#I believe Marathon seems to be fairly cool, truly—and Harmony comparisons are silly – Destructoid

Bungie’s Marathon reveal over the weekend had a giant build-up forward of it, and I believe what the studio confirmed and introduced was a bit underwhelming. However I’m nonetheless excited to attempt the sport out.

When you judged Marathon’s reception off of social media sentiment, you’d suppose it was the worst recreation of all time, “useless on arrival,” a waste of time, and different intense overreactions. However that’s the state of gaming discourse in 2025, sadly. It’s an absolute mess, and it’s some of the annoying traits within the business.

Whereas a good quantity of players like me are ready to attempt the sport earlier than making harsh judgments, many have written it off completely after the reveal for quite a lot of causes, together with all the pieces from not liking the style to (someway) considering the artwork fashion is bizarre. After which there are those that dislike that the sport has “ugly” feminine characters, however they’re past saving or having discussions with.

Voice your opinion, certain. However relax a bit. Wishing for a recreation to fail when claiming you’re a gamer is simply extremely reductive. And for many who are farming rage for engagement, allow them to shout into the ether. Don’t have interaction. Type your individual opinions, and play it. Or don’t. That’s superb. However why does each single reveal really feel just like the apocalypse of the sport business currently?

If a recreation isn’t for you, that’s nice. In reality, most players are enjoying years-old video games anyway, so be happy to play no matter you want and transfer on from any potential pleasure you had for Marathon. However persevering with to harp on a recreation that you don’t have any curiosity in enjoying is the precise waste of time right here.

One of many extra annoying themes I’ve seen on social media for the reason that weekend has been evaluating Marathon to Harmony, Sony’s doomed shooter that was taken offline a number of weeks after it launched because of an absence of gamers and curiosity. I actually don’t suppose this can be a legitimate comparability.

For anybody penning this recreation off as “one other Harmony” or “doomed to fail,” I ask them to look in direction of Bungie’s previous video games and experiences to see how, even after a tough launch, the group might come again. I hope Marathon works from the get-go (extra good video games to play is all the time a very good factor), however I don’t suppose it will be the end-all if it wanted some updates to flourish.

Harmony additionally entered a flooded market of free-to-play video games in the identical style with a $40 price ticket and nothing to essentially set itself other than the video games it was immediately competing with. Marathon has Bungie gunplay and a novel artwork fashion, together with (hopefully) some fascinating spins on the sport kind, and principally optimistic reactions from those that have performed it so far.

For the reveal, Bungie dropped some creator gameplay footage, a gameplay explainer video, and an unimaginable cinematic quick movie. From what I’ve seen up to now, it seems to be cool, however I’m extra excited to play it than something to see if it hooks me or not. And that would be the key that issues most.

Having stated that, I do suppose that PlayStation (proprietor of Bungie) can have a look at Harmony as a studying expertise for a few causes. The primary being, why is Marathon’s launch value a thriller? If it’s a premium recreation, let individuals know the worth, or it simply seems to be prefer it’s being hidden with some mysterious intent.

Evaluating a $40 Marathon to Harmony of the identical value isn’t related, I don’t suppose. Whereas Harmony was pure hero shooter multiplayer, Marathon goes for one thing totally different with the PvPvE facet, and ultimately, I do suppose there will likely be extra PvE-centric modes added to the sport, which is one other factor Bungie prospers at.

Talking of Bungie, although, I believe the studio and Marathon group ought to put together to be receptive to suggestions and never push again on so many concepts so quickly. I believe it’s superb now to inform players to “wait and see,” however I actually hope the devs is not going to be hardheaded about sure approaches to the sport if the neighborhood will get vocal about adjustments. That is already taking place with Bungie’s determination to not embody VOIP, or in-game voice chat that may be heard by enemy gamers, which many consider to be a staple of the style.

Although most gamers know nothing about recreation dev, they do know what they need to play and the way they need a recreation to really feel with a purpose to maintain spending cash on it. Listening is all the time a optimistic, and I don’t suppose there will likely be as a lot leeway for Marathon as there was for Future when it made a number of comebacks all through its largely profitable live-service durations.

I’m not the most important fan of extraction shooters myself, in any respect. None of them have clicked with me but. For all I do know, Marathon would be the very same, however I’m a fan of Bungie’s mastery of how gunplay feels of their FPS titles. For the entire faults of Future and Future 2, the video games have all the time felt phenomenal to play. That’s what I dislike about video games like Escape From Tarkov or Gray Zone Warfare. If the gunplay feels good, then I’m pretty assured that the sport will really feel good and maintain gamers .

When the closed alpha begins on April 23, I’ll hopefully be enjoying and discover myself trying ahead to Sept. 23 for Marathon’s full launch. However I’ll be protecting a detailed eye on issues and hoping that Bungie will likely be fast to answer suggestions with updates and adjustments as properly.