Not a review but going back to the first game for a bit after beating the rest of the trilogy made me realize that oh, this is one of my favorite games ever. I love just thinking about it, untangling this confusing mess of loose threads that come together so perfectly. It's also the only game in the series that has you read some of the most esoteric shit in any game while some bumping MIDI tune is playing, only to never directly reference said writing again. The feeling created by the way the story is told, the confusing and sometimes bullshit level design, and the extremely charming visuals and music is entirely its own, and it plays nicely too. No other game hits quite the same as Marathon 1 and I cannot appreciate that enough.
On a side note, the Mandalore review is great but PLEASE don't think there's nothing left for you here if you watched that. If you're at all into Bungie, old school shooters, or just weird games in general, I implore you to give it a shot. It's free and coming to Steam soon enough as well.
On a side note, the Mandalore review is great but PLEASE don't think there's nothing left for you here if you watched that. If you're at all into Bungie, old school shooters, or just weird games in general, I implore you to give it a shot. It's free and coming to Steam soon enough as well.
Tava no DNA da porra da Bungie fazer checkpoint escroto
I really love the presentation and mood, and the writing is so damn good. It plays good too, basically feels like old Doom but they do a lot of fun stuff with its implementation of free aim. Some levels are very questionable in design but most are fine and for every level there are walkthroughs available so I don't think its a deal breaker. Would've been a 4.5 for me if the ending had been a little stronger, just feels kinda cliffhanger-y.
Edit: spoiler territory okay don't read on if you don't wanna know but:
Thinking a bit more about the ending I find myself appreciating it more and more. The entire time Durandal has been playing you and the ending isn't you overcoming him or confronting him or anything, he gets exactly what he was aiming for the entire time and it makes sense too, he's the brain you're the brawn, he feels incredibly powerful the entire story despite realistically just being text on a black background and they actively choose not to diminish his power at the end and instead reinforce it by having things go his way.
Edit: spoiler territory okay don't read on if you don't wanna know but:
Thinking a bit more about the ending I find myself appreciating it more and more. The entire time Durandal has been playing you and the ending isn't you overcoming him or confronting him or anything, he gets exactly what he was aiming for the entire time and it makes sense too, he's the brain you're the brawn, he feels incredibly powerful the entire story despite realistically just being text on a black background and they actively choose not to diminish his power at the end and instead reinforce it by having things go his way.
A difficult game to enjoy for players who did not grow up in the 90s, commitment to this almost hostilely designed relic will reward anyone who sticks around with a surprisingly compelling world, characters, atmosphere, and gameplay.
More like, Gayrathon
This review contains spoilers
(Played using AlephOne.)
It has quite a few aspects that make it stand out against other shooters of its time.
P'for one, you largely heal using health stations scattered throughout the maps rather than just the typical fps health packs.
Another thing is reloading. which is a rarity for games from ‘94'. though it has no dedicated reload button. You’d think that would be super annoying but honestly it has its moments. Having to kinda plan around when you will have to reload is commonplace in most modern fps games but with Marathon you must keep in mind when you have to reload BETWEEN encounters as well as during them.
The weapons themselves are also quite unique. the pistols can be dual wielded (which shares the 'first game with dual wielding' title with Rise of the Triad since they launched on the very same day.)
The AR is horrifically inaccurate but effective with crowds and in narrow spaces. (a la Halo) but it also includes a rocket launcher making it easily one of the best guns in the game second to...
The 'Zeus Class Fusion Pistol' which has a full auto and charged attack like the plasma pistol from Halo. this gun kicks ass and will be your go-to for as long as you have the ammo for it.
There are a few other guns like the twin rocket launcher, which is great for heavy targets, the flame thrower which is great for killing fodder enemies quick without using your better guns, or the disposable alien machine gun that runs off a non-rechargeable battery.
The level design is the games worst aspect. The levels range from confusing to navigate, empty, or somehow both at once.
What does help to ease the levels is the great art direction and especially the story and the music.
The music adds so much personality to what otherwise would be much more forgettable levels. 'Guardians' and 'Rushing' are my personal favorites of the bunch.
The story opens familiar if you've played Halo; wake up on a spaceship being attacked by an alien faction as you are accompanied by an AI.
where the biggest difference lies story-wise is when you get kidnapped by 'Durandal' another AI that is currently going through "Rampancy". a process some AI can go through that effectively makes them go insane.
Durandal has you fulfill his own purposes so he can attempt to "escape this universe".
Durandal's combination of ambition, ego and sarcasm make him a very enjoyable character to follow throughout the game.
All in all, it’s a damn good game. flawed? absolutely. but those flaws are completely outweighed by its better qualities, passion and charm.
It has quite a few aspects that make it stand out against other shooters of its time.
P'for one, you largely heal using health stations scattered throughout the maps rather than just the typical fps health packs.
Another thing is reloading. which is a rarity for games from ‘94'. though it has no dedicated reload button. You’d think that would be super annoying but honestly it has its moments. Having to kinda plan around when you will have to reload is commonplace in most modern fps games but with Marathon you must keep in mind when you have to reload BETWEEN encounters as well as during them.
