Bungie’s PvPvE extraction shooter, Marathon, recently had a hands-on event in China where many players, including Chinese media outlets, got to experience the game firsthand.
And, to no one’s surprise, people who got to try the game emphasised how hardcore the PvP and PvE experience is.
In a video on Bilibili, one of the players said, “PvE is extremely challenging” and that “AI is constantly calling in reinforcements as time goes on, so there is no ‘clearing the map.'”
The video further talked about how “Environmental hazards like poison gas vents, perimeter turrets and landmines everywhere as well.”
While players already knew that Marathon was taking a hardcore PvP-focused approach, unlike a game like Arc Raiders, some players expected the PvE side to be less challenging and more approachable.
That said, even the PvP encounters in the game are unavoidable, as the impression video highlighted how there is little to no player co-operation, and every enemy player is like a “loot pinata.”
Moreover, Meds, Shields and such support items are super expensive. The reviewer highlighted how “early combat or PvP is almost guaranteed to be a net loss.”
As challenging as the game is, the other aspects like world-building, narrative and the overall storytelling via factions and such, are great.
On top of that, Chinese players who got to experience the game also highlighted how the game has changed visually, giving it a much darker and more mysterious tone.
While the new, overhauled UI got mixed reactions, with some finding it clean and others finding it a bit awkward, the main elements, like Runner’s abilities, were described as well-balanced.
With the hands-on impression, we also learnt about the skins:
- Each Runner has around six base appearances tied to each Faction.
- The hands-on build had 28 guns, and each had 2 or more skins, with some even altering the weapon model.
- Each gun had one charm slot and three sticker lots, which the player can unlock by completing challenges.
That aside, during an interview with a Chinese media outlet, Ali123, Marathon’s Game Director Joe Ziegler, described each Season as a “months-long ‘roguelike adventure.'”
When asked, “Marathon is a long-running online service game. What is the core direction of its season updates? How will the reset and inheritance mechanisms ensure fairness and playability in each season?”
To which Ziegler replied:
“Each season in Marathon will be a fresh start. We envision each season as a months-long “roguelike adventure .” Each season, players will start with limited resources and must gradually grow stronger through various means, forging their own unique path to growth. To implement this concept, each season will incorporate new content and systems, substantially reshaping the seasonal gameplay. That said, some content will be retained at the player account level. For example, cosmetic items acquired through unlocking or purchasing will continue to be retained across seasons.”
While all these things leave a positive impression of the game on the players who were looking for a hardcore PvPvE experience, for players who are not into PvP or a hardcore gameplay experience in general, it sounds bad.
As much as I agree on the fact that “A game for everyone, is a game for no one,” there’s no denying that many players who are not into PvP were looking forward to Marathon.
The game will soon have a global open beta ahead of its March 5th launch, which is great, as everyone can try the game and figure out whether it’s a game for them or not.
