Marathon is a superb FPS, but it’s failed to resonate with a meaningful number of players.
That’s left it floundering on its most popular platform Steam, while sales have been negligible on PS5.
Turmoil at dev Bungie has seen it cease supporting Destiny 2, lay off hundreds of staff, and lose Marathon’s Game Director.
But the studio is not giving up, and has peeled back the curtain on Marathon’s experimental PVE mode, playable in co-op or solo from 21st July until 4th August.
Named ‘Vault Breaker’, this is set within the Cryo Archive level, and features roguelite progression where you get stronger with each run. The further you progress, the more rewards you’ll unlock – some of which can be used in the existing PVP content.
This is Bungie’s first step towards making Marathon more accessible, as one of the biggest criticisms aimed at it so far is that it’s simply too hardcore.
Given the short, two week window, I imagine the dev’s going to be paying close attention to feedback here and adjusting accordingly.
I wouldn’t expect this to revive Marathon’s fortunes overnight, but it seems like a sensible first step towards transforming the game into something more people actually want to interact with.
[source youtube.com]
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As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.