The weapons themselves are also quite unique. the pistols can be dual wielded (which shares the 'first game with dual wielding' title with Rise of the Triad since they launched on the very same day.)
The AR is horrifically inaccurate but effective with crowds and in narrow spaces. (a la Halo) but it also includes a rocket launcher making it easily one of the best guns in the game second to...
The 'Zeus Class Fusion Pistol' which has a full auto and charged attack like the plasma pistol from Halo. this gun kicks ass and will be your go-to for as long as you have the ammo for it.
There are a few other guns like the twin rocket launcher, which is great for heavy targets, the flame thrower which is great for killing fodder enemies quick without using your better guns, or the disposable alien machine gun that runs off a non-rechargeable battery.
The level design is the games worst aspect. The levels range from confusing to navigate, empty, or somehow both at once.
What does help to ease the levels is the great art direction and especially the story and the music.
The music adds so much personality to what otherwise would be much more forgettable levels. 'Guardians' and 'Rushing' are my personal favorites of the bunch.
The story opens familiar if you've played Halo; wake up on a spaceship being attacked by an alien faction as you are accompanied by an AI.
where the biggest difference lies story-wise is when you get kidnapped by 'Durandal' another AI that is currently going through "Rampancy". a process some AI can go through that effectively makes them go insane.
Durandal has you fulfill his own purposes so he can attempt to "escape this universe".
Durandal's combination of ambition, ego and sarcasm make him a very enjoyable character to follow throughout the game.
All in all, it’s a damn good game. flawed? absolutely. but those flaws are completely outweighed by its better qualities, passion and charm.
an incredible step forward in the genre of yaoi visual novels. also a pretty good fps.
One of the best FPS ever made. By the “We’ll never make games for any other platforms but the Apple Mac” company, also known as Bungie.
The game has a very involved story, it’s told via computer terminals you find n levels.
An absolute massacre in deathmatch
The game has a very involved story, it’s told via computer terminals you find n levels.
An absolute massacre in deathmatch
Marathon! When Bungie announced a new Marathon that is going to be some normal-ass extraction shooter following current trends, my social media feeds were abuzz with so many people reacting in real time, first with joy and then with horror. Such is the way of things. Anyway, I thought it was time to check this out via Aleph One, but I did have some trepidation after absolutely hating Dark Forces. Was there really room for me in the FPS genre?
Turns out the answer was yes! You can make an FPS good after all!
In addition to being a Mac game, Marathon came out before most of the post-Doom canon and outstrips all of them in terms of narrative ambitions. This was mostly accomplished just by having you read a lot of words on computer screens (affectionate) and by having them be character dialogue from a small cast of AIs with only a minimum number of logs from randos. The setup isn't anything groundbreaking: you're just a Man With Gun on a Big Spaceship that's been attacked by aliens. Of the three AIs onboard, only one is available to help you Die Hard your way around trying to fight back. That's Leela, the most boring one, which is great for starting off. She'll show you maps of the levels when you enter and give you tips on where to find save points and health recharging stations, which the game has kinda like Half Life would eventually do. There's a sense that she's balancing a hundred different priorities in trying to send you around to put out fires, gathering intel, and doing whatever computer shit she can to slow the invasion. You get told about enemies you won't encounter for some time just because survivors of the initial attacks remember them. You get sent to send a message to warn earth but it's probably not going to get there in time because it'll take decades to arrive and the aliens have FTL capability. Everything is falling apart it rules!
Of course, Durandal is the real main character here, and eventually Leela gets taken out and has to turn you over to him. I knew the whole rampant AI thing was something 343 put into Halo so it was funny to discover they lifted it from here and made it dumber. Durandal has gone bad in a pretty normal way, and hates humanity for pretty normal reasons. He doesn't really hate you though, and he's basically on the same side so you just end up bonding over the fact that some of the humans are actually secretly bombs now so you've just started shooting all of them (this also rules). Like yeah he's evil but that's fine. He's funny. Love that guy. The third AI, Tycho, appears like twice and is probably underutilized but he seems fine. Hates Durandal for normal reasons too. I get it. I get everyone's concerns. Eventually Durandal concocts a way to deal with the invasion, you get a prett good idea of what the aliens' whole deal is, and he steals the alien ship to set up a sequel while leaving you to run out of maps with no particular climax.
All of this would not work if it was painful to play, and luckily it's instead: nice to play. This isn't Doom. The pace is much slower and more methodical, as suits the story and setting. However you still have a bunch of weapons that feel different and work well on different enemies, who also all feel distinct. Not a ton of hitscan bullshit and the monster closet BS is mostly used sparingly as well. I liked that you have an Alien-ish motion sensor, which gives you some of the benefits of a radar without being all powerful. At no point do these maps actually feel like real places, which only becomes more true as you get further and solve more puzzles involving shooting grenades at wall switches. There's more platforming than I expected, but you fall hilariously slow in low G and it mostly feels good! My biggest problem is that the puzzles, when they arrive, all revolve around pressing switches, and the actual effects of switches are completely arbitrary. Do I have to turn this one on and off? Does it change something on the other side of the level? Does it have a delayed effect? Who the fuck knows you're just going to have to figure it out. In one of the late maps I actually managed to get myself softlocked because I didn't fiddle with the switches properly before advancing, and the pacing of save points is sometimes dicey. I had to repeat literally three maps out of the game's 27 in a row because in the alien ship levels the trigger for leaving is "looking out a window" and the saves are hidden.
