Marathon Alpha Impressions

I watched Lirik play the game for a bit. Looks like a run-of-the-mill extraction shooter with decent gunplay (which is to be expected from Bungie and should be a standard for a game like this) but nothing outstanding going on.
While I dig the overall aesthetic and presentation, I'll say it's a very questionable choice for an AAA+ title from a 'world class' studio aimed at a mass audience. It's something I'd expect from a niche indie title. It's just not appealing for this market.
 
clarky said:
Watching Shroud play he seems to really like it. I've seen some decent matches.

Surprising great is the term he used.
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I have turned my back on Shroud like Police officers do to certain politicians that don't back the blue.

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His involvement and praise of Spectre Divide...and then his general ignoring of its failure...I didn't like that one bit.

(Still think Marathon looks pretty good)
 
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If anyone wants to know the inspiration for this alpha map, here. It's EVERYWHERE. I'm not impressed at all when it comes to how creative they could have been with this map. Layout/design wise it has some interesting moments & little nooks to get away, which I like. Gameplay is fine, if twitch shooters are your thing. Hurts for me to admit but my first impression of Cod DMZ was more enjoyable compared to this. Back to Oblivion, I'll return this weekend & try it with the boys & hopefully enjoy it more.
 
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Men_in_Boxes said:
I have turned my back on Shroud like Police officers do to certain politicians that don't back the blue.

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His involvement and praise of Spectre Divide...and then his general ignoring of its failure...I didn't like that one bit.

(Still think Marathon looks pretty good)
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Got this one on your radar? Only heard about it today.

 
This just looks worse every time I see it. I'm gonna step away from Marathon; I've seen enough to know this just isn't for me. Hope the people who like it have a great time!
 
Hideous Snake said:
Right it was the beta days and it still was full of cheaters + it has a separate launcher
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I see. I only came across it today, not looked into it much, quick google says its launching into EA sometime this year. Apart from the cheaters how was it?

Looks kinda interesting.
 
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StereoVsn said:
Man, that looked dreadful. I just don't get why they would try to create whatever this shit is vs proper Destiny 3.
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Destiny 3 is a much bigger endeavour. It also requires a post mortem of what has gone wrong with D2 so they don't carry all the same problems into D3. I'm 100% certain that is being worked on at a certain level inside Bungie, but it's a much bigger project than this ever was.
 
Watching Jackfrags stream, it looks interesting to say the least. Then again maybe I just enjoy watching Jack's live streams and the game itself is not really interesting lol.
 
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clarky said:
I see. I only came across it today, not looked into it much, quick google says its launching into EA sometime this year. Apart from the cheaters how was it?

Looks kinda interesting.
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Very interesting. Tarkov-lite if that makes any sense

Gameplay is smooth and engaging. The game isn't too hardcore like Tarkov
 
This is going to bomb harder than I first thought. First impressions look so bad, very bad, and not only from this forum.

People just wanted to play a new Halo, even without the name, from Bungie... What's happening to the once creative western gaming? How did we get here?
 
kevboard said:
not only that, the aim assist is also random! because RPG elements n shit 🤣

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and the aim assist priorities headshots

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Marathon will have strong aim assist and bullet magnetism for console players, as well as aim assist for PC players. So, I guess nothing has changed here.
 
kevboard said:
they are, this game is close to being the most stripped down version of an extraction shooter you can make without completely stripping away main elements of the genre.

in Escape from Tarkov people are stacking backpacks inside other backpacks... just as an example how a "non arcady" version would look like lol
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Nice, I love arcadish gameplay.

HYPE!
 
I'll watch footage later, but going by most of the GAF impressions, not surprised. I knew it'd bomb.

Right off the bat, extraction shooters arent even a popular shooter game mode, so anyone wanting more action will be disappointed. If extraction gameplay was so great and popular you'd have more games like this or this mode would be in every shooter. Your closest mode is probably multi-team Search & Destroy mode (one death, team based objectives), but Marathon maps are much bigger and you got AI grunts that get in your way (like Titanfall). And in games that have a S&D kind of mode, I dont even think they are popular vs the traditional DM, TDM or basic objective modes.

The graphics were always going to be hit and miss. Bungie had to change the art style because they already did Halo and Destiny which are similar sci fi. They decided Marathon's new art to not be like that or like the typical meathead space marine setting either. So they chose a unique neon coloured and clean sci fi style with characters having a lot weird art and attachments on their face and helmet. They also tried to hype it up with those 4k high res character images trying to make gamers think the entire game is equally that clean and detailed looking. It's obviously not.

analog_future said:
This game is extremely appealing to me. I just hope it's realistic to be able to play solo or unfortunately it's probably not going to be a game I'm going to buy as I don't have a reliable group of friends to play with.
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You can play solo. But there is no solo only mode. So if you want to play as a lone wolf you can, but you'll be lumped into lobbies who will have teams of 2 or 3. Bungie even stated it'd be a slog if youre trying to play as your own one man team.

