Now that I've completely finished both the campaign and bonus missions (on heroic), I understand more of the disappointment, but I don't understand the degree, except that on the internet, only extreme hate or love gets any attention. It's a beautiful game in its presentation. I thought the lighting and the art was pretty great throughout. I thought the new recordings of the principals' lines were mostly okay, and if not necessarily better than the original, at least as good in most cases. One would be right to ask why do it in that case, and I bet that the tweaks and additions to the script would have been considered more jarring had they not, and there were improvements made. There were clarifications added and places where they pumped up the emotional resonance for those who are well acquainted with the trilogy (what they did with Keyes pistol was a good example). Based on the credits, our own Grimbrother One may have had a hand in that, and I liked it! The other important thing to say is that the game felt like Halo to me, which is no small feat.

I liked other things, too, such as:

• The selection of weapons from the later games.
  
• How pickups could be saved for later activation
  
• Vehicle jacking and disabling with an overcharge
  
• Changes to the maps (especially The Library and AOTCR) to make encounters more interesting.
  
• The flood are better and scarier—more like Halo 3.
  
• The hunters are scary again (I didn’t like this at first.) There’s no quick solution (unless you have a sword, but like the original magnum solution, it’s tricky).

Some things I didn’t like:

• No more breaking glass. Assault on the Control Room just isn’t the same.
  
• No ice to skate around on.
  
• No going underwater (in the ocean or where fuel had pooled on Keyes)
  
• The removal or change to some cutscenes that had sweeping camera angles that I thought better showed off the environments in the original.
  
• The cutscenes not being in-engine.
  
• Inexplicable boundaries—especially behind the big rock after your cross the first bridge on Halo.
  
• Completely new music. Granted, I remember hearing this only once.

Some things I have mixed feelings about:

• Elites speaking English. I missed backward David Scully but the switch does kinda fix Keyes' line about overhearing the Covenant talking about Halo. (Yes, I guess the grunts could have been talking about it, but the Elites doing it makes more sense, especially since they are the guards.)
  
• Sprint. I mostly didn't mind it. It wasn't that much faster than the original and in my opinion did not break the game.
  
• Terminals and skulls. I just found the last of the terminals, and haven’t yet read them all, but I like what I’ve read. I am glad these are text, as opposed to those waypoint films in Anniversary, which I had very strong feelings about. I wish they appeared in the game as they did in Halo 3, but at least they don’t take you out of the game.
  
• Finding the skulls (with guidance of course—I’m not crazy!) was a nice metagame once I’d finished. I do think that the skulls that allow you to change back to traditional settings should be among the freebies they give you once you’ve found a few (or even just let you have them from the start).
  
• Markers/waypoints. I didn’t mind the markers on remaining enemies too much, although I’m sympathetic to the argument that they break immersion. Waypoints also seemed a bit aggressive, but as someone who easily gets turned around (as anyone who has raided with me can attest), I have to admit I appreciated them. In the original, it was very common for me to get disoriented inside the Truth and Reconciliation, for instance.

Game features/bugs:

• I wish the game had mutilple saved game slots. The ability to save co-op checkpoints would be nice, too.
  
• Quick Resume is buggy on Xbox. I find that if I don’t completely close the game and restart, I might get a black screen during cutscenes.
  
• I found the menus confusing and not well labeled. More than once I forgot which submenu I was in, since they all mostly have the same options past the top level.

More about central characters

I thought the new Keyes was good, and although I didn’t know until I looked it up that it was no longer Pete Stacker, I cannot help but want to hear HIS new recordings.

About Cortana, Jen Taylor’s new line readings were fine, and I liked some of the new animations (the 50-foot woman scene in AOTCR was particularly effective). I’ve seen comments about the new Cortana being ugly. No accounting for taste or how mean the internet can be, but I liked her. It doesn’t hurt that I really like Kathryn Hahn, who she reminded me of, but I thought she was attractive (more attractive than the original) without veering into Playboy Playmate territory like they did in Halo 4. What I didn’t like was that at times her facial expressions did not match the seriousness with which I thought she should be saying the things she was saying.