None of this stopped me for long! The game is mostly prett breezy! I think the remaining two games will probably step things up even more on all fronts, and I look forward to confirming this. I don't know anything about Mac games but this is a classic Mac game.
Turns out the answer was yes! You can make an FPS good after all!
In addition to being a Mac game, Marathon came out before most of the post-Doom canon and outstrips all of them in terms of narrative ambitions. This was mostly accomplished just by having you read a lot of words on computer screens (affectionate) and by having them be character dialogue from a small cast of AIs with only a minimum number of logs from randos. The setup isn't anything groundbreaking: you're just a Man With Gun on a Big Spaceship that's been attacked by aliens. Of the three AIs onboard, only one is available to help you Die Hard your way around trying to fight back. That's Leela, the most boring one, which is great for starting off. She'll show you maps of the levels when you enter and give you tips on where to find save points and health recharging stations, which the game has kinda like Half Life would eventually do. There's a sense that she's balancing a hundred different priorities in trying to send you around to put out fires, gathering intel, and doing whatever computer shit she can to slow the invasion. You get told about enemies you won't encounter for some time just because survivors of the initial attacks remember them. You get sent to send a message to warn earth but it's probably not going to get there in time because it'll take decades to arrive and the aliens have FTL capability. Everything is falling apart it rules!
Of course, Durandal is the real main character here, and eventually Leela gets taken out and has to turn you over to him. I knew the whole rampant AI thing was something 343 put into Halo so it was funny to discover they lifted it from here and made it dumber. Durandal has gone bad in a pretty normal way, and hates humanity for pretty normal reasons. He doesn't really hate you though, and he's basically on the same side so you just end up bonding over the fact that some of the humans are actually secretly bombs now so you've just started shooting all of them (this also rules). Like yeah he's evil but that's fine. He's funny. Love that guy. The third AI, Tycho, appears like twice and is probably underutilized but he seems fine. Hates Durandal for normal reasons too. I get it. I get everyone's concerns. Eventually Durandal concocts a way to deal with the invasion, you get a prett good idea of what the aliens' whole deal is, and he steals the alien ship to set up a sequel while leaving you to run out of maps with no particular climax.
All of this would not work if it was painful to play, and luckily it's instead: nice to play. This isn't Doom. The pace is much slower and more methodical, as suits the story and setting. However you still have a bunch of weapons that feel different and work well on different enemies, who also all feel distinct. Not a ton of hitscan bullshit and the monster closet BS is mostly used sparingly as well. I liked that you have an Alien-ish motion sensor, which gives you some of the benefits of a radar without being all powerful. At no point do these maps actually feel like real places, which only becomes more true as you get further and solve more puzzles involving shooting grenades at wall switches. There's more platforming than I expected, but you fall hilariously slow in low G and it mostly feels good! My biggest problem is that the puzzles, when they arrive, all revolve around pressing switches, and the actual effects of switches are completely arbitrary. Do I have to turn this one on and off? Does it change something on the other side of the level? Does it have a delayed effect? Who the fuck knows you're just going to have to figure it out. In one of the late maps I actually managed to get myself softlocked because I didn't fiddle with the switches properly before advancing, and the pacing of save points is sometimes dicey. I had to repeat literally three maps out of the game's 27 in a row because in the alien ship levels the trigger for leaving is "looking out a window" and the saves are hidden.
None of this stopped me for long! The game is mostly prett breezy! I think the remaining two games will probably step things up even more on all fronts, and I look forward to confirming this. I don't know anything about Mac games but this is a classic Mac game.
Played this on PC via AlephOne.
Surprisingly, I had never heard of this series, even though I grew up playing Halo. So when I learned that Bungie had their own boomer shooter series, my interest was piqued.
This is a really cool alternative to Doom, in the sense that it's doing it's own thing. That being said, the floaty movement is a bit disorienting at times. It's cool to play through at least once though.
Surprisingly, I had never heard of this series, even though I grew up playing Halo. So when I learned that Bungie had their own boomer shooter series, my interest was piqued.
This is a really cool alternative to Doom, in the sense that it's doing it's own thing. That being said, the floaty movement is a bit disorienting at times. It's cool to play through at least once though.
Level design feels like kaizo Doom. Second half of the game feels like the devs are actively fucking with you. Oddly compelling.
Despite the Mac not necessarily being renowned for its history in terms of the grander scope of video games, this was Bungie at its most comfortable. Comfort in writing an interweaving narrative, comfort in making sure the game itself was fun, comfort in knowing they made an excellent product.
This, still, is nothing to say on Marathon's innovations on the Computer Game end of the spectrum were for naught, as it set the new standard for First-Person games to use the Mouse to aim, a then-debated-first on making an akiimbo system, and was the testing grounds for truly weaving narrative as you played. Where it goes from here only gets better.
