Ah, Marathon. This series holds a special place in my heart, because an old friend of mine introduced me to several great obscure games like this at a young age. He was one of the few people I knew that had a Mac (or computer, for that matter), and he loved Bungie games like Myth (a strategy game) and Marathon. For those of you who don’t know, the Marathon series is basically a predecessor to Halo. It’s the first FPS series that Bungie produced, and it was quite impressive when it was initially released. My favorite thing about the Marathon series was the incredible multiplayer. The friend who introduced me to Marathon managed to set it up on several computers in a middle school computer lab, and some of us snuck in a few rounds when the teacher was gone. What we experienced was quite similar to Halo LAN parties. As you can imagine, we had a blast.
Fast-forward several years and Bungie’s Halo series had become a megaton hit that propelled the Xbox to success. Halo 3 was almost here, and Bungie wanted to whet our appetite with a classic FPS—Marathon: Durandal (aka Marathon 2). Marathon 2 was initially released on the Mac, but it was soon ported to PC, so it eventually grew to become the most popular game of the Marathon trilogy. After the release of Halo several years later, Marathon had become forgotten, much like road kill. I realized that Marathon 2 had probably become archaic, but I decided to put it to the test anyway.
When I booted up Marathon II, memories of its classic but cheesy theme song resurfaced. After I’d grown tired of hearing the word Marathon repeated numerous times, I decided to load up the single-player campaign. Marathon 2 appeared to be visually dated, but there were some notable differences from other XBLA FPSes. The game wasn’t in a tiny computer monitor format; rather, it filled up a whole widescreen display with no sidebars. Besides having updated visuals, Marathon also ran at a brisk 60 frams per second. This framerate was so smooth that some reviewers actually complained that the fluidity of Marathon’s visuals made them sick. In Marathon 2, you can aim in all directions, unlike Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, so you can quickly become disoriented or feel like hurling if you have a weak stomach.
The smooth animation and updated visuals impressed me, but how was the gameplay? Well, I actually ended up nearly as disappointed as Al Gore after he lost the presidential race. The main reason for this is the incredibly convoluted level design. Marathon 2 has you hitting all sorts of random switches, and oftentimes they affect a faraway object, so you rarely have any idea of what’s going on. Sometimes, I felt more lost than Kevin McAllister in Home Alone 2. I played several campaign missions in co-op with my brother, and eventually, we had enough. He just couldn’t take it anymore, and I felt like I was on the brink of insanity, so I gave up. I played through several levels, however, and I have to say that not everything reeked of unemptied garbage.
Fighting enemies is pretty fun with a somewhat standard arsenal. You get several weapons that are similar to what you’d find in Doom, but this time, you can actually aim them in any direction. As a result, players feel like they have a greater degree of control. Unfortunately, you still can’t jump, so you have to dash if you want the game to make your character autojump over a gaping chasm.
Besides being able to aim vertically, Durandal is also distinct in that it has a sci-fi aesthetic. You could argue that Doom has one as well, but Marathon feels like an even more futuristic title. Your weapons are complex; they have primary and secondary fire modes; you’re often fighting aliens on distant planets. Marathon ties everything together with a complex storyline, but most of it is optional. Unlike Doom and Wolfenstein, the story isn’t told to you after each episode; instead, it’s delivered to you by computer monitors scattered throughout Marathon’s numerous levels. Unfortunately, the small, bright-green text makes reading a hassle, so it’s unlikely that you’ll want to put up with it unless you’re a hardcore sci-fi geek. No cutscenes here, Halo fans — you’ve got to read again for the first time since high school (sorry, there aren’t any Cliff’s Notes).
Even though Marathon has a heavy sci-fi tone, the worlds aren’t all that convincing. Part of this is due to early 3D graphics technology, but the backgrounds just look drab and unoriginal. Besides having mediocre (albeit updated) visuals, the music doesn’t really impress. Much of the game is silent, so you’ll have to suck it up and be satisfied with the sound of bullets spraying into alien scum.
The single-player experience is dated, but how is the multiplayer? It’s a mixed bag. It’s nice that you’re able to take eight other players into co-op (if you can find them), and getting your frag on in deathmatch is amusing, but only for a brief period of time. Running around in circles killing each other is fun for a bit, but with no vehicles and bland maps, deathmatch quickly becomes a bore. This type of gameplay was still fresh back in 1995 when the game came out, but we’ve moved on. Try playing Goldeneye (which used to be my favorite FPS before Halo) if you need any more proof.
Marathon 2 was a fun game when it was released, but unfortunately, it hasn’t aged gracefully. The level design is some of the most convoluted that you’ll find in an FPS. The guns aren’t very original, and the way that it tells the story is archaic. It doesn’t help that the game’s biggest draw—multiplayer—just isn’t very fun anymore. As much as I love Bungie games, I have to argue against downloading Marathon, especially for $10. You might miss out on one of Bungie’s classic games, but who cares, really, when you could be spending that time in Halo.
Score: 6.0
Pros:
- Updated visuals fill a widescreen monitor.
- You can aim vertically.
- You can finally experience the predecessor to Halo on console.
- The theme song is memorable for those who played it back in the day.
- It has a wealth of multiplayer options.
Cons:
- The music is almost non-existent.
- The level design is convoluted.
- The multiplayer arenas and single-player levels are bland.
- It’s difficult to find other players online.
- The map and radar are terrible.
- Most weapons feel uninspired.
- It’s $10.