- Publisher: Bungie
- Release Date: Mar 5, 2026
- Also On: PC, PlayStation 5
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
- Unscored
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Mar 30, 2026Marathon is unapproachable, unforgiving, offputtingly creepy, and has a playerbase of violent goblins who exist solely to bash your face in with a brick, and for all of these reasons it's become my favorite extraction shooter of all time. The gunplay is everything you’d hope for from a Bungie game, the loot and progression systems have got me completely hooked, the maps continue to surprise me after dozens of hours, and the endgame activity and process of unraveling the unsettling lore has been absolutely worth sticking around for. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, like the onboarding and UI that’s honestly pretty awful – plus we could already use some more maps and a few balancing passes to shake up the meta – but these issues feel pretty minor compared to what Bungie has been able to pull off. Marathon is, quite frankly, sick as hell and has become my latest PvP obsession.
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Mar 25, 2026Coming from someone who is completely new to extraction shooters, Marathon is a triumph. The excellent visuals, audio design and gameplay creates a game and world that wants you to have “just one more run”. Hell, I’m only writing this during the server maintenance downtime, otherwise I’d struggle to tear myself away! Bungie have succeeded in creating a world that is begging to be explored and experienced even if the lore and storytelling feels slightly secondary. It may feel overwhelming at first, but a little perserverance, and not much at that, will open up a game that is incredibly well made and demonstrates a lot of love and work. Marathon is a game that has defied my expectations, embraced the weird and wonderfulness of its creative team, and should absolutely be celebrated.
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Apr 1, 2026After many, many hours in Marathon I have come away with an overall positive impression. The game is held together by the tight shooting that Bungie is known for, but it oozes a style all its on which helps it stand out from the pack. For those that love the chase of loot and the thrill of a PvP fight then Marathon is probably for you. It feels like it’s a more hardcore version of the extraction shooter, at least in comparison to Arc Raiders. Don’t expect to have our hand held in this game, which is what a good hardcore experience should offer its players. If you like that type of experience, then Marathon is waiting for you.
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Mar 21, 2026Marathon is polarizing. On one hand you have some of the best aspects that the FPS genre has to offer. Fantastic feeling guns, absolutely smooth movement and distinct but mostly balanced characters. It is just a joy to play. Marathon also offers more story and lore than most other competitors which can easily be skipped as well. It offers so much if you are willing to take the time to learn all the ins and outs. Because on the negative side Marathon also offers barely any help if you want to learn all of the mechanics it has to offer. You either have to have outside help or invest a ton of time. It is a game that isn’t too inviting to newcomers but that is something that is perfectly fine if you are in for the ride.
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Apr 14, 2026If PvP is your bag, then you’ll be right at home with what Marathon brings to the table, but for the rest of us, the bar for entry is set too high.
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Mar 30, 2026Marathon is a carefully crafted extraction shooter: Bungie uses all its artistic and technical expertise to deliver an intense, brutal, and challenging experience, with a frantic and highly competitive gameplay supported by a unique artistic direction. Its uncompromising difficulty and punishing endgame might not be for everyone, but it remains a fascinating and rewarding journey for anyone willing to brave the harsh world of Tau Ceti IV.
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Mar 13, 2026An energetic and remarkably well made entry into the extraction shooter space, Marathon can be enormously harsh and unforgiving, but stay with it, and it can also be immensely rewarding.
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Mar 16, 2026As of today, Marathon is a bit too light on depth, content and variety to be warranting an unconditional recommendation, with too many design flaws that could alienate newcomers. Now, the ball is in Bungie‘s court. Can they turn Marathon into a truly unmissable multiplayer experience? Currently, they are only halfway there.
| This publication does not provide a score for their reviews. | |
| This publication has not posted a final review score yet. | |
| These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation. | |
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Apr 8, 2026Setting aside its visual style—which you’ll either love or hate—Bungie completes its Marathon after a long period of development. The end result is a solid title, though its formula is imperfect and it hasn’t yet managed to strike that subtle balance that allows for moments of pure brilliance to occur regularly. Marathon does offer a few memorable moments, but struggles to maintain a constant sense of tension or that sense of chaos inherent in unexpected encounters—the very essence extraction-shooters. So it’s by no means a bad apple, far from it, but the game will need some rebalancing, in both its PvP and PvE encounters. Aside from taming frustration, the addition of extra content to breathe life into such a promising universe really needs to happen fast. Bungie is, in any case, very attentive to feedback and is rolling out a series of announcements to retain and/or boost engagement: a two-player mode, an additional map, a ranked mode… Let's keep the pace with them.