This, still, is nothing to say on Marathon's innovations on the Computer Game end of the spectrum were for naught, as it set the new standard for First-Person games to use the Mouse to aim, a then-debated-first on making an akiimbo system, and was the testing grounds for truly weaving narrative as you played. Where it goes from here only gets better.
Started playing this thanks to the soulless extraction shooter with the Marathon name slapped onto it.
It's fun and the story, while told only through message logs, was actually pretty interesting for a game of its time. But what's stopping this game from being higher than a 7 are the maze-like levels that involve you running around hitting switches wondering what you're supposed to do next or what the hell that switch activated. Also the floaty physics and save stations weren't very good in my eyes, but otherwise it's still a solid game.
It's fun and the story, while told only through message logs, was actually pretty interesting for a game of its time. But what's stopping this game from being higher than a 7 are the maze-like levels that involve you running around hitting switches wondering what you're supposed to do next or what the hell that switch activated. Also the floaty physics and save stations weren't very good in my eyes, but otherwise it's still a solid game.
This game is pretty cool. It feels a little worse to play than most 90's FPS on the moment to moment, but that's efficiently made up for by the Ultima manual sized volume of worldbuilding and the genuine surreality of the basic movement. Interested to see what dangling threads they tug on for Marathon 2.
Sehr sehr interessantes Spiel. Viele Waffen in diesem Spiel machen großen Spaß, besonders der Flammenwerfer, die Plasma-Pistole, und die zwei Pistolen. Dual wielding macht immer spaß.
Ich fand auch die Schreiben sehr interessant. Durandal ist ein tolles Charakter.
Die Nutzung der Save-Stations und Heilungstationen gibt dem Spiel ein anderes Gefühl als andere 90s-Shooters. Es fühlt manchmal fast wie ein Horror-Spiel.
Ich freue mich, auf Marathon 2 und Infinity!
PS: Vielleicht es ist deutlich, aber Deutsch ist nicht meine Muttersprache. Wenn du ein Deutsch-Muttersprachler*in bist, bitte geben sie mir ein bisschen Feedback, danke!
Ich fand auch die Schreiben sehr interessant. Durandal ist ein tolles Charakter.
Die Nutzung der Save-Stations und Heilungstationen gibt dem Spiel ein anderes Gefühl als andere 90s-Shooters. Es fühlt manchmal fast wie ein Horror-Spiel.
Ich freue mich, auf Marathon 2 und Infinity!
PS: Vielleicht es ist deutlich, aber Deutsch ist nicht meine Muttersprache. Wenn du ein Deutsch-Muttersprachler*in bist, bitte geben sie mir ein bisschen Feedback, danke!
This is one of the ugliest and most nauseating experiences I've ever attempted. There's some really hideous view warping that causes the level geometry to fluctuate disorientingly due to how Bungie implemented their 3D graphics. I want to see this piece of FPS history through to the end but man it actually physically hurts to play.
Não vou mentir que Marathon me impressionou muito quando comecei a jogar, mas logo esse meu fascínio foi destruído por culpa no level design HORROROSO do jogo.
Antes de tudo eu OBRIGATORIAMENTE tenho que falar da HUD do Marathon, porque, sério, olha essa porra! Cara, olha esse trombolho fodido que fica na tela. Sim, isso tudo é HUD, e sim, a tela jogável fica alí cima em um tamanho menor. Cara não sei quem foi o psicopata que aprovou uma HUD dessas, mas esse nem é o pior. Vocês querem saber qual é o pior de verdade???
O pior É QUE EU ACHEI ESSA HUD DO CARALHO!!!!!
Tipo, dá pra deixar a tela jogável ocupando a tela inteira? Dá. Mas como eu iria ter coragem de fazer isso e deixar de fora da minha gameplay aquela abominação visual encantadora? SIMPLESMENTE NÃO TINHA COMO! Então fui fielmente acompanhado do começo ao fim por essa monstruosidade que cobre 80% da tela.
Me arrependo? NEM UM POUCO!!!
Agora, voltando ao jogo, a parte que me impressionou é que Marathon possui uma identidade muito forte.... sim a HUD inevitavelmente influencia muito nisso, mas deixando ela de fora, Marathon, diferente de DOOM, Heretic e Hexen (que acredito que foram os maiores FPS's 2.5D lançados até aquele momento), montou um FPS cuja progressão está atrelada a uma narrativa - que vai sendo contada por terminais conforme você progride. Esses terminais não só vão desenrolando a história, como te passam objetivos, dicas de posições de elementos no mapa e até mesmo explicações gerais e background do universo do jogo. Hexen tentou um pouco disso, mas esse aspecto ainda é tremendamente tímido nele, enquanto Marathon ousou sem medo e conseguiu criar uma experiência muito interessante com esses fatores - uma que, talvez, tenha sido inédita até então.
Mas nem tudo são flores. Marathon também errou feio em algumas coisas, mas as principais cagadas estão em seu Level Design.
Antes de tudo, eu entendo a preferência pela distribuição labiríntica de várias sessões nos mapas do jogo (que é comum a nível exagerado), afinal existe uma mecânica de dar um tiro e isso "ativar" inimigos por perto, fazendo com que eles apareçam no radar da HUD e você possa se preparar previamente pro embate contra eles. Legal, estratégias! Esse labirintísmo fica maçante? Fica, mas é algo que dá pra relevar. Porém a escolha de puzzles e distribuição de elementos no mapa, aí a coisa começa a ficar trash!
