(I spent a fair bit of time in the Server Slam before launch)

Marathon is difficult to recommend for a number of reasons.

It's a resurrection of a decades-old and beloved series as an Extraction Shooter by a company that seems hell-bent on burning every last shred of good will they've ever accumulated over their extremely long history, but ultimately what they've managed to do is make a game that is EXTREMELY fun if you are in to this exact kind of game.

It plays like a mashup of Escape from Tarkov, Apex Legends, and Destiny 2's Trials of Osiris. The result is a very polished pseudo-hero shooter with a huge focus on PvP where you attempt to loot and escape with guns, mods, implants, and other equipment that you will eventually use to go up in to Orbit to participate in contested Raid encounters. In the meantime, you're completing missions, unlocking permanent cosmetics and codex entries that give you lore blurbs to help piece together what's going on, and seasonal rewards with factions you rank up with to continuously raise the power you default to, making runs easier, but also higher risk and reward, up until the 3-month seasonal reset where all seasonal rewards and your loot is wiped to start fresh with new stuff to work towards.

It's a very smooth gameplay loop and one that appeals to me greatly, but also I know there's a lot of people who will here "mashup of Tarkov, Apex, and Destiny" and immediately recoil in abject horror and disgust, which is a valid reaction. This game is not going to be for everybody, but if it IS the kind of game that appeals to you, then it is well worth the $40 asking price. If it does NOT appeal to you, then you are going to think it's the worst thing you have ever played in your life, so don't waste your time.

Ultimately I boil my reviews on "I wish there was a maybe review option" titles to "am I having fun playing this and feel my money was well spent?" and with Marathon, I am shocked to say that yes, I am having fun. So I will recommend the game with the above caveats.

(I spent a fair bit of time in the Server Slam before launch) Marathon is difficult to recommend for a number of reasons. It's a resurrection of a decades-old and beloved series as an Extraction Shooter by a company that seems hell-bent on burning every last shred of good will they've ever accumulated over their extremely long history, but ultimately what they've managed to do is make a game that is EXTREMELY fun if you are in to this exact kind of game. It plays like a mashup of Escape from Tarkov, Apex Legends, and Destiny 2's Trials of Osiris. The result is a very polished pseudo-hero shooter with a huge focus on PvP where you attempt to loot and escape with guns, mods, implants, and other equipment that you will eventually use to go up in to Orbit to participate in contested Raid encounters. In the meantime, you're completing missions, unlocking permanent cosmetics and codex entries that give you lore blurbs to help piece together what's going on, and seasonal rewards with factions you rank up with to continuously raise the power you default to, making runs easier, but also higher risk and reward, up until the 3-month seasonal reset where all seasonal rewards and your loot is wiped to start fresh with new stuff to work towards. It's a very smooth gameplay loop and one that appeals to me greatly, but also I know there's a lot of people who will here "mashup of Tarkov, Apex, and Destiny" and immediately recoil in abject horror and disgust, which is a valid reaction. This game is not going to be for everybody, but if it IS the kind of game that appeals to you, then it is well worth the $40 asking price. If it does NOT appeal to you, then you are going to think it's the worst thing you have ever played in your life, so don't waste your time. Ultimately I boil my reviews on "I wish there was a maybe review option" titles to "am I having fun playing this and feel my money was well spent?" and with Marathon, I am shocked to say that yes, I am having fun. So I will recommend the game with the above caveats.