They should add solo queue. Or just purposely force gamers into teams of 3. The game has 18 player matches I think. So just have servers sort lobbies into 6 three-player teams. Similar to DM or TDM. If you want to go solo, there's a DM mode. If you want to play on a team, there's TDM. Even if youre a lone wolfer like I play, I get put on a team in COD so it's not something stupid like the game is a wild west of a 6 player team vs a 5 player team vs a solo gamer like me on my own. Makes no sense. Of course the solo gamers will get crushed by teams partied up.
 
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I love what I see especially the map perimeter. I still think the hook is missing but this is also an alpha so this clearly isn't everything about the game.

I'm guessing the map marathon is going to be where it all comes together probably similar and dark darker for the raid like elements.

I also haven't seen any footage of anyone finding the keys an opening the door to find secrets yet. Not too much exploration from the players that I've seen so far.

That being said I do expect a destiny 1 like launch and I do still think the initial response will be mixed before people settle and they're able to slowly grow the game and community grows along with it.

Will be there day 1 tho.🤙
 
I missed the "#ad" tag at first, so I was confused because the dude seemed forced. Then I saw it, and it all clicked. This looks terrible. I mean, Bungie is known for solid gunplay, but it cannot save the whole thing.
 
StreetsofBeige said:
I'll watch footage later, but going by most of the GAF impressions, not surprised. I knew it'd bomb.

Right off the bat, extraction shooters arent even a popular shooter game mode, so anyone wanting more action will be disappointed. If extraction gameplay was so great and popular you'd have more games like this or this mode would be in every shooter. Your closest mode is probably multi-team Search & Destroy mode (one death, team based objectives), but Marathon maps are much bigger and you got AI grunts that get in your way (like Titanfall). And in games that have a S&D kind of mode, I dont even think they are popular vs the traditional DM, TDM or basic objective modes.

The graphics were always going to be hit and miss. Bungie had to change the art style because they already did Halo and Destiny which are similar sci fi. They decided Marathon's new art to not be like that or like the typical meathead space marine setting either. So they chose a unique neon coloured and clean sci fi style with characters having a lot weird art and attachments on their face and helmet. They also tried to hype it up with those 4k high res character images trying to make gamers think the entire game is equally that clean and detailed looking. It's obviously not.


You can play solo. But there is no solo only mode. So if you want to play as a lone wolf you can, but you'll be lumped into lobbies who will have teams of 2 or 3. Bungie even stated it'd be a slog if youre trying to play as your own one man team.

They should add solo queue. Or just purposely force gamers into teams of 3. The game has 18 player matches I think. So just have servers sort lobbies into 6 three-player teams. Similar to DM or TDM. If you want to go solo, there's a DM mode. If you want to play on a team, there's TDM. Even if youre a lone wolfer like I play, I get put on a team in COD so it's not something stupid like the game is a wild west of a 6 player team vs a 5 player team vs a solo gamer like me on my own. Makes no sense.
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I think this is the poison pill. Maybe I'm just out of touch, but how many PS5 primary gamers who care about PvP FPS can round up a group of three often enough to be invested in buying skins? I think anyone capable of falling in love with Marathon enough to buy skins for it must have a primary FPS now that they're playing and buying skins for. You have to pull them away from that too.

This is the kind of game that needs to be a surprise indie hit on Steam. Not something you pay $4B for. Let's hope they get to absorb all that Destiny 3 risk sooner than later. FOMO is a mofo for everyone. Glad it's not just me. If this was a primary project at Bungie in terms of manpower for any decent amount of time, they're Biblically fucked. I don't think there's a game I know of currently that I'd more like to see the labor stats on. How many and for how long?

Also, everyone should take the time to realize dozens if not hundreds of Sony money people watched sizzle reels of this and Concord in meetings for over a year. They spent holidays eating pie and daydreaming of how the 1-2 punch of Concord and Marathon would engulf the imagination and attention of the entire world and they'd be the visionary hero who had the courage to put billions of dollars toward it. Needs addressed.
 
My prediction is that this game will get delayed, and then Fortnite will beat them to the punch with a first party developed extraction mode. Then everyone will play that instead as it's F2p, more casual, and you can keep using your existing skins.
 
Hari Seldon said:
My prediction is that this game will get delayed, and then Fortnite will beat them to the punch with a first party developed extraction mode. Then everyone will play that instead as it's F2p, more casual, and you can keep using your existing skins.
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My prediction after playing a few rounds is that Fortnite wont bother

Game will have an audience but I will be shocked if its any kind of a hit

I was given a priority link to get 2 friends priority status and got my son in so played a few rounds with him but in all honesty a lot of other games I would rather invest my time in

A LOT
 
Already addicted. But Bungie need to put in deadzone settings for controller players. Game feels sluggish as hell compared to every other major FPS on console.
 
I only watched one video of a full round without editing or commentary. Maybe it's not representative, but this game mode looks truly dreadful. I know nothing about extraction shooters since I never played Tarkov but the majority of the round was spent running and looting, with barely any actual combat. To each their own and I hope those who like this style of FPS enjoy it, but I'm not sure I could come up with a more boring game mode for myself.
 
Just speaking on the gameplay, Im not feeling it. Just looks extremely slow and boring.

I'm assuming graphics will look better once they polish that towards the end.
 
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