Marathon Review (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, & PC)

Better breathe good before you dive into Marathon. Because once you start, it’s nonstop, intense first-person shooting until you can extract from the map. That’s right. A, yet another, new extraction shooter planning to be a live-service game that could potentially become the next addiction for a good bunch of adrenaline freaks. Or it might swiftly fade into memory as quickly as its rock steady hype has begun. It all depends on adoption, with these types of games. Even its quality, no matter how good and entertaining, can’t speak toward how long a live-service game might last in a community’s good graces.

But hey, this is the newest Bungie game. And you know those folks don’t come to play with their astounding shooter renditions of Destiny and Halo. And the grey-haired folks among us might even remember their 1990s Marathon? Kind of the same as this new one, in that they share sci-fi narratives and universes. But ultimately, 2026’s entry takes an entirely new route, choosing the multiplayer-only route instead. And before you can question Bungie’s desire to build its next game entirely around team-based PvEvP, I’ll have you know that the actual playthrough does show some sweet, thrilling promise.

Enough jibber-jabber, though. Is Marathon for you? Let’s find out in our review below.

What You’re in For

An extraction shooter, for starters. One where you and up to three friends are charged with ‘Runner Shell’ roles. And these guys essentially spawn on a map tucked with lots of shiny loot. But to explore, scavenge, and grab all the good trinkets, you’ll have to watch out for enemy players and AI. And before you dismiss the AI as easy fodder, the ones here are not to be messed with. Even the most seasoned extraction shooter players and streamers are struggling with outsmarting the AI in Marathon. It seems you’ll be getting a taste of the damning ‘AI takeover’ sooner rather than later.  

Get in, grab as much loot as you can, and get out ‘extract’ fast without dying. Easier said than done, of course, given how savage people can be in these types of games. That’s the other thing to consider, that you can loot from the environment, but from enemy players, too. And imagine taking down an opponent and discovering that they were carrying lucrative loot that makes your eyes go all googly. The fallen dude will be mad pissed, expressing their frustration, at times, anger via the voice chat. But that’s the fun of it all, and it will motivate you to come back stronger and smarter. 

Get in and Get Out, Fast

Oh, one last thing. It matters a lot the loadout you choose to bring into a run. Because its strength can determine how long you survive the onslaught of enemies. But dying means losing your valuable resources and upgrades. A risk versus reward scenario then factors in, where you can either go out with limited resources and scavenge throughout the map. But also, avoid getting greedy and extract soon enough before you’re killed and lose your loot. And that’s pretty much it. But here’s the exciting part: Marathon does more than a handful of things to set itself apart from the rest of the extraction shooters you might have played.

Briefly, they’ve added a solo run. This is for the gamers who want to enter the map with nothing on their backs and risk scavenging resources and loot. It’s a Rook class that allows you to spawn on a map that’s already active with players. And so, you’re essentially sneaking around, trying to loot without anyone minding your exploits. It comes with a lot of risk, of course, because other players will have likely scooped up most of the loot for themselves. And if they spot you, they have the upper hand in terms of weapons and ammo. Still, you do have some tricks up your sleeve. Perks like invisibility or smoke bombs that you can select for your Rook solo run. 

Sweet, Sweet Shooter

Probably goes without saying that the shooting mechanics here are spot on. Coming from Destiny 2 and Halo developers, these guys know how to make a first-person shooter that looks, feels, and plays good. More closely eyed, though, and you’ll realize the shooting leans more on Destiny 2’s look and feel. Smooth, fast, and responsive. But also punchy and giving a most rumbling feedback, thanks to DualSense’s triggers and haptic feedback. Every gun has its distinct feel and feedback that’s just satisfying to discover and handle. Accuracy is on point, as is aiming, and everything in between. Marathon’s shooting is probably the best, most thrilling part of gameplay.

The guns themselves share the same trippy, splashes of color aesthetic as the environment and general art style. And that can, perhaps, feel tasteless for some players. I personally like it. It feels different from other games out there: more stylish and fun. And it plays perfectly into the sci-fi universe Marathon is trying to create. A colony whose people have been wiped out, and the few that remain transform themselves into biosynthetic things. They take up jobs from factions that are competing to take control of the new world order, often risky but promise tantalizing rewards. 

Faction Wars

That’s the other, sort-of, exciting, unexpected feature in Marathon that forms the bulk of the story. Yes, there’s an actual storyline, although lower your expectations of proper cinematics and dialogue. Bungie leans more on text-based storytelling than it does voice acting and animations. And that obviously carries its limits of immersion or downright enjoyment. Many might prefer if there were a single-player campaign in addition to the multiplayer. But here we are, and you take what you get, which frankly isn’t all terrible. The lore’s genuinely interesting at points, if you have the patience to read through the expositions. Plus, it’s well-paced. 

Complete missions for your first faction, and you’ll receive rewards and credit, which entice more factions to entrust you with their selfish agendas. You, thus, enjoy a sense of progression, not just on your skill level, but also story-wise, learning more and more about planet Tau Ceti IV in the year 2893. It gives you a sense of purpose as well, heading back out into those deadly maps. Speaking of, they are pretty varied and detailed. Unlocking a new location brings its distinct themes and refreshes your excitement to discover its optimized places to find loot and paths to both avoid and escape. I still can’t insist enough how even with the most careful exploration and scavenging, the AI and skilled enemy players will still find you. They’ll spring up behind you and above you, and drive that body horrifying final blow through you that leaves you utterly, completely defeated. 

Imperfect Treasure

Even with all the good, Marathon still has some areas that need polishing. The UI, for starters that feels almost intentionally obtuse and unintuitive. It focuses on looking cool than it does functional, cramming all the loot and resources it can into multiple menus and tabs whose icons look the same, and more detailed information is tucked away in lots of text. Nothing a high-blood-pressured player getting their ass beat wants to go through to find the loadout and loot that will help them survive their current or next run. 

This comes with the issue of confusion during the early hours of your playthrough. Figuring out items’ value and what you’re supposed to do with objectives can take a minute, even when they seem like the simplest of objectives. There’s an element of finding your way around in the early stages that feels unnecessary. A game this good shouldn’t take so long to finally get into the groove of things. 

Not all the levels are exciting, with some bland indoor areas. And with those, you’ll find peaking around corners a pain, having to actually pop out of hiding to aim at enemies. And mind you, some enemy AI seem hellbent on breathing no matter how much ammo you unload into them. Some enemy AI are annoying to not only avoid but also take down, but I kind of enjoy that aspect of finally facing competent, unpredictable AI. 

You could nitpick other things that would eventually not be enough to dismiss Marathon as a possible next online sensation. The shooting is simply too good, and the gameplay loop genuinely has you wanting to pop back in for another go.

Verdict

It’s damn good to play Marathon, thanks to a mastery of accurate, smooth, and punchy first-person shooting of Destiny 2’s caliber. And the features around it are also impressive, from the varied classes you can choose from, including a solo Rook stealth run, to an ongoing storyline that helps keep the universe alive. Speaking of the universe, it looks pretty distinct, and while subjectively striking, I argue it’s a good thing to offer something we haven’t seen. The only worry is whether the momentum will keep rock steady over the coming weeks and months, as Bungie continues to add content updates and events. 

A Cryo Archive endgame map is scheduled to launch end month. It’s apparently large-scale and will have the core sweaty experience dialed up a notch. More maps, weapons, rewards… even an upcoming ranked mode are all planned for the future. An exciting future, indeed.