I thought that Keston John as Johnson did a good job of sounding like David Scully (and it’s worth remembering that the first Johnson was a riff on the Sergeant from Aliens). To be honest, though, this was my least favorite part of the remake, and I don’t blame the voice actor. I blame the animation and writing. They would routinely have him look at the camera and mug. They made Johnson high on his own supply and it broke immersion for me, especially in the bonus missions, where almost everything out of his mouth was some cliched action movie quip. I know Johnson always did bring a bit of comic relief, but nearly gone was the pathos that took full bloom in Halo 3.

About those bonus missions

Playing the bonus missions could poison the well for this game, and I think it might have for those who played them first. I enjoyed the gameplay, and I even appreciated what they were trying to do with the story, but it was just overwrought and overacted. To be honest, some of the original Halo was a bit overdone, too, and the irony is this probably wouldn’t have the received the criticism it has had it been 2001, but our standards have changed. I didn’t hate it, but I did cringe during parts, along with many apparently. Still, the gameplay was better than it was Halo 4 or 5. Forerunners are my least favorite Halo enemies.

Finally

If you love Halo, it's a nice trip down memory lane. I look forward to four-player co-op, which, as I think some of us said, was worth the price of admission. I'm glad it exists. Parts of it will make your eyes bleed, and I mean that in a good way.

Kerm

crosspost

I'm gonna say a lot, so thanks for reading if you take the time to check out my thoughts! Marathon is one of my most favorite games, and I love playing it. The game is gorgeous, the gameplay feels as excellent as Bungie games always tend to feel, and it's a lot of fun.

I played during the server slam, played none of season one, and then bought the game near the end of the free week for season two. Quite frankly, I haven't been this into a multiplayer game in probably close to a decade. I abandoned Destiny 2 for a number of reasons, and while I have played plenty of other games since then, Marathon has me hooked. Wanting to experience Cryo Archive (and hopefully one day fight and beat the Compiler) was the primary reason why I bought the game. I play a lot of going in solo and getting matched up with random players, and the vast majority are pretty cool, helpful, and kind. It seems like so many are open to helping newer players learn or complete things, and I haven't had this much non-toxic interaction in game chat AND proximity chat in a game in what feels like forever.

Although I've had fun on all of the maps, I don't really care for Perimeter, and I would much rather play on Night Dire Marsh, Outpost, and Cryo Archive. Running into other players seems like a guarantee on these maps, and battles can be crazy and challenging. I enjoy the fights and the tension of trying to avoid the fights to get out alive with cool stuff. Knowing when to run, shield/heal up, rotate away from or flank an enemy, or push enemies comes with a lot of risk/reward. I've been in situations where my team gets crushed within a few minutes of spawning, and I've been in situations where all hope seems lost and I've managed to 1v3 a team that had better gear than I had and still pull off an insane and unlikely victory.

So what about the meat of the game (looting all kinds of cool things, interacting with/avoiding other teams, and hopefully managing to get out alive)? Cryo Archive has probably given me two my most devastating, lowest-of-low gaming moments in my entire life gaming. It's also given me some of the most awesome, pure elation gaming moments I've ever experienced.

