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.