Comecemos pela distribuição de elementos: Em Marathon não temos save e load state pelo menu (o que era muito comum em FPS's 2.5D). O save do jogo, assim como a recuperação de vida, é feita por estações posicionadas em locais específicos nos mapas (boa parte você precisa procurar e achar onde estão). E isso não é uma crítica! Isso trás todo um cuidado e diversão extra ao jogo. Só que o Level Design não foi adaptado de acordo pra essa mecânica e isso é visível em várias fases em que você tem que voltar uma cota absurda do mapa só pra salvar/recuperar vida.
Já os puzzles do jogo são todos de baixa qualidade. Ou muito simples, ou muito específicos a um nível chato e irritante de fazer. Boa parte desses envolvem parkour, mas há uns que envolvem ter que ativar interruptores espalhados pelo mapa pra completar um puzzle - e lembra o que eu falei alí em cima de você ter que voltar uma cota monstra do mapa pra interagir com certas coisas porque o jogo não libera atalhos? Então, misture esses elementos horríveis e veja a sopa de merda que fica.
Então, no geral, Marathon é uma tentativa ousada de criar um FPS 2.5D único - e que realmente conseguiu alcançar esse objetivo - que acertou vários pontos em sua gameplay, assim como errou vários outros.
Vale a pena jogar? Só se você realmente gostar desse estilo de jogo e for bem curioso para com esses títulos obscuros - caso contrário, recomendo deixar quieto, porque o que esse jogo tem de interessante, ele também tem de irritante.
E antes de finalizar, uma dica pra quem quiser jogar: Baixem as versões Aleph One.
Aleph One é uma continuação open source da engine do Marathon 2 e que trás os 3 jogos da série muito bem adaptados e configurados pra funcionarem em resoluções maiores e sistemas mais novos. Com ele dá até pra jogar o primeiro Marathon (que é exclusivo de Mac) no Windows.
Antes de tudo eu OBRIGATORIAMENTE tenho que falar da HUD do Marathon, porque, sério, olha essa porra! Cara, olha esse trombolho fodido que fica na tela. Sim, isso tudo é HUD, e sim, a tela jogável fica alí cima em um tamanho menor. Cara não sei quem foi o psicopata que aprovou uma HUD dessas, mas esse nem é o pior. Vocês querem saber qual é o pior de verdade???
O pior É QUE EU ACHEI ESSA HUD DO CARALHO!!!!!
Tipo, dá pra deixar a tela jogável ocupando a tela inteira? Dá. Mas como eu iria ter coragem de fazer isso e deixar de fora da minha gameplay aquela abominação visual encantadora? SIMPLESMENTE NÃO TINHA COMO! Então fui fielmente acompanhado do começo ao fim por essa monstruosidade que cobre 80% da tela.
Me arrependo? NEM UM POUCO!!!
Agora, voltando ao jogo, a parte que me impressionou é que Marathon possui uma identidade muito forte.... sim a HUD inevitavelmente influencia muito nisso, mas deixando ela de fora, Marathon, diferente de DOOM, Heretic e Hexen (que acredito que foram os maiores FPS's 2.5D lançados até aquele momento), montou um FPS cuja progressão está atrelada a uma narrativa - que vai sendo contada por terminais conforme você progride. Esses terminais não só vão desenrolando a história, como te passam objetivos, dicas de posições de elementos no mapa e até mesmo explicações gerais e background do universo do jogo. Hexen tentou um pouco disso, mas esse aspecto ainda é tremendamente tímido nele, enquanto Marathon ousou sem medo e conseguiu criar uma experiência muito interessante com esses fatores - uma que, talvez, tenha sido inédita até então.
Mas nem tudo são flores. Marathon também errou feio em algumas coisas, mas as principais cagadas estão em seu Level Design.
Antes de tudo, eu entendo a preferência pela distribuição labiríntica de várias sessões nos mapas do jogo (que é comum a nível exagerado), afinal existe uma mecânica de dar um tiro e isso "ativar" inimigos por perto, fazendo com que eles apareçam no radar da HUD e você possa se preparar previamente pro embate contra eles. Legal, estratégias! Esse labirintísmo fica maçante? Fica, mas é algo que dá pra relevar. Porém a escolha de puzzles e distribuição de elementos no mapa, aí a coisa começa a ficar trash!
Comecemos pela distribuição de elementos: Em Marathon não temos save e load state pelo menu (o que era muito comum em FPS's 2.5D). O save do jogo, assim como a recuperação de vida, é feita por estações posicionadas em locais específicos nos mapas (boa parte você precisa procurar e achar onde estão). E isso não é uma crítica! Isso trás todo um cuidado e diversão extra ao jogo. Só que o Level Design não foi adaptado de acordo pra essa mecânica e isso é visível em várias fases em que você tem que voltar uma cota absurda do mapa só pra salvar/recuperar vida.