Regarding one of the lowest lows, in my second week of playing in season two, I went into Cryo alone and ended up with two random people on my team who really knew what they were doing. It was essentially the perfect run, we completed vault 2, and then we had just enough time for final exfil. If no one has seen what final exfil is like on Cryo, it doesn't tell you where it is on the map, your team has to split up to find it, and you need to have done this with maybe one minute left before final exfil appears to ensure everyone has time to group back up and get out alive. We couldn't find it, and we all died and lost everything. It's funny how quickly you can go from feeling so great to being totally crushed within seconds.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, one of the absolute coolest moments I've ever had while gaming (in general, not just in Marathon) happened again with a final exfil situation on Cryo. My team had no clue where to go for final exfil, and we ran into an enemy team. Fighting was guaranteed death for both teams, and they were also freaking out about making it out with whatever haul they had in their backpacks. Proximity chat led to a VERY QUICK negotiation to work together instead of fighting. We split up in multiple directions together, and then frantic shouting erupted once someone found the exfil. All six of us converged on the same area to fight off bots and help everyone get out at the same time. There were so many "thank yous" and "you all are awesome" comments and the pure happiness from my team and theirs in proximity voice, and that was pretty special. I know other games like Arc Raiders have similar moments, but Marathon has a way more brutal "shoot first, ask questions later" feel to it as a whole with teams more than willing to kill and prevent others from getting a final exfil even if it also means that they run out of time and die.

The other lowest low was in my first time making it to and fighting the Compiler. I screwed up and forgot to use my prime ability, but even if I had remembered, we still might have lost. Things went sour in the second damage phase regardless, and we all died. And that's when thoughts creep in about how what if any of us never even get to do the Compiler again? It's incredibly difficult to even get the opportunity to do it, let alone surviving other players and things while on your way there. Not to mention the thought about how I let my whole team down. It sucks.

And on the other side of that, I did get back to Compiler again, I learned my lessons from the failed attempt, and I didn't mess up. Getting to the Compiler, fighting it, killing it, and getting the loot is such an awesome experience. Bungie knocked the whole thing out of the park. It's not easy to accomplish, and it was a blast. The Compiler experience is right up there with some of the best blind-raid times I had in Destiny and some of the coolest things I ever did in Halo.

There's just something about Bungie games that usually always works, and Marathon just really hits the spot for me. I love the combat, I'm really good at the game, I get destroyed by teams, I destroy teams, and I have fun. Destiny was all about Become Legend. Marathon is all about how you're not special, you're going to die, you're going to come back and maybe do something triumphant, but you're gonna die again anyway, so just do the thing and have a blast doing it.

The Questionable

Marathon has a lot of problems, and I understand that a lot of what I've said above might not be agreed with. Individual user experience will definitely vary. I don't think this game is very accessible to new players or players with a lower "skill level", and I think its massive population drop is a testament to that. As I speak to more and more people on the game or see what people are saying online, it's very clear that many people who have been playing since season one still haven't managed to exfil from Cryo beyond once or twice if at all. Even on the "normal" maps, people struggle. And that really sucks, and a lot of that are design decisions for the maps to how loot is given. I also get that it's supposed to be brutal, but Bungie can't really bank on brutal right now. Cryo Breakers comes out soon, so hopefully that might bring more PVE-minded players into the fold and helps the players and game out. It would also hopefully give people a chance to experience things in Cryo that they just aren't able to in the regular, hardcore version of it.

But speaking of PVE and allowing more people to enjoy Marathon, it absolutely baffles me how this game has no campaign. And with that, there's no story. There's A LOT of lore, and a lot of the writing and voice acting is fantastic, but what a huge loss. Following in Destiny's footsteps by only going with lore and avoiding having a story was not a wise decision. I'm not even talking about needing a whole huge campaign. Make it a short, lovely campaign that lasts 2-3 hours (like with Portal or ODST). Also, even if the extraction component was the primary component, a general arena mode would have made a lot of sense with even a few playlists. It's unfortunate, and it might be too late to turn things around or add other things given the state of Bungie and what Sony is doing.

Also, for a multiplayer game, how is there no post-game carnage report? Successful or failed exfils will give you some cool info on screen in the immediate aftermath, but there's no going back to look at stats beyond that. Oversight, or purposeful decision?

