After “going darkish” over a 12 months in the past, Bungie is once more speaking about Marathon—the PvP extraction shooter based mostly on its ’90s traditional—though it hasn’t introduced alongside the gameplay footage it promised, and is being about as imprecise as you could be whereas nonetheless technically utilizing phrases in an order that conveys that means.
Within the improvement replace video embedded under, sport director Joe Ziegler—who we realized earlier this 12 months has changed Marathon’s earlier director—embraces the Halloween spirit by vamping for 10 minutes, first describing what an extraction shooter is, then describing the idea of loot and equipment and loadouts, and later revealing that Marathon will characteristic “aims.”
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We do technically be taught one element: When you fail to extract, you may lose “the issues you will have on you,” which is not at all times the case in additional informal extraction shooters. Ziegler additionally reveals some character artwork: The primary is a runner codenamed “Thief,” whose talents Ziegler says have resulted in “hilarious” and “loopy” moments—which he declines to explain—and the second character is codenamed “Stealth.” That one’s stealthy. (I assume the thief character is stealthy too, however who can say?)
Essentially the most substantial a part of the replace is Ziegler’s impression of the place Marathon’s improvement is at proper now. Again in Might 2023, Bungie mentioned that it might resurface when it had gameplay to indicate, however alas, there is no such thing as a gameplay to indicate. Ziegler says that Bungie has been testing (together with with gamers from exterior of Bungie) and iterating closely over the previous two years, and that whereas the environments are “beginning to come collectively in a extremely actually stunning means,” participant and enemy fashions are much less refined, and Bungie is not prepared to indicate all the things collectively.
This might all be a smoke display for a shock Sport Awards reveal in December, nevertheless it appears extra probably that we cannot hear something extra till someday subsequent 12 months. Ziegler says that Marathon’s ongoing playtests can be expanded in 2025, and for now, you’ll be able to wishlist the sport on Steam if you need.
Though Future 2’s newest growth was glorious, Bungie had been having a tough time since its acquisition by Sony, going through declining income, mass layoffs, and diminishing independence. A Future spin-off was reportedly cancelled earlier this 12 months to direct extra assets to Marathon.
It is a bit regarding that there is not any gameplay to indicate, however at the very least it feels like there’s numerous group playtesting and suggestions happening behind the scenes. Sony’s nonetheless feeling the harm from Harmony, which appeared out of nowhere, acquired only a couple temporary playtests, after which went proper again to the place it got here from. It is most likely affordable to anticipate Sony and Bungie to steer the opposite means for Marathon, with some prolonged public take a look at interval earlier than it is deemed able to go. Possibly subsequent 12 months.