Já os puzzles do jogo são todos de baixa qualidade. Ou muito simples, ou muito específicos a um nível chato e irritante de fazer. Boa parte desses envolvem parkour, mas há uns que envolvem ter que ativar interruptores espalhados pelo mapa pra completar um puzzle - e lembra o que eu falei alí em cima de você ter que voltar uma cota monstra do mapa pra interagir com certas coisas porque o jogo não libera atalhos? Então, misture esses elementos horríveis e veja a sopa de merda que fica.
Então, no geral, Marathon é uma tentativa ousada de criar um FPS 2.5D único - e que realmente conseguiu alcançar esse objetivo - que acertou vários pontos em sua gameplay, assim como errou vários outros.
Vale a pena jogar? Só se você realmente gostar desse estilo de jogo e for bem curioso para com esses títulos obscuros - caso contrário, recomendo deixar quieto, porque o que esse jogo tem de interessante, ele também tem de irritante.
E antes de finalizar, uma dica pra quem quiser jogar: Baixem as versões Aleph One.
Aleph One é uma continuação open source da engine do Marathon 2 e que trás os 3 jogos da série muito bem adaptados e configurados pra funcionarem em resoluções maiores e sistemas mais novos. Com ele dá até pra jogar o primeiro Marathon (que é exclusivo de Mac) no Windows.
Never thought I was a fan of old-school shooters, pretty firmly bounced off of Doom (1993), but Marathon absolutely grabbed me. Shooting hordes of baddies had a really good oomph, the level design was confusing but always manageable, and the story kept me hunting for terminal after terminal to get more scraps of scrumptious lore.
There's a few puzzles or sections that make some seriously gnarly use of the technical limitations, like hidden ammunition locked behind hallways that only exist from certain angles, or the 'jumping puzzles' where you have to make use of your character's very floaty momentum. It all feels very clever and pretty well put-together given how much the shooter genre has evolved over the last ~30 years.
4/5 I want Durandal to passive-aggressively say "loves and kisses" again
There's a few puzzles or sections that make some seriously gnarly use of the technical limitations, like hidden ammunition locked behind hallways that only exist from certain angles, or the 'jumping puzzles' where you have to make use of your character's very floaty momentum. It all feels very clever and pretty well put-together given how much the shooter genre has evolved over the last ~30 years.
4/5 I want Durandal to passive-aggressively say "loves and kisses" again
Truly revolutionized storytelling in the wolfendoom genre by adding in terminals that let you read riveting DeepLore about aliens with names like the sn'Ortis and the P'frmlkus. Not having any actual ingame interactions with the big bad AI is just part of the avant-garde metanarrative, you wouldn't get it my dear philistine who enjoys games where you can manually reload your guns. The assault rifle's bullet spread is comparable to Doom 3's shotgun so objectively speaking this game is very much ahead of its time, end of discussion!!!
Not a huge fan of retro shooters but the story is great. I like the story more than most of Halo tbh.
After I finished Halo 2 I was going to jump right into Halo 3 but I had an urge to go back and replay Marathon again and now I plan on jumping into Marathon 2 after I finish writing this. I love this game to death despite it's many flaws and frustrations that also bog down the experience often if you aren't used to treating inconveniences in games as "it is what it is". I have been used to vague mazes as levels in FPS games for awhile so it didn't really phase me that much how much of a maze Marathon can seriously be and also sometimes objectives can be just a slog to go through.
Marathon is also genuinely one of my favorite science fiction stories ever, I have never been more attached to a story in my whole life. I could talk about every detail the series has for hours! The story just rules!
Go play it, I do understand if you drop it midway thru though.
Marathon is also genuinely one of my favorite science fiction stories ever, I have never been more attached to a story in my whole life. I could talk about every detail the series has for hours! The story just rules!
Go play it, I do understand if you drop it midway thru though.
So, maybe you've heard your weird uncle mansplain about some wacky sci-fi-shooter from Bungie that predates both Halo and Destiny. And you kinda zoned out when he started to wax lyrical about how the story connected to an even older boomer game• ("It was kinda like the MCU, you know?").
But if your 90's home computer didn't run Mac OS 7, chances are you've never heard about Marathon before Bungie announced a reboot/sequel/"I guess we'll find out" of the franchise. I don't blame you. Mac-exclusive games from the previous millennium (even by Bungie) are as obscure as they come. And I don't think anyone without inside knowledge foresaw the company returning to a franchise that – except for a small but devoted and aging fan base – has been mostly forgotten.
This is a shame since it’s still a great shooter, especially compared to its contemporaries. In some ways it feels closer to a survival horror game, keeping you on your toes with just a few locations to save and regain health on every map. I might not have known the term back then, but boy did Marathon teach me about the fine art of save scumming.
Now, I love Doom as much as the next person. But Marathon's story of an AI going rampant and wreaking havoc on a spaceship felt like a breath of fresh air during a time when plots in FPS games could be summarized with “gun goes BOOM, monster goes SPLAT”. Especially if you were 11.
Told through in-game computer terminals, it’s well-written and feels fleshed out, in a way that Bungie games often do. Certainly in a way that is expected from any story-driven FPS that hopes to keep players glued to the keyboard nowadays. As Durandal (ie. the crazy AI) goes from gibberish to lucid, from taunting to pissed off, you forget that the basic plot already was a sci-fi evergreen (that is, until Marathon Infinity where things get uniquely WEIRD).
