The closed alpha for Marathon, Bungie’s new extraction shooter, has stirred up controversy. It seems like another story where a developer wants to assist mouse and keyboard players. While intended as an accessibility option, many gamers argue it undermines the game’s challenge and competitive atmosphere.
Why, BUNGIE, Why?
Marathon steps into the crowded PvPvE extraction shooter genre, where players must outgun both human opponents and AI while completing objectives before escaping with loot. This style gained popularity thanks to titles like Escape from Tarkov, primarily on PC platforms.
The genre is known for its punishing difficulty and high stakes, which add tension and raise the bar for developers attempting to break through with fresh entries. Although Marathon shows promise in some areas, early feedback from its closed alpha paints a mixed picture. Players have expressed dissatisfaction with movement feel, map design, and overall gameplay pacing.
A particularly hot topic has been an Aim Magnetism system that assists mouse users by default. While such features aren’t new—many games, including previous Bungie titles, have experimented with aim assistance, this one feels out of place in this kind of shooter, according to many in the community.
Twitch streamer Shroud didn’t hold back his opinion:
“They need to just remove the mouse aim assist sh.”
“I get that Bungie is trying to balance between PC and consoles for crossplay, but it’s only going to ruin the PC part of the game… PC players would rather improve their mechanics than have an assist.”
A lot of voices within the closed alpha report that this Aim Magnetism reduces any real sense of challenge or accomplishment when facing other players or hostile NPCs. While some expected Marathon to lean toward a more arcade-style experience than Tarkov-like hardcore shooters, this degree of automated assistance seems excessive.
