Importance Score: 25 / 100 🔵
What became of the vanishing colony on Tau Ceti IV and the legendary Marathon vessel that initiated it all? Decades following the original Marathon trilogy, the Bungie development team is poised to revisit the realm of Tau Ceti IV in their forthcoming team-based extraction shooter, Marathon. The game is scheduled to launch on September 24 for PS5, Steam, and Xbox Series X|S.
Today, we will recap key moments from the live Marathon Gameplay Reveal Showcase. For comprehensive details, you can view the complete livestream here.
Intense Competition in Marathon
In Marathon, players collaborate in three-person crews to explore the remains of the abandoned colony on Tau Ceti IV. During their pursuit of potent weaponry and gear left behind, they will encounter AI security forces, supernatural adversaries, and rival Runner squads vying for spoils.
Mortality is inherent to this journey – it’s a ruthless setting where survival on every mission is not guaranteed. However, each successful extraction allows you to retain all acquired loot, enhancing your power and expanding your inventory across matches.
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Your next significant gain is always just one run away.
For an initial glimpse into gameplay, examine the Gameplay Reveal Trailer unveiled during today’s livestream.
Become a Runner: Embrace Cybernetic Shells
Runners are central to the experience of Marathon.
These cybernetic mercenaries have forfeited their human forms for synthetic bodies. They have exchanged a fraction of their humanity for a semblance of immortality, enabling consciousness transference upon demise.
In Marathon, participants select from a diverse roster of Runners, each possessing distinct abilities, attributes, and styles. While each Runner offers unique characteristics, they also serve as a foundation for personalized playstyles. Customization is achieved by collecting implants and other equipment during runs, which can enhance your Runner and refine your preferred approach.
“Consider Glitch, who specializes in agility, rapid movement, and speed. This playstyle can be amplified by accumulating implants and enhancements that minimize heat accumulation, allowing for extended periods of running, jumping, and sliding before cooldown,” explains Kevin Yanes, Senior Design Lead.
“Furthermore, rare items like Prestige Cores can significantly alter gameplay. Glitch, for instance, possesses a Core that upgrades her double jump to a triple jump, substantially increasing aerial maneuverability.”
Combined with Bungie’s renowned gunplay and an extensive selection of weapons to discover, players can adapt their Runner to various distinct playstyles.
Discover more about Runners and additional features in the latest Gameplay Overview Trailer.
Revisiting Tau Ceti: Unfolding Narratives
The original Marathon series, launched in the 1990s, laid the groundwork for immersive storytelling that has become a hallmark of Bungie titles.
“The interwoven narratives, occurrences, and figures within the original trilogy presented a universe of exploration, fascination, and intrigue,” states Narrative Leader Jonathan Goff.
Players were encouraged to interact with the unfolding stories on their own terms, as either uninvolved onlookers or proactive investigators delving into computer terminal fragments and other environmental hints.
“We are adopting this philosophy to broaden and examine the established lore of the Marathon universe through a fresh perspective – that of the Runners, who are entering Tau Ceti IV and the world of Marathon to unveil the enigmas concealed in the aftermath of the original trilogy’s events,” Goff elaborates.
The points of convergence and divergence between Marathon and its predecessors will gradually emerge. Similar to the classic games, the realities, falsehoods, and ramifications of Tau Ceti’s mysteries will be entrusted to players for their ownership, consideration, and debate.
“Ultimately, our objective with Marathon is not solely to narrate a tale, but to construct realms where stories can and will naturally develop,” Goff concludes.
Witness the setting of Tau Ceti firsthand in the cinematic short film revealed as a concluding surprise during today’s showcase. It is written and directed by Alberto Mielgo, the award-winning director behind “The Witness” and “Jibaro” from Love, Death & Robots.
Player Feedback Drives Marathon’s Development
Bungie has incorporated player and creator input from the early stages of Marathon’s development – representing the earliest player involvement in a Bungie project to date. Even prior to formal production, players were assessing initial prototypes and contributing feedback that influenced subsequent iterations.
Incorporating player perspectives early and frequently has refined Marathon in significant and subtle ways.
“Initially, during playtesting, maps functioned more like persistent environments,” states Game Director Joe Ziegler. “This enabled players to enter and exit the same map server instance multiple times. However, feedback indicated this made matches seem inequitable and unpredictable, with potential issues like spawn camping or pre-existing loot depletion.”
“In response to this feedback, we transitioned to the current design, where each match represents a completely new beginning for all participants. This uniform starting point empowers you and your teammates to formulate strategies before each run and compete against rival teams for desired loot,” Ziegler clarifies.
With Marathon now officially unveiled, the next step is to broaden playtesting to enable ongoing development in conjunction with player feedback.
“We are exceptionally eager to invite a larger player base into Marathon and gather their impressions,” Ziegler expresses. “Furthermore, we have extensive content to disclose in the approaching weeks and months. This journey is truly just commencing.”
You can register for an opportunity to participate in this month’s Closed Alpha Test by joining the community Discord.
Marathon is set to launch on September 24 for PS5, Steam, and Xbox Series X|S.