There are very many things I love about Marathon. The gunplay is superb, the harsh “get yours at any cost” PvP mentality is cruel but necessary. It’s also one of the most difficult games for me to recommend to anybody who isn’t already in love with competitive games or extraction shooters. While Marathon did release to pretty decent reviews, it’s certainly not the Destiny-like hit the Bungie or Sony may have been hoping for.
And with that in mind, Bungie has released a giant blog post today going over future plans for Marathon, including a PvE mode and better onboarding for new players. Because, let’s be real, the onboarding right now is pretty awful.
Marathon’s PvE Modes
Okay! Let’s talk about the PvE stuff first. When Season 2 starts, Bungie will be experimenting with two modes, one at the beginning of the season, and one towards the latter half. The experimental mode at the beginning of the season “will focus more on PvE, but with a light touch of PvP”. The second mode, on the other hand, “will be a PvE-only mode that’s focused on crews being tasked with completing objectives across matches”.
This sounds pretty exciting and more in line with what Destiny players were perhaps hoping to get out of Marathon. I am cautiously optimistic, though. While I do appreciate a good online PvE shooter, it is the cruelty of Marathon‘s ethos that makes it special. I don’t need my hardcore extraction shooter to turn into a co-op carebear fest where everyone sings kumbaya and holds hands in a circle. We have ARC Raiders for that, and plenty of other online shooters that encourage cooperation. Marathon is special precisely because Bungie dared to deviate from that trend.
While this has made it more unapproachable as a result, it also occupies a niche that we rarely see in the mainstream. So yeah, I guess I don’t quite know what to make of this just yet, except that I hope it doesn’t interfere with Marathon‘s original identity.
Better Onboarding
There weren’t a ton of details about how exactly the onboarding process would be improved upon in Marathon, but from the lessons learned listed by Bungie, things sound promising. The developers recognize that “matches can feel like a death spiral for some players”, and sometimes some players just don’t want to sweat. Bungie recognizes that “it’s hard to find [a] chill moment in Marathon” and is looking into creating more chill environments to enjoy the game in. This can be especially helpful for folks just looking to get their quests done.
It’d also be helpful for new players, as being in those chill zones would allow them to get a hang of the game’s mechanics and learn the ropes slowly before getting into more serious tussles.
Marathon is now available on PC and consoles. Season 2, titled Nightfall, will begin on June 2.
