I am giving Marathon a rightful 10/10 and that would be regardless of the current wave of review bombing which blatantly misses the soul of what makes this game so spectacular. You see, Marathon is not your standard multiplayer trend-chaser; it’s a game born from a clear, uncompromising vision and executes on that vision unapologetically. When you spend your own time designing and building games from the ground up, you can instantly recognize when a project is driven by raw passion rather than a corporate checklist. It honestly feels like Bungie simply set out to build the exact bizarre, beautiful sci-fi universe they wanted to create, and it only happened to land in the "extraction shooter" genre as a side effect of that artistic vision. To understand how strong that initial lure is, you have to know I am not a shooter player. I haven’t seriously played a shooter since I was a teenager grinding Halo 3 on Xbox Live. My usual gaming diet consists entirely of deep fantasy RPGs—give me the tactical, story-rich worlds of games like BG3 or Divinity over a twitch-shooter any day... But the fact that a hardcore sci-fi extraction shooter managed to pull me entirely out of my fantasy comfort zone speaks volumes about how deeply the raw passion of this project resonated with me ever since that initial cinematic trailer reveal. The aesthetic and the world are just peculiar and bizarre enough to pique your interest, and the game doesn't really even emphasize its backstory, but it gives you just enough to know it has one—and one that is deep, rich, and compelling. Once you start pulling at the narrative threads and realize exactly why Runners exist, it gives every single match a whole new level of meaning and immersion. Playing it just feels epic. Going back and re-watching that cinematic trailer from about year ago hits completely differently now that I have actually played the game and know more about the backstory, and all I can say is that it leaves me hungering for more. Why it may not be a game universally accepted by all is simply because the extraction shooter genre is inherently tense, frustrating, and unforgiving. Most people don't look to their leisure time to be placed in such discomfort. But that friction is the point. The staggering stakes are exactly what make the game so overwhelmingly compelling and rewarding when you actually manage to come out on top, but it’s an acquired taste. It demands your attention, tests your nerves, and delivers an unforgettable experience for those who recognize the gem that it truly is. Bungie should be nothing short of proud for crafting the absolute masterpiece that is Marathon, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here!
