“Marathon” Review by Nick Navarro
Few studios understand the feel of a first-person shooter quite like Bungie. From the early days of Marathon Infinity to genre-defining work on “Halo” and “Destiny, ” the team has built a reputation on tight gunplay and immersive worlds. With “Marathon,” they return to one of their oldest IPs, but instead of delivering a nostalgic revival, they’ve opted for something far more modern and far more demanding. This isn’t a single-player comeback. It’s a full-on PvPvE extraction shooter and one that makes very little effort to ease you into its systems. As someone still relatively new to the genre, with only “Arc Raiders” under my belt beforehand, the difference in approach was immediately noticeable. Where that game felt approachable and forgiving, “Marathon” throws you straight into the deep end and expects you to figure things out under pressure.
Set on Tau Ceti IV in the year 2893, the game builds on the legacy of the original series with a surprisingly rich backdrop. A long-lost colony has gone silent after years of alien attacks and biological disasters, and now corporations and factions are sending in cybernetically enhanced mercenaries, Runners, to recover what remains. The presence of Durandal, a rogue AI from the original timeline, gave me some unexpected hype and intrigue that slowly unfolded while I explore, loot, and survive. Sadly, there’s no traditional campaign; the evolving seasonal storytelling works well enough to keep the mystery alive, especially if you’re willing to dig for it. At its core, “Marathon” lives and dies by its gameplay loop: drop in, scavenge, survive, and extract. It’s a simple premise, but Bungie’s execution gives it an intensity that’s hard to ignore. Matches are filled with tension, whether you’re creeping through abandoned structures hoping to avoid another squad or suddenly getting pulled into a chaotic firefight where everything is on the line. Supplies are limited, positioning matters, and every decision can be the difference between walking away rich or losing everything you brought in.
That risk is what defines the experience. Unlike more traditional shooters, failure here carries real consequences. If you don’t successfully exfil, your gear is gone. That includes weapons, upgrades, and anything valuable you decided to risk bringing along. It creates a constant push-and-pull between playing aggressively for better rewards or cautiously to preserve what you already have. When things go your way, it feels incredible. When they don’t, it can be brutal. The variety of Runner shells can add some fun strategy to your team. Whether you’re playing as a stealth-focused Assassin, a defensive Destroyer, or a support-oriented Triage, each role meaningfully changes how you approach a match. Team composition becomes a real factor, especially in trios, which is for sure the mode the game is truly balanced around. There’s flexibility here too; solo players can jump in as a Rook scavenger, a shell with a lot more perks but is unable to complete contracts, sneaking through late-match environments to pick up what others have left behind, but it’s clear that coordinated squads will get the most out of the experience.
Gunplay, unsurprisingly, is where “Marathon” shines brightest. Bungie hasn’t lost its touch. Weapons feel responsive, impactful, and satisfying to use, whether you’re landing precise shots at range or scrambling through close-quarters encounters. Combined with excellent sound design and a striking, almost surreal art direction, the moment-to-moment action consistently delivers that “one more run” feeling that’s essential for a game like this. But for all its strengths, “Marathon” struggles where it arguably matters most: onboarding. This is not a welcoming game for newcomers. The menus are dense and confusing, the UI lacks clarity, and the game does very little to explain its many overlapping systems. Even after several hours, I still found myself second-guessing inventory decisions or struggling to quickly identify valuable loot. Many items look frustratingly similar, which only adds to the learning curve. That steep barrier to entry is compounded by how punishing early matches can be. It’s entirely possible to jump in, die repeatedly, and walk away feeling like you’ve made no progress. Losing gear stings every time, especially when you’re still trying to understand how everything works. While things do start to click after a while, getting to that point requires patience that not every player will have.
The recently added endgame area, Cryo Archive, highlights both the ambition and the potential issues with the game’s long-term structure. It’s an incredibly detailed and tense space, filled with high-value loot and complex, raid-like mechanics. Exploring it feels like stepping into something truly special. At the same time, the high entry cost of having a loot value of 5,000 credits and the limited availability to only play on weekends (hopefully this changes down the line) make it difficult to engage with consistently. In my case, I only managed to experience it a couple of times before losing the gear needed to return. That design philosophy, high risk, high reward, is consistent across the entire game, but it raises questions about longevity, especially for less experienced players. A dedicated PvE mode could go a long way in addressing this, offering a space to learn maps, experiment with builds, and understand systems without the constant threat of losing everything. It wouldn’t need to offer top-tier rewards, just a more approachable entry point into an otherwise unforgiving experience.
Despite these issues, it’s hard to ignore how compelling “Marathon” can be when everything clicks. The combination of tight shooting, dynamic encounters, and meaningful progression creates a loop that’s genuinely addictive. There’s a real thrill in extracting with a full pack of valuable loot, knowing how easily it all could have gone wrong. What stands out most, though, is the game’s identity. The art style is bold and instantly recognizable, blending sleek sci-fi aesthetics with something more abstract and unsettling. It gives “Marathon” a distinct personality that separates it from others in the genre, even when its systems feel familiar.
Right now, “Marathon” feels like a strong foundation with room to grow. It’s already delivering intense, memorable moments, but its lack of accessibility and some rough edges in its interface hold it back from reaching a wider audience. If Bungie can smooth out those pain points while continuing to expand on its systems and awesome lore, there’s a real chance this could evolve into something special. For now, it’s a game that demands your time, your patience, and your willingness to fail, but if you’re willing to meet it on those terms, it absolutely delivers.
8/10
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Related: Nick Navarro Reviews
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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