Marathon (2026)

Rating: 2/10 (but with some caveats)

I'll keep this short because my opinion on this doesn't matter but I'm still rating and reviewing because I did play the game and want to remember what I thought.

I tried this out because it's currently free and I've been curious because Bungie is worth checking out, even if I'm not a massive fan of them (minus their Halos, which I do love). But I do not like extraction shooters. In fact, I basically hate them and wish fewer games would go down this path.

• Like how the game feels. There's some heaviness to it while also offering some quicker, advanced movements.
• Visuals are pretty cool.
• Obviously very polished.

However,

• None of this matters because the core loop of an extraction shooter bores and infuriates me. I like looting in certain types of games but not in competitive online shooters. I don't like losing stuff. I don't like single life runs. There's nothing about extraction shooters as a genre I like. Which makes it impossible for me to like this game, even if I think it's well made. Though obviously someone who played it longer will have a more in-depth opinion about how it's made. I'm just surface level saying it feels and looks good.
• Oh, I did enjoy the Dark Zone in The Division back when it came out, but that was also a bonus thing tucked into a co-op game, so it was nice to just pop in occasionally for a run or two and then go back to the rest of the game.
• The funny thing is, if this game offered a team deathmatch mode, I'd probably buy it and put some good time into it.
• Spends SO MUCH TIME loading. I sat there just being like, "Let me play!" Plus onboarding was shit.

But again, don't listen to me. I didn't spend enough time with it to really matter and I'm prejudiced against the genre anyway. When it comes to online shooters I like 10-15 minute team deathmatches while rotating every map. For context, Killzone (specifically 3 and Shadow Fall) are my shit.

• Playtime: 50 minutes (tutorial + 2 solo + 1 group run)

• Played: June 2026

• Context: I liked the gunplay of Destiny but not the MMOness.

FPS history for context

I have been playing shooters for over 30 years. In games like Day of Defeat, Urban Terror, Team Fortress 2, Battlefield 3, etc. i would pretty much always be in the top 25% for my team at least. In Battlefield 4 i was literally 3 SPM away from being Tier 1 at some point. I've also completed Half-Life 1 & 2, Deus Ex, etc. on the hardest difficulty. I have played dozens of shooters and i was quite good at some of them.

Terrible onboarding

With the above context, let me state that the bots in this game are too hard. At least early on, with the free kit. The gun bots aren't that bad unless they surprise you, but the grenadier bots can kill you with a single grenade. A single grenade. In the first map that is listed as being "very low threat".

Loading times

Maps take up to 1,5 minutes to load. No, i'm not joking, i used a stopwatch. It goes through a bunch of different screens. And then it spawns you automatically, instead of requiring you to click. This would be bad enough if it wasn't for the fact that 1) there is no timer or other countdown and 2) for the first minute it plays animations with tons of bright flashes.

Tutorial

After going through a bunch of settings and tutorial menus i start the tutorial. I kind of zone out because it takes so long. It drops me in an area with an environmental hazard that instantly kills me. Awesome. The second time i had no problems, but that's partially because i'd already watched oboeshoes play it.

Three games

Game #1: I go into the "baby" map and it takes me a while to figure out why i can't join a squad. I walk around a bit and two grenadiers show up near my objective. I have a quest to kill bots, so i engage them. They kill me instantly.

Game #2: I join two other new players. We walk around a bit, shoot some bots then a bot very high up downs me in less than 2 seconds. One team mate stupidly gets shot too. The other gets killed by an enemy squad.

Game #3: I go into the baby map, shoot half a dozen gun bots and complete the objective. I see a case that is specially marked. I open it. An alarm sounds and before i can take cover a grenadier spawns and kills me with a single grenade. I Alt+F4.

Other points

The style is cool. The gunplay is great. The classes seem pretty decent. I liked the story elements. Looting slowly reveals items in a random order, which sucks. Dragging and dropping an item on an item doesn't exchange both items for some reason.

Conclusion

This game deserves to die.