Bungie unveils Marathon, its new extraction shooter launching September 23

[Daniel Sims]

Something to look forward to: Bungie has finally revealed gameplay footage and release details for upcoming extraction shooter Marathon, which aims to reimagine the FPS series the company released three decades ago. Pricing details are forthcoming, and the new multiplayer title will receive a closed alpha later this month.

The player-versus-player-versus-enemy shooter tasks teams of up to three players with scavenging loot from various sci-fi locations within a time limit, all while fighting opposing teams and NPC-controlled enemies. Players drop all loot upon dying but can acquire permanent upgrades if they successfully escape.

Co-op is encouraged through a revival system, contextual pings, and shared objectives. Dynamic events and weather can make each match unpredictable, and players can customize characters to suit different classes.

Marathon will be similar to Escape From Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown, but Bungie's take will be more accessible for mainstream audiences and controller users. The company describes its latest project as an intense but rewarding experience. Although the new Marathon entry won't include a single-player mode, users can enter matches alone for a greater challenge.

Bungie will deliver the storyline across multiple seasons and community events. Settings and other details from the original Marathon trilogy will appear, but the company has reimagined them for a new audience. To set the tone, Bungie released an eight-minute animated cinematic short directed by Alberto Mielgo ("The Witness" and "Jibaro" from Netflix's Love, Death & Robots series).

The closed alpha runs from April 23 to May 4. Users located in North America can apply through the official Discord, but the test will hold a limited number of players.

Marathon launches on September 23 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series consoles. Bungie has yet to specify the price, but confirmed that it won't be "full-priced," likely indicating a price tag below $70. Prior reports suggest that Helldivers 2's enormous commercial success at $40 encouraged Bungie to adopt the same price for Marathon.

Although Bungie aims to reach a broad user base, many still have reservations about a multiplayer-only sequel to a narrative-based single-player trilogy. Bungie released the first Marathon in 1994 exclusively for Mac. The FPS and its two sequels were well-regarded, drawing comparisons to Doom and pioneering elements that later appeared in Bungie's more famous Halo series.

The classic Marathon trilogy is available for free on Steam and through Bungie's website. It supports Windows, macOS, Linux, and numerous modern quality-of-life elements to assist new players.

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Bungie unveils Marathon, its new extraction shooter launching September 23

 

[The Talking Tech]

As lifeless and generic as it can get.....It's practically Concord all over again.

 

[m4a4]

It's not free-to-play (like most others in it's oversaturated market), using a name that has almost nothing to do with the original concepts, and launching with very little content (comparatively).

It being called Concord 2.0 is looking pretty accurate at the moment.

 

[dangh]

After this hot fomo based mess called Destiny, I won't jump on this train for sure.

 

[OortCloud]

All Bungie's games pretend they have really deep and interesting stories with strange names like the Index and the Flood etc etc. Yet when you dig beneath the surface there is no substance to any of it. Just plots as deep as a muddy puddle and paper-thin characters all of which make almost no sense and which they shift and change on a whim. They are the computer game equivalent of the TV show Lost. It seemed like it had some real interesting ideas but after a while you realise it's a thin glossy veneer hiding a total absence of story arc and they were just making sh1t up on a day to day basis with no ability to tie it together at any point.

 

[candle86]

It's not free-to-play (like most others in it's oversaturated market), using a name that has almost nothing to do with the original concepts, and launching with very little content (comparatively).

It being called Concord 2.0 is looking pretty accurate at the moment.

I dont even know why they went with the name, outside of retro gamers and bungie nerds the average user has never ever ever ever heard of Marathon.

 

[AnilD]

Crazy how the original Marathon helped lay the groundwork for Halo, and now Bungie’s coming full circle with the IP—just in a completely different genre. If anyone can make an extraction shooter feel tight on a controller, it’s probably them. But we'll see.

 

[FaTaL]

Wtf is with these idot companies and extraction shooters? They SUCK....
They should of done a destiny 3 or similar style game.

 

[Rocky4040]

Well from their video for the game is not something I would play or even be remotely interested in. The gameplay looks dull and boring. The graphics look very dated and lacking. The story it is hard to tell but if this is anything to go off of the story most likely is lame as well. I played Destiny 2 on PC and found it to be an ok game and a great time waster & I liked the game just fine. This though not so much.