TL;DR

I really love this game, it's not perfect or accessible to everyone, it's filled with insanely awesome and ridiculously painful moments, and I hope it survives beyond season two. I hope that somehow Bungie can turn it around and also survive to keep supporting Marathon and maybe rise from the ashes with some new title down the line. But if this be the end, then so shall it be. I'm going to enjoy Marathon while I can.

Anyone else have any really cool or fun stories (of elation or devastation) they want to share?

https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-settles-with-fired-marathon-game-director-who-sued-playstation-and-bungie-for-more-...

Looks like 2028 will be the end for me. Switch has fake game carts. MS has ads everywhere. Now PS will have no discs. It appears from 2028 on, I’ll only be able to play something I can buy on GOG, or be confident I can crack.

Time to sunset console gaming. So very sad. Thank you to everybody who buys digital. This is your fault.

https://xcancel.com/i/article/2070544328158838933

Good stories in there. I've been accused more than once of being a shill for Bungie. I do tend to see the glass as half full. I'm with Tuncer, though. Mourning what could be the end while holding out hope that Bungie can rediscover itself.

This community has meant a lot to me for 25 years. There will eventually be a final post on the front page and it will NOT be some random weapon update from 2024.

Send me a picture of your Guardian that I can compile into a DBO portrait that can sit on the front page. If it ends up being the last post, then hey....family portrait.

I'm proficient in photoshop, so send me an image of whatever you want of your Guardian, or avatar, or icon or whatever represents you on this forum.. I'll figure it out.

email me at daisymaker117 at gmail.com
Include your preferred display name.

You have until July 4th.

/heart emoji

We know this decision has a profound impact on the people affected, their families, friends, and teammates. While these changes are necessary to best position the studio now and for the future, that does not lessen the difficulty of this moment or the impact it has on those affected.

Later, we will share more about that future with you all but today is not that day.

Today, we wish to extend our gratitude and compassion to every member of the Bungie team who has been impacted and to those who remain.

We hope you will do the same.

- Bungie”

Obviously knew this was coming, but I still hate it.

Also, Jason Schreier said:

Today's layoffs include most of the Destiny team, some people on the Marathon team, and even various Sony staff who supported Bungie, according to people familiar with the situation.

https://www.ign.com/articles/bungie-developers-repeatedly-pitched-a-destiny-dating-sim-but-leadership-rejected-it

I would probably reject it too, as I am not sure I would trust Bungie could deliver on anything even tangentially related to sex or desire. But it's wild this was even up for discussion.

Marathon's experimental PVE mode: Vault Breaker. Explore Cryo Archive as a crew, duo, or solo player, taking on a progressively challenging series of vaults. Grow stronger across multiple matches with progression that’s unique to Vault Breaker, and push towards the final vault and the mysterious entity within.

Vault Breaker requires a special Sponsored Kit to queue up, and any gear or items you find stay behind when you exfil. The exception to this is Vault Data. This new currency is found within vaults, and when extracted, can be exchanged for upgrades to your Vault Breaker Sponsored Kits as well as gear that can be used in other modes. This let’s you experience Cryo Archive without flooding the economy with low-risk, high-power Cryo loot.

Sounds neat.

I DID hear that the cutscenes are prerendered this time… if that's confirmed I don't think it would matter then as even a PS5 should be able to play a 4K video file.

Who all is planning on participating in this update?
Looking forward to playing some missions with my son and rage quitting some SRL :P

We got WEAPONS. We got a JOB SYSTEM. We got CID AND VINCENT PLAYABLE. We got SKYDIVING FROM THE HIGHWIND.

LETS
MOSEY!

Valve just announced that Steam Machines are coming this summer. They’ll need a killer app.

The Summer Game Fest hosted by Geoff Keighley (friend of Valve) is tomorrow.

HLX is six years into development and likely either done or close to done at this point, based on datamining discoveries.

… This might be it.

Lots of cool stuff. That new hand cannon!

Why could they not make these kinds of huge updates when the game was still alive?

https://bulletpointsmonthly.com/2026/05/07/task-management-marathon