From Tuncer Deniz ... (Destiny)

by Vortech , A Fourth Wheel, Thursday, July 02, 2026, 12:23 (1 hours, 51 minutes ago) @ Coaxkez

As a Marathon non-player myself, it’s not that I avoid the game because it looks “lame”, but rather because it isn’t the type of experience I’m looking for at this point in my life. A hardcore PvP-only online shooter with high stakes has a very niche built-in audience.

With how hard things have gotten out there, I don’t know that very many people are looking for gaming experiences that add even more stress to their lives.

I'm not here to tell you Marathon is a relaxing day on the lake, but it's astonishing to me how many times I see someone (this is not personal to Coaxkez) who says some variation of "Marathon is not for me, because I don't like [description that's not really a good match to Marathon]"

It's not PVP only. In fact, the whole point of it is that it is PvPvE (and that's even in the time before several recent and future changes to shift that balance toward PvE. And the stakes are…pretty low. You can (I do) have a good time running only free kits that get equipped onto your character with a single click. There is a mode designed to only last about 15 minutes if you don't even want to invest that much time. You can gear up, and lose it, but there's very little consequence to that gear loss. Unlike, say Destiny, there are very few activities from which you are excluded for not having grinded for hours hoping for the right gear.
It is an Online shooter, but in the world of online shooters it's not that hardcore. The most popular format for shooters is Battle Royale. Every match of that type of game starts with a huge number of players and only one team (1-3 people) will avoid loss and the only way to define success is by beating others. THAT'S hardcore. I know. I played APEX between D2 and Marathon. Marathon lets the entire map extract, if they want to. Extraction can happen multiple times at locations all over the map. You can choose to co-operate and your personality becomes part of the game. You can make progress on contracts, or gather resources and never fight anyone. That is an intended option. But it's not an arena deathmatch, so it's got some consequence to death. I'd say it is in the middle.