MARATHON

Bungie's new shooter looks great, but that might not be enough

- Tim Clark

Here's the easy part: Marathon is an extraction shooter in which crews of three runners race against the clock, using 3D-printed cybernetic bodies to strip resources from a mysteriously abandoned colony on Tau Ceti IV. In your way stand rival runners, robot forces left behind by the colony's owner, and even some local alien wildlife.

Before we get to the hurdles in Marathon's way, let's break the gameplay down. Each trip to Tau Ceti IV lasts up to 25 minutes. At the beginning of a run you're given an exfiltration point to reach. Along the way you can choose to investigate any of the other points of interest on the map, taking on events like UESC incursions, solving simple puzzles, and even tackling what Bungie describes as boss encounters.

Objectives can be pinged for teammates, but how much risk you want to take is down to you. It's possible you snag a couple of decent bits of gear early and decide to book it to the exfil point, praying you don't get mugged by players along the way. At the other end of the spectrum, you might have already whittled down the number of competing crews and opt to harvest as much from the map as possible, leaving with a mammoth haul of weapons, credits, and consumables. The kicker is that each time you fail to extract, you lose all of your loot. Marathon doesn't tell you when you're the last team standing so, with imperfect map knowledge, the threat of encountering other players is a constant tension. My adrenaline spiked each time I heard a 'runner spotted' warning.