Marathon’s relevance today is in no small part thanks to the fan-created Aleph One-port. Funny how Bungie’s ‘90s output seems to have inspired, what I’m assuming is a dwindling group of fans, to keep the games patched and updated for modern computers. Like the excellent Project Magma patch of the Myth-series.
Aleph One has updated all three Marathon games (and from what I understand Pathways into Darkness as well) to run natively on modern OSes, circumventing cumbersome emulator solutions. Purists can still have a go at playing the game as it was originally released by tweaking the preferences, although why would you? Mouse support, overlay maps, and high-res scaling are much-needed quality-of-life fixes. The controls still have an awkward floaty feel to them, giving your movements way too much momentum. But other than that it’s the best version of OG Marathon available.
• I can't take credit for coining the term "boomer game", but I find it hilarious and am ready to own it.
But if your 90's home computer didn't run Mac OS 7, chances are you've never heard about Marathon before Bungie announced a reboot/sequel/"I guess we'll find out" of the franchise. I don't blame you. Mac-exclusive games from the previous millennium (even by Bungie) are as obscure as they come. And I don't think anyone without inside knowledge foresaw the company returning to a franchise that – except for a small but devoted and aging fan base – has been mostly forgotten.
This is a shame since it’s still a great shooter, especially compared to its contemporaries. In some ways it feels closer to a survival horror game, keeping you on your toes with just a few locations to save and regain health on every map. I might not have known the term back then, but boy did Marathon teach me about the fine art of save scumming.
Now, I love Doom as much as the next person. But Marathon's story of an AI going rampant and wreaking havoc on a spaceship felt like a breath of fresh air during a time when plots in FPS games could be summarized with “gun goes BOOM, monster goes SPLAT”. Especially if you were 11.
Told through in-game computer terminals, it’s well-written and feels fleshed out, in a way that Bungie games often do. Certainly in a way that is expected from any story-driven FPS that hopes to keep players glued to the keyboard nowadays. As Durandal (ie. the crazy AI) goes from gibberish to lucid, from taunting to pissed off, you forget that the basic plot already was a sci-fi evergreen (that is, until Marathon Infinity where things get uniquely WEIRD).
Marathon’s relevance today is in no small part thanks to the fan-created Aleph One-port. Funny how Bungie’s ‘90s output seems to have inspired, what I’m assuming is a dwindling group of fans, to keep the games patched and updated for modern computers. Like the excellent Project Magma patch of the Myth-series.
Aleph One has updated all three Marathon games (and from what I understand Pathways into Darkness as well) to run natively on modern OSes, circumventing cumbersome emulator solutions. Purists can still have a go at playing the game as it was originally released by tweaking the preferences, although why would you? Mouse support, overlay maps, and high-res scaling are much-needed quality-of-life fixes. The controls still have an awkward floaty feel to them, giving your movements way too much momentum. But other than that it’s the best version of OG Marathon available.
• I can't take credit for coining the term "boomer game", but I find it hilarious and am ready to own it.
Pretty interesting game but the maze like level design was pissing me off like crazy. I can’t stand it in Doom and I can’t stand it here.
Classic game
Technically played on Windows PC using the Aleph One source port. Despite being my second favorite of the trilogy I feel compelled to give it three stars because the level design is noneuclidean, the weaponfeel is amateurish, and it has the tendency to actually make you nauseous. That said, I'm in love with it and I will play it 300 times and the story is exactly as good as everyone says it is.
My thoughts on the Marathon trilogy are hard to divide between the three games, so I'll just say that I think the three work best as a long, three-chapter story, but all games are absolutely worth playing.
Even Marathon 1, arguably the simplest of the three, manages to distinguish itself from other shooters of the time (and frankly, other shooters that came well after it) for its crazy involved and in-depth story. However, enough have talked about it that I feel comfortable just stating that it's a great bit of storytelling, cold and brutal but at the same time extremely engaging.
In terms of gameplay, it's more of a mixed bag. There's a lot of cool innovations that weren't really part of the genre's tropes yet (rocket jumping, dual-wielding, reloading), but the level design can be frustrating, with two levels in particular being UNBEARABLE. And yet even then, others are actually pretty great, so even if you go into this game with plans of ignoring the story (don't do that), there's something for you here. Just a great game, overall.
I think there's something I really appreciate about this game (and the whole series really) simultaneously being extremely clever, well-thought-out stories, and just games that have fun being games. In the penultimate level there's a secret terminal where the devs tell you about a variety of secret tricks the game never really teaches you about, including the aforementioned rocket jumping. If you play the game again, and in the third level find a secret area that absolutely requires you to know that rocket jumping is a thing, you'll run into the longest terminal of the series, which tells you a an abstract, beautifully written story about a human prisoner that is only symbolically related to the main plot, a story that fans of Marathon have been debating the meaning of for three decades now. And the only way you'd have to find it is a cheeky out-of-character message from the devs giving you cool PvP tricks. There's something that I wish was more common in videogames, in there.
