Sony and Bungie have finally revealed footage of Marathon, a soft reboot of the FPS that put Bungie on the map. But, unlike the original games, this Marathon is set to be an extraction shooter, with cyber-enhanced players plundering a lost colony. It’s also less than six months away from release.
Shown off alongside an undeniably cool animated short, Marathon pitches players, or ‘runners’, against security robots, alien lifeforms and, of course, other players. Its aesthetic reminds us of nothing so much as the original Mirror’s Edge, which also featured its fair share of running. There are multiple runner skills, plenty of gear to mess with and more, all of which promises to let you play the game your way.
Like Apex Legends, players are in teams of up to three, with up to six teams on the same map. There’s plenty of loot to be collected and if you make it out alive, you can use that loot in future runs. It’s a handy way of giving yourself an edge, but runs have time limits, so don’t count on collecting everything. Going by the undeniably dynamic trailer, it all looks like it could be rather fun.
Marathon has already caused something of a stir, and not necessarily for the right reasons. Despite being a paid title it’ll have a battle pass, which led to some pushback. In response, Bungie tweeted that “Marathon will be a premium title. Marathon will not be a ‘full-priced’ title.”
And while YouTube comments aren’t the most useful of metrics, the response to the gameplay trailer, above, has been a little lukewarm. Criticisms include its tenuous links to the original Marathon and the fact that it doesn’t exactly stand out from other online FPSs.
We can kind of see where they’re coming from. Bungie achieved serious success with Destiny, we’re a teensy bit worried there’s no room in the shooter arena for Marathon. Destiny aside, there’s The Finals, Valorant, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: WarZone, Escape from Tarkov and more. After the mess that was Concord, you can bet Sony’ll keep a close watch on Marathon’s player engagement. If they do end up pulling the plug, Bungie (currently owned by Sony) could be in trouble.
Let’s hope, then, that Marathon is the smash Sony and Bungie need it to be, and never joins the sad pile of shuttered games-as-a-service titles. Mixing in AI-controlled robots and alien nasties may be enough to help keep the game fresh, and it looks impressive enough in action. True, it’ll launch with just three maps, but Bungie is likely beavering away on more.
Marathon will arrive this September 23, 2025, on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with cross-play and cross-saves at launch. There’s also a closed alpha happening, which you can get in on through the official Marathon Discord.
