I can’t deny Marathon (the 2026 incarnation) feels good to play and has potential – even if it’s not the revival I expected for a ‘90s “Doom-clone” FPS trilogy that had a cult following, solid shooting, and unexpectedly deep lore. The problem Marathon faces is that being good is no guarantee of success in the modern live-service market. You’re up against well-established competition trying to consume as much player time as possible; an audience with attention spans dwindling into the single digits; and the trend towards collectively trashing games (presumably the downside of living in a world shifting back to glamourising behaving like a d*ck and scapegoating others as a means to distract from your own issues).

As of launch – and I say that as these games evolve continuously – Marathon functions as a fast-paced, round-based, PvPvE (player vs. player vs. environment) extraction-shooter with a motley of progression elements. To address short attention spans, there is a 25-minute run timer and simple “contract” objectives assigned by six factions that double up as skill trees you unlock with currency and collectible materials. Bungie has promised more complex runs when the first raid goes live but, as of writing this up, you’re just collecting things, interacting with a terminal or two, or inflicting damage on certain targets to tick off contract objectives. You’re often given a description for a spot on the map, but the objective marker only pops up when you’re close enough.



This design keeps the focus on exploration and looting, leading into inevitable firefights with UESC forces (the PvE element) and other runners (the PvP elements) – sometimes at the same time. Going up against UESC robots and the native species of Tau Ceti IV feels a lot like classic Halo or Destiny. Once you go up against other runners, the experience is more variable. On the upside, and as you might expect from Bungie, the weapons look incredible, animate intricately, sound impactful, and simply feel great to use. Energy weapons typically have a higher fire rate to track moving targets and whittle down shields or health. Light and heavy machine guns have a slower rate of fire, but you can easily suppress a team in a building if you cover the exits. Slow firing rifles and magnum pistols are best used on unaware targets to make the most of your opening strike.

Going up against UESC robots and the native species of Tau Ceti IV feels a lot like classic Halo or Destiny.

Runner abilities and traits are diverse, situationally useful, and can be modified by equipped gear – but you will have seen them all before. A deployable shield, temporary cloaking, a scan to highlight enemies, a grappling hook, a healing drone, class-specific grenades; my mind kept drifting back to Apex Legends but you could just as easily compare them to Overwatch. A more favourable Apex Legends comparison is the fluid character movement and solid level design that makes firefights inside structures tense and tactical. There are always multiple doors, windows, and rooftop access points to cover, while there are tight corners, side rooms, and vents to set up ambushes. Coordinating to clear a structure of UESC forces is always fun, and so too is getting the drop on a group of distracted runners caught up in looting or PvE battles.



The fundamentals are in place but Marathon has two key issues at present. The sluggish looting system and limited inventory space I can understand as it forces you to selectively scavenge while maintaining situational awareness. However, the UI and menus – regardless of if you’re managing your loadout before a run or shuffling items mid-run – are a mess of small, cluttered icons you manipulate with an emulated cursor on consoles. As you retain loot from a successful extraction, earn it from levelling up with factions, vault it for later use, and use it as a loadout in the next run (think weapons, consumables, and modifiers), you spend a lot of time in the inventory dragging and dropping items. It’s a design problem that can make navigating other menus and tabs frustrating too.



My other concern is how the growing skill gap issue could be compounded by the loot-based progression and passive faction upgrades. My runs during the Server Slam and opening week could end in a PvP wipe, sure, but my team would typically have 10-15 minutes to loot, engage in PvE, and tick off a contract objective or two before running into another runner team for a chaotic firefight. After recent patches made PvP more frequent, I’ve had runs end within 5 minutes after my team was ambushed in the first structure we entered, outgunned and outclassed, resulting in more time spent watching loading screens than gameplay. As survival and extraction nets you better gear to use at the start of the next round and more XP towards passive upgrades, it feels like casual players and new players will eventually struggle to find sense of progress or satisfaction.

The UI and menus – regardless of if you’re managing your loadout before a run or shuffling items mid-run – are a mess of small, cluttered icons you manipulate with an emulated cursor on consoles.

Despite those issues and the inherent lack of novelty all new entries into this genre face, Marathon clearly has the potential to grow – it just needs to do so quickly. Rounds are fast, the shooting feels great, the aesthetics are striking, and the game has an undeniable sense of style. However, compared to the established competition, there is a notable lack of variety and limited emergent chaos when players start congregating in the same spots on every map. It remains to be seen how complex and involved the raids are, but I hope Bungie is planning some dedicated modes that favour PvE over PvP, as Marathon needs to retain casual players and onboard new players to thrive.

*Review code provided by Bungie