Long before Bungie was bought by Microsoft prior to the release of the Xbox and made into its own personal game studios, it was a small company that made games primarily for the Macintosh. That’s right, a Mac game developer. Occasionally, games would be ported to the PC, but most of its library started on the Mac. Classics such as Pathways into Darkness, the Myth series, and Abuse were exciting games for their time. The triumphant jewel of Bungie, though, was the Marathon series, a FPS with smart puzzles and ingenious gameplay that would later bring many of its applications to one of the most popular games ever made, Halo. One of the best aspects of Marathon is its story. It is compelling and has many twists and turns that rival almost any story made for a FPS. The Marathon space station is under attack by the Pfhor aliens, which have taken it and the corresponding planetary base by surprise. The main character comes in the form of a lone space marine that docks with the Marathon during the attack. He will link up with the station’s AI and they will conjunctively work to thwart the alien invasion. Unfortunately, the aliens are just as subversive and work to undermine the AI’s power. During this entire episode, another of the ship’s AI becomes “rampant”, which basically means it is going insane. The following plotline adds layer upon layer and becomes a rich and engrossing story. The dialogue from the AI, especially Durandal (the rampant one), is clever and very well written. Much of the appeal garnered from Marathon is due to its gameplay, which is novel for its time. While its predecessors projected an “all-out action” experience, Marathon definitely feels much more suspenseful. There isn’t a bevy of ammo available to the player for much of the game, which doesn’t allow for a “guns blazin’” attitude. This type of action makes each decision more critical and heightens the suspense even more. An interesting aspect regards the health meter. It isn’t necessarily a health meter, but appears to be more like a shield meter. It can be recharged at specific stations throughout the game at up to three levels of strengths. This means that there won’t be any searching for health packs, but rather multiple uses of these limitless rechargers. This doesn’t make the game harder, but requires a lot of backtracking to known recharge stations if the action becomes too intense. Perhaps the one main negative that can be associated with this game is the lack of a reload button. Essentially, an entire clip must be emptied before more ammo can be added to the weapon. This can be annoying if the machine gun has just a few bullets left, requiring that it be emptied before entering a potentially danger situation. This also compounds the lack of ammo available throughout the game. The main character can’t jump in the game, but this just emphasizes certain puzzle elements. Speaking of which, this is a good amount of puzzling to break up the monotony of blasting away aliens. They are usually simple enough, mostly time-based actions, but add to the suspense factor in a positive way. The graphics are also an important factor in this game’s impact. For its time, the 3D rendered environment was truly a sight to behold. Although it is considered blocky and pixilated by today’s standards, it was revolutionary at the time. The biggest achievement came in the form of uniquely shaped areas, which were possible for the first time here. The developers could basically make a room any shape and size without any rendering difficulties. This definitely gives Marathon a distinctive impression because maps could take strange turns and twists and secret areas could be in any number of places. This makes the interactive map necessary because some of the levels become so expansive. A crucial aspect of the graphics is amount of shading and dark areas throughout the game. Much of the game takes place in dark corridors or dimly lit halls, but there is this persistent overtone of darkness throughout the entire game. This only adds to the suspense factor of the game and really gives the impression that the main character is on a deserted station with nothing but aliens. The aliens definitely have their own noticeable feel because they are comprised of several different races. They basically act as a collective. While telling about each type of alien would give away too much of the story, it can be said that each alien looks like their function would dictate. The main character is also an interesting spectacle. There is an option to play the game in third person, but it is very impractical. It does serve one purpose, though, and that is to show what the nameless character looks like. It will show that he bares a striking resemblance to a certain protagonist from a future blockbuster game from Bungie. Ultimately, it seems as though the main character in Marathon served as the basis for Master Chief in Halo. The soundtrack is one of the highlights of Marathon. There are several selections throughout the game and each is basically a synthesizer playing a variety of simple techno tunes. They are simple, but striking as the music blends into the surroundings. The sound aspects of the weapons and alien sounds are acceptable, but nothing special. The soundtrack, though, is the true standout when it comes to the audio. Along with the darkened areas and riveting story, the music packs on yet another level of suspense to give a truly engrossing experience. The value in this game is limited but that is only because of time and not due to lack of content. The single player campaign will take around 20-25 hours to play through, which is very good for a FPS. There is also a multiplayer aspect, but it limited to peer support. Since not very many people play this game anymore, multiplayer is, suffice to say, nonexistent. The only real way this would become viable would be to get a few friends together and play a network game, which consists of every conceivable type of multiplayer imaginable, including deathmatch, king of the hill, and capture the flag. The good news is that this game is also available for PC as well, making the likelihood of more people playing possible. Overall, Marathon is one of those games that contributes so much to a genre that it eventually becomes a legend unto itself. Features such as the shield meter, alien collective, AI assistance, and lone marine motif would become aspects of Halo, Bungie’s most popular game. For what it’s worth, Marathon was a genre-defining game that delivered the action of a FPS with the suspense and story of an adventure game to create an unforgettable experience.
In the history of gaming and common medias, we have milestones; they may bring something new to a genre or franchise, or improve upon an earlier concept. In this regard, that's what Marathon was-a milestone. One impo... Read Full Review
Back in 1994, Bungie released this legendary game for the Mac. The game was truly amazing. It was way better than Doom in many ways, most noticeably in the Plot (as we all no, Doom's plot was Demons come through teleport... Read Full Review
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