Even Marathon 1, arguably the simplest of the three, manages to distinguish itself from other shooters of the time (and frankly, other shooters that came well after it) for its crazy involved and in-depth story. However, enough have talked about it that I feel comfortable just stating that it's a great bit of storytelling, cold and brutal but at the same time extremely engaging.
In terms of gameplay, it's more of a mixed bag. There's a lot of cool innovations that weren't really part of the genre's tropes yet (rocket jumping, dual-wielding, reloading), but the level design can be frustrating, with two levels in particular being UNBEARABLE. And yet even then, others are actually pretty great, so even if you go into this game with plans of ignoring the story (don't do that), there's something for you here. Just a great game, overall.
I think there's something I really appreciate about this game (and the whole series really) simultaneously being extremely clever, well-thought-out stories, and just games that have fun being games. In the penultimate level there's a secret terminal where the devs tell you about a variety of secret tricks the game never really teaches you about, including the aforementioned rocket jumping. If you play the game again, and in the third level find a secret area that absolutely requires you to know that rocket jumping is a thing, you'll run into the longest terminal of the series, which tells you a an abstract, beautifully written story about a human prisoner that is only symbolically related to the main plot, a story that fans of Marathon have been debating the meaning of for three decades now. And the only way you'd have to find it is a cheeky out-of-character message from the devs giving you cool PvP tricks. There's something that I wish was more common in videogames, in there.
I've been meaning to start up the Marathon trilogy for a while now, and now I've finally started it up. And honestly, I had a whole lot of fun with this one!
I really like the combat and gunplay of this game. Each gun feels really good to use, and the flamethrower is easily one of the best guns in the game. I was never perfect at it, but dodging enemy fire was really fun. I also found the ambushes genuinely terrifying, which was thrilling, and it made that combat encounters tense, which was great.
Movement as well was something I had to get used to as well. It was a bit weird at first as it was movement I've never really seen. But when I got used to it, damn, it just felt so good. I love the fast paced movement, and the low gravity is really good too!
I know there were some segments in the game that people had issues with, and I can see why people have these issues. I think of "Colony Ship for Sale, Cheap" especially, I wasn't really that bothered by it, but I can see why people would be annoyed. I also enjoyed getting lost in the maze of the Marathon, even though yet again, I see why people wouldn't like it.
The story is so interesting, too. I definitely didn't see everything, but there's a crazy amount of world building here. So many philosophical ideas, and every moment with Durandal is amazing. I also think it's interesting that 90% of the story could completely be missed. Sure, that would mean some people would miss out on the story, but I really think there's something to be said about it.
I really loved my time with Marathon, and I definitely gotta play through its sequels at some point. I hear it only gets better from here, and I'm so damn excited.
I really like the combat and gunplay of this game. Each gun feels really good to use, and the flamethrower is easily one of the best guns in the game. I was never perfect at it, but dodging enemy fire was really fun. I also found the ambushes genuinely terrifying, which was thrilling, and it made that combat encounters tense, which was great.
Movement as well was something I had to get used to as well. It was a bit weird at first as it was movement I've never really seen. But when I got used to it, damn, it just felt so good. I love the fast paced movement, and the low gravity is really good too!
I know there were some segments in the game that people had issues with, and I can see why people have these issues. I think of "Colony Ship for Sale, Cheap" especially, I wasn't really that bothered by it, but I can see why people would be annoyed. I also enjoyed getting lost in the maze of the Marathon, even though yet again, I see why people wouldn't like it.
The story is so interesting, too. I definitely didn't see everything, but there's a crazy amount of world building here. So many philosophical ideas, and every moment with Durandal is amazing. I also think it's interesting that 90% of the story could completely be missed. Sure, that would mean some people would miss out on the story, but I really think there's something to be said about it.
I really loved my time with Marathon, and I definitely gotta play through its sequels at some point. I hear it only gets better from here, and I'm so damn excited.
Eles conseguiram me deixar triste com um reboot de uma franquia que eu amo
Se me hace interesante como Bungie, un año después de la salida de Doom, quiso ir mas allá de lo que hizo Doom. Lo que mas destaca de marathon es su ambiente algo desalentador, sombrío y oscuro (algo similar al port de Doom para la ps1). Los niveles laberinticos le dan un buen toque al estar en una gigantesca estación espacial alienígena (aunque puede llegar ser molesto y repetitivo durante el progreso). El arsenal de armas están bien, cada una siendo util dependiendo de la situación. Me gusto mucho el diseño de los alienigenas, pero me hubiera gustado mas variedad, ya que toman los mismos diseños y le cambian el color (a otros les aumentan el daño y/o le mejoran la IA). La historia es simple (y a veces un poco confusa), aunque en los últimos niveles tratan de expandirla para las siguientes entregas.
En general, me parece bueno el juego, tendrá alguno que de otro punto malo como cualquier shooter 90s, pero aun así, lo recomiendo.
En general, me parece bueno el juego, tendrá alguno que de otro punto malo como cualquier shooter 90s, pero aun así, lo recomiendo.
honestly more impressive than all build engine games that didn't even exist at this point in time, great game.
marathon > gaylo
marathon > gaylo