Marathon’s early review wave makes more sense than the outrage around it
Bungie's shooter drew 9/10s from major outlets and a low-80s Metacritic score while player ratings on Steam and PlayStation were still running higher.
Marathon has already turned into one of the year’s loudest debates, but the current review split is not as strange as some reaction suggests. The game picked up high marks from major outlets, including 9/10 scores from IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer, which helped push its Metacritic score into the low 80s.
That response lined up more closely with player sentiment than the backlash around it might suggest. On Steam, Marathon held an 89% positive rating, and its PlayStation user score sat at 4.57 out of 5, both above the game’s overall Metacritic number. For a hardcore extraction shooter, that is not out of step with the audience it is actually reaching.
The game’s structure also explains part of the divide. Marathon is a punishing, high-pressure extraction shooter with difficult AI, intricate maps, and a skill ceiling that keeps rising as players improve their gear and sharpen their play. That kind of design is never going to land with everyone, but “not for everyone” is not the same thing as bad.
What sits outside the review conversation is the business side, and that picture is much rougher. The game took six years and hundreds of millions of dollars to make, while sales sat at about ~1.2 million, by last count, which is well short of what would usually be needed to cover that level of spending. Player numbers are also falling over time, which is not a great sign for Bungie.
Even so, weak sales do not automatically make a game poor. Plenty of strong releases have failed to meet expectations before, and Marathon appears to fit that uncomfortable pattern. If the game is your kind of extraction shooter, it can still be worth sticking with. If it is not, there is no rule that says every high-profile release has to be for you.
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Marathon
Developed by Bungie
A PvP-focused extraction shooter set on the mysterious planet of Tau Ceti IV, Marathon will see players inhabit the bodies of Runners, cybernetic mercenaries who have been designed to survive the planet’s harsh environments and explore the lost colony that once inhabited Tau Ceti’s surface. Players will engage solo or in crews of three, searching for mysterious alien artifacts, as well as for valuable loot and new weapons and gear that they can add to their collection.
- Genre: Shooter
- Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 5
- Modes: Multiplayer, Battle Royale
- Publisher: Bungie
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Age Rating:
GRAC 15+
