Marathon Reviews
Marathon takes the Extraction Game philosophy and molds it into the Bungie style. It's not perfect-the UI is awful, and the missions lose their edge over time-but the gameplay loop is fun, and the shooter foundation is solid. And what a style, guys!
Review in Italian | Read full review
The extraction shooter genre is hard to get right.
Marathon is a challenging, gorgeous, addictive, and deceptively deep extraction shooter. Bungie has created a gorgeous world with a captivating sci-fi story lurking beneath the surface, and thrown in their signature gunplay to create one of the year's best games. It is for a very niche audience. But for those willing to accept its extreme highs and lows, there is something quite compelling about its gameplay loop.
The grind was real for me, but it was not an uphill battle; it was more of a goal I wanted to reach and keep going toward. Perhaps that is actually what Bungie was after here with Marathon. When you reach the end, and you’ve completed an insane amount of runs, you get the true feeling of running through a marathon.
Marathon is a thrilling extraction shooter with satisfying gunplay, beautiful art direction, and tough-as-nails difficulty. It's a breath of fresh air in a packed genre, and one of the best games of the year.
Marathon is a feast for the senses - vibrant sci-fi visuals and world building, amazing sound design, and a brilliant combat experience are the main things elevating it above its extraction shooter competitors. Its endgame map, Cryo Archive, also creates the same intimidating yet jaw-dropping atmosphere of some of Bungie’s finest Destiny raids. However, issues such as clunky inventory management and dull faction quests hold it back from true greatness right now.
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Review in Italian | Read full review
Marathon is a difficult game to recommend. It's undeniable that Bungie has done a great job with this title, but it's not an experience for everyone.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It was a long road to get there, though, and I can totally understand if that puts many shooter fans off. I hope enough people give the game a chance and overcome the initial hurdles – for me, it was definitely worth it, and I won't be putting Marathon down anytime soon.
Review in German | Read full review
Marathon is top-tier Bungie gunplay in a beautiful extraction shooter setting, and it makes for an addicting gameplay loop. Exploring the dangerous world of Tau Ceti IV and the looming colony ship with your gear on the line makes for some of the most intense PvP available, though the punishing early game might be too brutal for some.
Marathon is a great-looking and extremely rewarding competitive extraction shooter let down by an inadequate prologue and poor monetization.
Your introduction to Marathon gives little indication of the punishing journey that lays ahead of you, venturing into hostile otherworldly environmen...
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Despite Marathon being a punishing crucible that will throw players to the wolves, its uncompromising vision can't be denied. Bungie's peerless gunplay makes this extraction shooter shine in a bleak alien world where players hunt each other for personal gain.
Marathon is a technically brilliant and satisfying shooter that nails the fundamentals but struggles to build beyond them. It delivers incredible moment-to-moment gameplay, yet lacks the depth and long-term pull to match its ambition. Right now, it feels less like a fully realised experience and more like the start of something new waiting to be expanded, a game that will live or die by how Bungie supports it from here.
Marathon is an addictive extraction shooter featuring the same masterful gunplay that has made Bungie legendary, making it a must-play for fans of the genre and even those adverse to it.
Even within its own genre, Marathon is niche - bristling with outlandish color combinations and likely to reject those looking for something more relaxed. Stick with it, however, and the stellar gunplay, intriguing characters, fun mechanics, and tense scenarios will draw you in.
At the start of its journey, Marathon is a game whose bold artistic style sometimes overshadows its best features: excellent shooting and a satisfying progression model. It is an interesting alternative in the extraction shooter genre for well-coordinated teams of three who are not afraid of brutal combat and grind. Unfortunately, the flashy, confusing interface and lack of a useful introduction to the gameplay may be enough to put some players off.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Bungie successfully makes a grab at the extraction shooter crown with Marathon. Rook is a revelation for solos, and Cryo Archive is the best endgame experience in the genre. It is mean, yet fair, with more than ample flair. The biggest issue is that you're currently not playing it, hence my matchmaking woes.
A visually arresting, mechanically sharp extraction shooter that offers fun and rewards for those with the patience - and the time.