle royale in the end, even if aspects of it may feel somewhat derivative.

Dedicated Servers, Less Cheating – Bungie is finally pulling the trigger on dedicated servers for a PvP game, something fans always want in this genre. And if there is one advantage to a mid-range price point for the game it’s that it will cut down on cheating at the very least, whether it makes the game a harder sell or not.

Sony Support – No matter how Marathon launches, I do not think Sony has it in them to pull the plug super early on another game like this, not after Concord. Sinking more resources into Marathon development to make it better and better in time is probably more worth it than confirming something as yet another giant failure, cementing the idea that they truly have no idea what they’re doing in this genre. Marathon will see continued investment, I’m almost sure of it.

A Unique Aesthetic that May Still Improve – Concord never looked good. Not once. It was clearly banking on a quasi-Guardians of the Galaxy vibe, plus 70s-inspired character designs. It just looked terrible. You simply cannot say that with Marathon with a straight face, at least in terms of overall design and the vibe this entire aesthetic has. There have been some complaints about how that translates into onscreen play, but I think that may change once people are playing in 4K, and Bungie has reminded us that some of this footage is older builds in pre-alpha, so there is still room for more improvement.

The Fourth Map – Bungie and some player testers have been constantly hyping up some fourth map that is not launching with the game, but is supposed to be the unique twist on the extraction concept in a way we haven’t seen before. Why on earth we’re not seeing this now, I have no idea, nor why the game isn’t waiting to release with it, but if this delivers, that could be very good news.

Of course, the opposite of all of this could be true:

• People believe Bungie’s time has come and gone and don’t tune in
• People just don’t want to play extraction shooters regardless of accessibility, or it just isn’t accessible.
• The cost of the game instead of being free-to-play isn’t worth marginally less cheating.
• Sony is still skittish and doesn’t want to throw good money after bad if the game doesn’t land well
• The game simply does not look great in-engine when played and can’t improve much past that.
• The fourth map launches too late for people to care, and you can’t sell people on something that isn’t even here yet.

It depends what you want to choose to believe. In the end, I have more concerns than I have a glass overflowing with optimism, but we just cannot dictate what will or will not happen based on a single showcase. The biggest tests will be the vibes that come out of the closed alpha, but more importantly the open beta. If it doesn’t impress there, that’s when the serious problems begin. But if it does? Everyone may start shifting their view the other direction.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.