Let me start by saying that Marathon is one of the most addicting FPS games I have ever played. Season 1 grabbed me and kept me roped in the whole time. From launch, until end of season, I was hooked to Marathon. From really only playing FPS games, this game feels great. Gunplay and mechanics are amazing. The amount to do in season 1 and learn was very engaging. We had factions to complete, golds when you killed a team and they had that gold gear, to the rarity of a team opening a gold key or the pressure of you having to open it and survive felt stressful in a good way. Then ranked and Cryo came out and it was so overwhelming. But in a good way. There was so much to do and learn. Finally killing Compilier, to having been very close to hitting Pinnacle, it all felt worth it. The meta felt like it kept changing and a lot of guns felt viable. The actual loot you were hunting for felt important. Season 1 of this game I played non stop. It is an experience I will never forgot. But then Season 2 launched. I was excited to start fresh and use my experience to my advantage to get ahead of everyone else. The first week felt okay. But then reality set in on the issues with this game.
#1 Season 2 Features : Bungies main introduction to Season 2 being Night Marsh and a new runner shell Sentinel. We are over a month into Season 2 and this with a couple of new guns is all that really is new to the game. Night Marsh is fine, I am not a fan of maps that I cannot see, but not having any promotion for another new map is a letdown from Bungie. And the new shell Sentinel serves a purpose but is very underwhelming. Most teams will not run one because there are other shells that are outright better. Then there is the Cradle. I just think its a different way to level up your shell but still the same. You are going to get to level 70 and figure out what you want to upgrade. But the reality is just comes down to a decision between melee damage and support/revies. Having heat and agility are absolutely necessary and not really a choice.
#2 Balance: For over a month, the meta has been Misriah and Bubbles. That is pretty much it. Gold battle pistol and overall that addition of the battle pistol are fine but it made this game very unbalanced. The community has been complaining about bubbles since Season 1, they nerfed them/made them rarer and they are still too strong. Now to go back to the launch of Season 2 with Night Marsh, the Complex room up top was completely broken. I am talking about people farming this and getting the best gold's, sometimes two gold mizzy's/gold salvage, it was insane. Then they nerf it, and then the economy is screwed already with people that can play more having the advantage.
#3 Lack of pressure/Rewarding feeling : Dont get me wrong, there are moments when you clutch and this game still feels rewarding, but the way the meta currently is, and how easy it is to get loot back, loot almost feels worthless. Getting gold loot from killing Compilier, (it should be the best loot), you walk out sometimes with literally just valuables because the gold loot is so bad. Which goes back to the point earlier of balance. 80% of golds aren't even worth grabbing. Also factions/quests are boring. The quests themselves are a copy and paste of season 1, but the upgrades and the same loot you need for barters just seem silly. Example, storage drives and Dynamic compounds needing to farm for upgrades and literally all utility in grenades and emps are just ugh.
#4 Ranked/Meta/Recon: I am going to incorporate a few things into this. Overall I understand why they made this mode. As far as I know, this is one of the first extraction shooters to add this mode. And I would say that the theory makes sense, but particularly Season 2, this mode has been awful. I have discussed meta, but when you mesh that with ranked, it is a 3rd party campfest and nobody wants to make the first move or a mistake. This isnt even a scenario where the smarter teams will win, it's just a luck of the draw most times where skill only gets you so far. And every team in both Cryo/Ranked need to minimum use 1 recon. Being forced to stock up on signal jammers, and on the flip forced to wait for a recon scan to make a move, are just not good mechanics. Recon got buffed later in Season 1, and this was a mistake. Being pretty much forced to run a recon, and rely on that scan to
consistently win fights, makes for a unengaging experience.
#5 Rarity/Maps: Look, Perimeter was my most played map in Season 1. I thought the PVP on that map not only was good season 1, but still worth it. I literally before they made gold keys easy to get, saw the hauler and south relay gold room opened only a handful of times. It was very rare. Now, I see it quite often. Which brings my point to light on the rarity/rewarding feeling. These maps, Perimeter and Dire Marsh day regular, are completely pointless. First off you have the rotation of Day and night marsh which is ridiculous, but even so, there is no fulfilling feeling anymore to engage on those maps. Instead wait for Cryo, or play ranked.
#6 Future: As I type this, tomorrow will be the mid season update which will shift the future of this game. Actual nerfs will supposedly be happening. I do hope buffs happen and other guns feel viable to use. As I look forward to changes, my inner gut feeling stays the same as of now. Even with these changes, it will not be enough for me to play. I have gave this game all of my attention, I have played with different groups of amazing players, but I am burnt out and don't have the passion for a game that has done so little to keep their fanbase with them. Season 3 with some Perimeter changes and another new shell are not nearly enough. As the argument of PVE and PVP of this game continue in the community, one thing is for sure, they did not design it for PVE. Its a hardcore PVP with PVE elements. And if they branch off completely from PVP then so be it. They will have fans for that, but I am not here for that experience. I am here with hope that in the future they continue to give us engaging PVE content, but the PVP fights in this game are where they thrive. We need maps, guns, PVE bosses, loot with meaning, stats, rotating meta, etc. And Bungie with all of their layoffs, most recent being the game director, need to make a decision. They keep saying they are going to support Marathon but it doesn't look like it.
#7 Should I buy this game?: Simple answer YES. For new players there is plenty of content there. Hours and Hours of stuff to do. And with a PVE experience coming tomorrow, there is motive there for new players to not feel overwhelmed. Hopefully you can get a similar experience as I had with Season 1, as I still feel this is one of the best FPS games I have ever played.
