Marathon

Marathon is an online FPS by Bungie, the developers of the early Halo games (up to Halo: Reach) and the Destiny series, published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Not counting ports - such as one of the second game, developed in 2007 by Freeverse - it's the fourth installment of the series. The previous games, that is, Marathon, Marathon 2: Durandal and Marathon Infinity (a prequel) were released in 1994-1996 on Apple's Mac platform (back then known as Macintosh).

Plot and gameplay

Marathon is set in the distant future. As opposed to the previous installments, the game doesn't have a story campaign - it's a multiplayer extraction shooter. Competing teams must complete objectives, then escape the area, The faster squad wins.

Nevertheless, Marathon does have a main storyline of sorts - one shaped by the players. Just like other games by Bungie, it features intriguing lore portrayed through notes scattered around the world and through environmental storytelling.

Trivia

The original Marathon games feature many tropes and elements archetypical to the science fiction genre, many of which have been later reused in the Halo series. One such trope is an artificial intelligence gone mad.

Technical aspects

Marathon supports cross-play between the PC, PS5 and XSX/S.

Last updated on 05 June 2023