Oh, Bungie...

[Spalls Hurgenson]

Speaking of old FPS games,

(which we were, take a look a few threads up)

apparently Bungie is trying to breath new life into its "Marathon"
franchise. ("Marathon II: Durandal" was one of the games listed in the
aforementioned 'forgotten FPS games' thread. Really, it's an awesome
thread and if you haven't read it yet, you should ;-)

The original "Marathon" games were memorable for a number of reasons.
These days, it's mostly because it was created by "Bungie", who later
on went to publish a number of legendary titles, like "Myth" and
"Oni". Also, something called "Halo"? Anyway, you probably heard of at
least one of those.

When it was new, though, Marathon was more notable for being an FPS on
the game-starved Macintosh platform. While I personally don't think it
was that good of a game - "System Shock" was deeper, "Doom" played
better - for a Mac-title it was okay. It integrated more story into
the gameplay, and featured more interaction with the environment with
things like NPCs and computer consoles. But its shooting was fairly
humdrum and - while its sharper SVGA graphics gave it a leg-up on DOS
titles - its level design was atrociously mazelike.

Still, it's remembered fondly by some, and I don't begrudge them their
rose-tinted glasses; I'm guilty of that too (see an earlier post of
mine where I wax nostalgic about the glories of Capcom's "Witchaven").
But does that mean the game deserves a reboot/sequel?

Apparently so. Well, I guess it's easier than creating a new IP, and
stripped of the "Halo" license, Bungie doesn't have a lot of IP to
work with. And who knows, a new "Marathon" game could be cool.
Something that focuses on the franchise's strengths: its story and
setting.

Oh, wait, it's going to be a PvP focused looter-shooter? With no
single-player campaign at all?

Ah.

Of course it will be.

Really playing to your strengths there, Bungie. Do I sense maybe a bit
of Sony's influence in this decision? Or did the temptation of all
that money override your artistic integrity? "Destiny" whet your
appetite and now you want to slaughter a few more whales, eh?

Ah well. Like I said, I've never been too attached to the "Marathon"
franchise (I'd be up in arms if they took similar action against the
"Myth" series, though) so I don't really care about the game itself.
But I was sort of hoping more from Bungie.

[Pr. Mandrake]

Will the new version have PC compatibility?

[Spalls Hurgenson]

On Thu, 25 May 2023 22:34:55 -0700 (PDT), "Pr. Mandrake"
<jfwa...@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 9:58:40?AM UTC-5, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

>> apparently Bungie is trying to breath new life into its "Marathon"
>> franchise.

>Will the new version have PC compatibility?

While I get your comment was tongue-in-cheek, I wouldn't be the pedant
that I am if I didn't point out that "Marathon II - Durandal" was
released to PC very shortly after it was first released to Mac.

In fact, almost every Bungie-published game had an in-store PC
release: "Oni", all three "Myth" games, "Stubbs the Zombie", "Damage
Inc", the "Destiny" franchise and two out of the three
Bungie-developed "Halo" games*. The company was also very supportive
of the fan-led AlephOne project which backported the original Marathon
to PC.

It's only their very oldest games - the original "Marathon", "Pathways
Into Darkness", Operation Desert Storm", etc. - that didn't see ports.

So, yes, I think the odds are good we'll see "New Marathon Online
Edition" make it to PC.


;-)




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* and even the missing episode was later ported by Microsoft.