Bungie has finally revealed gameplay and cinematic trailers for its new PvP shooter Marathon.
Bungie held a full-fledged presentation of Marathon — the relaunch of its cult sci-fi series of the 90s. The developers hinted that they would soon show something with its mysterious teaser, and now we have two trailers. The game will be purely multiplayer, without a story campaign, with an emphasis on survival, loot, and team dynamics.
The idea is that players take on the role of cybernetic mercenaries — Runners who arrive on the colonized planet Tau Kita 4 searching for data and valuable items. The planet is home to the wreckage of a past civilization, various hostile factions, wildlife, and mysterious forces.
Marathon offers classic matches: three players in a team, a map with NPCs, other teams, items, and evacuation points. One of the battlefields — Dire Marsh — can accommodate up to 18 players, and it looks like it will become one of the main arenas at the start. There are six Runners available in total, each with their own characteristics. The gameplay trailer showed teleportation, shields, a quick dash, and explosive punches. The arsenal will also be diverse — automatic weapons, shotguns, energy cannons, etc.
Some players expected Marathon to have a storyline campaign like Halo or Destiny. But Bungie made it clear that this is a purely multiplayer project, which disappointed some players. Many users expected a single-player game with planet exploration, which they will not get.
8-minute cinematic trailer
Bungie has released an eight-minute short video directed by Alberto Mielgo — by the author «Love, death and robots» and art director «Spider-Man: Around the Universe». The video — tells the eerie story of a planet where people have been dying for decades, and cybernetic creatures with mechanical bodies are replacing them.
The trailer chronologically covers the period from 2794 to 2893. It shows how the Runners — in particular Glitch (voiced by Erika Lindback) and Void (Elias Tufeksis) — try to understand why they are here at all, what keeps them on this planet, and what happened to the colonists. But during the game, gamers will most likely not get the answer, or at least not in the form of a traditional story campaign.
And after Bungie showed the trailers, it immediately announced a closed alpha on April 23. Bungie will send out invitations to a limited number of players, and this will be the first opportunity to check the game in action. Marathon will be fully released on September 23, 2025 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
