The Paradoxical Designs of Marathon
Obligatory NO AI USED disclaimer.
TLDR: Marathon has lots of great and intentional designs that end up contradicting each other. More distinct modes is a good way to allow more players to have fun, and I really hope they manage to salvage this imperfect masterpiece.
Two things can be true. Do I wake up every morning, brimming with excitement to get in an extra game of Marathon before my kids wake up? Yes. Is the game barely hanging by a thread while the devs desperately try to resuscitate it? Also yes.
Not here to name faults or offer yet another idea on how to "fix" the game, but after 300+ blast-having hours in both solos and trios, I wanted to highlight why I think Bungie's own intended goals makes it very hard for them to get everything right. A lot of the game's design decisions seem to be directly in conflict with each other:
1. Tension vs PVP curation
There is a lot of great tension intended in Marathon's sci-fi horror vibes and stealth mechanics, but PVP is designed to be all but guaranteed. Z himself stated that he wanted it to be about when, not if, you'll run into another team. There's value in curating PVP, and people have complained when the lobbies feel too empty, but curation kills tension, and there's no horror when you know that if your enemy is not around this corner, they're around the next. Lots of spawn rushing tactics also stem from this intentional density.
2. Complex combat vs. extraction gear loss
Marathon's trios-based combat has a carefully selected TTK that both enables and requires you to make a dozen decisions mid-fight, sometimes literally within a one-second window. That's a high skill ceiling, and in a good way. Simultaneously, extraction gear loss mechanics help reinforce the game as a punishing survival shooter, where losses hurt and wins are hugely rewarding. This makes it very hard to learn and practice combat. Have you ever found a shiny rare gun for the first time, only to lose it without firing a single shot? The result is that players who have either the time or skill to grind it out are allowed to get better, while the rest who don't have either (most of us) will feel completely locked out.
3. Rogue-lite death loops vs. crew fill unpredictability
Die, learn, repeat. Rogue-lites are some of the most successful game loops these days, but each death needs to feel like you've learned something, or progressed in some small way. The game's trios-based crew fill matchmaking is designed to maximize emergent player stories, but too many death loops end with no meta-progression because of this, e.g. "my teammate just ran in and died". Nothing to learn from. This IMO is the biggest reason that players bounce off the game.
4. Exploration vs time crunch
Marathon's maps are amazing labyrinths to explore and solve. There's a huge sense of mystery in the derelict colonies you're tasked to investigate. Simultaneously, sub-25-minute matches make it easier to schedule playtime and reset bad runs. But the time crunch disincentivizes exploration. We end up having to either skip the sightseeing or effectively forfeit precious gear and loot as "payment". This is why many players will tell you that the atmosphere and tension play out way better in solos, where PVP is less forced and you're not as rushed. But the incredibly fun and complex trios combat is wholly missing there.
5. Contract-based onboarding vs. trios design
Priority contracts are a decent tutorial for learning the basics and maps. But tutorials are inherently a solo endeavor. With almost everything in the game designed and tuned exclusively for trios, there is no easy way for players to onboard at their own pace. Some of us might've had the foresight to do contracts in solo and learn the ropes before diving into trios, but you can't rely on self-discovery for people to figure out just how to get started with a video game.
With all that said...
Why am I still in love with this game? Despite the conflicting designs, I think the parts of the game that the devs got right, they got them very right. My guess is that the players retained are ones who found a way to learn the mechanics of this sandbox with minimal handholding. Those of us who prioritize tension converged in solo, whereas those who enjoy high-adrenaline combat stayed in trios.
A lot of this may be a reflection of the clashes between Marathon's original pipedream and the now ex-director's PVP direction. Leveraging the good bones to create more distinct game modes is probably the simplest path to allowing conflicting design goals to coexist. In this sense, I think S3's focus on new player experience and more chill ways to explore content are good bets. Whether they can pull off the execution remains to be seen, but I wish Bungie the best of luck on turning this game around. The remaining player base is counting on it. Long live Marathon.
