TLDR (well, kinda): I'm in my late 30's. I don't play FPS shooters too much, other than the occasional attempt at Battlefield or Call of Duty every few years. This game makes me feel like I'm a teenager again. It's intense. It's frustrating. It's sometimes soul crushing and other times the most hype experience I've had since playing Goldeneye with my friends. I don't play extraction shooters (this is my first) but this game is awesome. Check it out. For $40 - it's a steal.

What else is there to say? Lots.

At the beginning I hated the idea of playing with randoms as a Trio. As a result, I only played solo. For probably like 20+ hours. That was pretty cool to be honest. The game is basically a survival horror style as a solo player. You will find a shell that works for your playstyle, be stealthy AF, loot some stuff, and be on your way. It's a cool way to play. I did begin to become sort of bored of this playstyle though. I can only take so much crouch-walking around & getting shotgunned in the face after 20 minutes of basically nothing. So.....I tried Trios. Wow.

It's a mixed bag. I've been in so many games at this point. Many of them are a lost cause with two people who refuse to talk on their mic (probably a duo...) and run off to do whatever the heck they planned on doing. Your knife is your best friend. If you're loading in with randoms...honestly...run a free kit. I've zero-to-hero'd so many times now my vault is packed with epics.

Then there's times where you end up with two guys who are on the same page as you. They talk over comms. They get kills. They share loot. This is where Marathon shines. And it isn't rare.

I'd love to see this game grow. I have never put SO MANY hours into a single game since I was literally 16 and playing World of Warcraft for the first time. There's just some secret sauce here.

If you're on the fence because you don't know if you like extraction shooters -- I get it. I thought I didn't either. I don't have a stacked Trio that can stomp lobbies & I don't expect to be kitted out with the best (gold) gear. That's okay though.....this game has SO MUCH to offer regardless of your situation.

I'd love to experience the 'end game' of Cryo -- that probably isn't going to happen for me. Is that going to make me quit? I'd say likely not. The core loop is so much fun & gear isn't forever. I don't care if someone finds gold ♥♥♥♥ that I don't get to try....most games people are running free kits. It isn't needed.

Marathon is a cool game. Thank you, Bungie - I think there is some things that could be tweaked to encourage people who aren't so great at FPS games to stick around, but I'm not going to harp on that. This is a FPS game. It's okay if it's hard. I do want to see the community continue to grow, though. And so I hope if other feedback is being given, it's well received by the devs.

Somehow, right now, for now, Marathon is different from all my expectations.

A capture of a lot of Bungie's best qualities put into something no one thought would work. An extraction shooter wasn't what I thought I wanted, but it's everything that I've been about since it's release. An expertly made world and environment you want to explore, the iconic crisp gunplay that everyone praises Bungie games for, well written lore to collect in a codex to put even more value in your valuables, and a unique aesthetic that sets it apart from any other game in the genre.

Migrating as a former Destiny 2 player, I wasn't anticipating Marathon to succeed. The path Destiny 2 had been taking made me hesitant to believe in a new Bungie title. Let alone something as hard to get into as the Extraction Shooter genre, which is notoriously hard to approach as a player, but also very rarely tackled by developers in a way that works well. A lot of games have flopped trying to enter it.

But Marathon is different. Somehow, right now, for now, it's different. It feels good. They've been addressing issues faster than anything I recall in D2, Nothing feels flat, the aesthetic is alien and inviting, I see an unfamiliar world and I am invested in finding out more about it. I didn't expect such a strong turnaround from the alpha.

The ways I've played are varied. I've run Cryo Archive dozens of times now, I've gotten out with 100,000 credits worth of valuables in my ammo-starved backpack in a single run, wiped entire lobbies with a rare wonder weapon and bathed in the overflowing spoils I could never carry all of. And I've experienced kit losses beyond 30,000 credits in value, losing several Prestige implants, some favorite weapon attachments, and supplies stockpiled over dozens of raids. All of it to just run again, and again, because it's fun every step of the way through.

But I haven't had to have high stakes to have fun. Rook runs, the scavenger, truly feels like the tense rat gameplay I hoped it would be. Chasing distant gunfire to scrounge remains like a vulture, getting caught by a full squad and maybe getting a 1v3 clutch to take pride in, or dying and losing nothing but time. Or infilling with a free kit, or no, nothing but a knife, on Assassin, crouch walking at people while invisible and stabbing them in the back. It's funny every time.

I can confidently say almost every hour I've had in Marathon has been fun, whether the Raids I've gone on, reading through the codex entries I've collected, or sharing the anecdotes I've experienced with the people I know.

So Marathon is different. Somehow, right now, for now, I can highly recommend Marathon. I hope I can keep recommending Marathon. And I hope Bungie doesn't waste this potential.

First few hours are a bit tough, but mid to endgame there's nothing like it. Lots of replayability and incredibly fun/accessible, but challenging enough to stay engaged.