Marathon starts to convince: first impressions of Bungie’s extraction shooter are positive

Players who have already tried it assure that the game has improved a lot since the alpha.

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When Marathon first emerged, doubts were inevitable. But now, just a few weeks away from its decisive phase before launch, Bungie’s project is starting to change the general perception thanks to the first impressions of players who have had early access to the title.

These initial feelings come from closed testing sessions conducted with members of the Asian community, and the comments that have surfaced point to significant progress compared to the problematic alpha from last May.

Marathon improves its gameplay, technical aspect, and world structure

According to the information shared by the players who participated in these tests, Marathon now presents a more coherent and polished world, accompanied by a tutorial that places special emphasis on context, factions, and their motivations. The relevance of a key character, Doctor Strauss, is also mentioned, who would have a central role within the game’s universe.

In terms of gameplay, the PvE component stands out for its difficulty. Enemies appear constantly, with a system reminiscent of Destiny‘s patrols, preventing players from completely clearing an area and forcing them to stay on the move. The PvP, on the other hand, is described as tense and risky, with a clear tendency towards “shoot first” due to a very demanding economy, where even acquiring health packs is a challenge.

The loot and classes seem well-balanced, with around 28 weapons planned for launch, each with visual variants that clearly alter their appearance. Abilities combine effectively between characters, encouraging well-thought-out team compositions, although cooperation with strangers is not always straightforward.

On a technical level, those who have tried it highlight a clear improvement in outdoor environments, as well as a more intuitive and functional user interface compared to previous versions. All of this points to a significant quality leap in the last few months of development.

With an open beta planned for the short term, everything indicates that we will soon be able to put our doubts to rest about whether this new approach will be enough to consolidate Bungie’s return to the extraction shooter genre with guarantees.