Marathon FAILS? No Single-Player Mode?! 😱

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Bungie, known for developing the renowned Halo series, is currently working on a project outside Destiny for more than ten years, named Marathon. Contrary to what might initially seem, Marathon is not a new concept; instead, it’s a revival of an old Bungie franchise that dates back to the early days of the company. The original Marathon games were launched exclusively on Apple Mac and were first-person sci-fi shooters with a touch of Halo similarity. In comparison to today’s standards, the Marathon series is quite rudimentary; however, it was groundbreaking for its era.

The initial release of the Marathon series, back in 1994, was among the pioneers in the FPS genre to emphasize story development over mere shoot-and-run action. Unlike many modern games, it didn’t use cutscenes, but instead filled its levels with logs found within the game environment, offering rich background information about the game world. The narrative of Marathon was intricately woven and so complex that devoted fans created entire websites to decipher it. However, Bungie’s upcoming reboot of Marathon might not share many similarities with these original games in terms of story or gameplay mechanics. Regrettably, the new version will reportedly forgo a single-player campaign, which was a feature present in its predecessors.

Unlike Its Predecessors, the Marathon Reboot is Not Going to Have a Single-Player Campaign

Marathon is a Multiplayer-Only Extraction Shooter Without a Lot of Narrative Content

Although famous for its narrative, Bungie’s fresh take on the Marathon series is exclusively a multiplayer live service game focused on extraction shooter mechanics. It shares more resemblance with games like Escape from Tarkov, rather than the classic first-person shooters by Bungie. While they’ve confirmed that Marathon will include a story, it will primarily unfold through seasonal plot twists rather than traditional single-player content, similar to their game Destiny.

In addition to MMOs such as Final Fantasy 14, many multiplayer-exclusive live service games find it challenging to construct a unified narrative. Consequently, it’s not shocking that the storyline in Bungie’s revival of Marathon won’t be central to the game. However, the absence of any storyline in the game is somewhat disappointing given the rich potential for storytelling shown in the recently released trailer, which focuses on the alien planet Tau Ceti IV.

Marathon’s Cinematic Short Shows How Much Potential a Story-Driven Campaign of the Game Would’ve Had

Towards the finale of the latest Marathon livestream, Bungie unveiled an eight-minute cinematic piece, offering viewers a peek into the world of Marathon. This captivating short film was helmed by Spanish animator Alberto Mielgo, renowned for his work on Love Death + Robots and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The unique art style showcased in the short is influenced by the fresh look of the new Marathon universe. The story follows two characters, Glitch and Void, who engage in combat while scavenging supplies and struggling to endure in a barren alien landscape. Upon their deaths, these characters are reborn into different artificial bodies, requiring them to undergo a specific process to recall their human identities.

As a devoted fan, I must express that Mielgo’s short film is nothing short of remarkable, weaving an intriguing narrative while tackling some profound themes in mere minutes. It brilliantly showcases the gameplay loop of Marathon‘s extraction shooter genre on the silver screen, yet it thrives as a captivating short movie in its own right.

It’s a pity that the revamped version of Bungie’s Marathon may not offer much cinematic content like this short due to its absence of a campaign. Consequently, we might expect fewer cutscenes in the reboot, and even if it includes some, they’re unlikely to match the exceptional quality displayed herein.

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2025-04-20 18:34