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Marathon Server Slam Impressions: Can Bungie's Live Service Shooter Go the Distance?

Marathon Server Slam Impressions: Can Bungie's Live Service Shooter Go the Distance?

Marathon is a PvPvE extraction shooter from Destiny maker Bungie.

Written by Manas Mitul, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 4 March 2026 19:01 IST

Marathon Server Slam Impressions: Can Bungie's Live Service Shooter Go the Distance?

Photo Credit: Sony/ Bungie

Marathon is launching on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X on March 5

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Highlights

Marathon was supposed to launch in 2025 but was delayed indefinitely
The game's server slam featured two maps
Marathon is priced $40 in the US

Making a multiplayer game that finds a loyal audience that can sustain it for years is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do in the medium. Many studios, even big platform holders like Sony, have attempted to jump on the live service bandwagon; most have slipped and fell flat on their face. Concord released in August 2024 and was shut down two weeks later. More recently, Highguard launched in January and is about to ride off into the sunset next week.

If a live service game cannot hook a sizeable number of players early on, the outcome is invariably grim. And as players get entrenched into their preferring multiplayer spaces — Fortnite, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Apex Legends, Valorant, Overwatch, Marvel Rivals — it gets harder for new multiplayer games to stand out.

But Arc Raiders, the hit extraction shooter from Embark Studios, did exactly that. The game launched strong and has continued to attract nearly a million concurrent players across platforms months after. It has sold over 12 million copies and brought a niche genre into the mainstream spotlight. But it's hard to say if Marathon, Bungie's upcoming extraction shooter, can do something similar.

Marathan is an extraction shooter
Photo Credit: Bungie/ Screenshot – Manas Mitul

I tried out the game on Steam during its open server slam weekend that lasted from February 26 to March 2 and was left with mixed feelings. On one hand, Marathon's gameplay fundamentals are solid, but it also failed to dig its hooks into me. It's important, however, to note that those feelings may change; Marathon's full suite of launch content will only be available when it, well, launches.

Marathon is Sony's latest, expensive live service bid from Destiny veterans Bungie, releasing across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series S/X on March 5. The game has a had a bit of a rocky journey. It was a supposed to launch last year, but was delayed indefinitely after underwhelming response to its closed alpha playtests and a damaging plagiarism controversy. Bungie has retooled the game to be more tense, gritty, and grounded, while also giving it a graphical facelift. It has also added some much-requested features like proximity chat and solo queue.

Marathon is now grittier and more grounded
Photo Credit: Bungie/ Screenshot – Manas Mitul

Like Arc Raiders, Marathon is a PvPvE extraction shooter that can be played solo or in teams of three. As in every extraction title, the gameplay hinges on risk versus reward. You go into online matches and look for high-level loot. If you die during your run, you lose all your gear and return empty-handed. If you extract successfully, you bring home better weapons, equipment, and expensive loot that you can sell at a price.

But aside from the extraction DNA, Marathon is vastly different from Arc Raiders. It's played from the first-person perspective and takes place in a sci-fi world, where cybernetic shells complete contracts for various factions. Where Arc Raiders seems geared towards PvE gameplay, Marathon focuses more on PvP. The atmosphere is more ominous and threatening, and there isn't an established common goal that players can chase together.

First, the good stuff. Marathon's art style is perhaps the most unique I've seen in a first-person shooter. It's punchy and eye-catching, mixing vibrant neon colour palettes with bold and sharp object designs. Bungie had called it “graphic realism,” and it's certainly the most striking part of Marathon. But it's also not for everyone. I can see why the visual style can be obstructive for some. At times, it can look too busy and affect game readability — it did so for me. But Marathon looks like no other game, and that helps it stand out in a crowd of shooters that look like they came from the same blender.

Marathon's art style is unique
Photo Credit: Bungie/ Screenshot – Manas Mitul

The shooting is robust, too. Bungie is a genre expert, and its trademark snappy, responsive gunplay is present in Marathon. Guns feel good, and FPS encounters with players are engaging and thrilling. The time to kill is low, and every face off comes with the risk of dying and losing all your loot.

Bungie has also brought in elements of a hero shooter in Marathon. Each Runner shell comes with unique abilities that favour distinct gameplay styles like aggressive combat, stealth, healing, and others. This adds an extra dimension to the game, allowing you to switch up tactics on each run. There's a dedicated skill tree for each faction you take quests from that allows you to slowly upgrade your player character as you complete contracts.

Each runner shell comes with distinct abilities
Photo Credit: Bungie/ Screenshot – Manas Mitul

But when you drop into a match, the locations on the map — there were two that were accessible during the server slam — fail to stand out. Marathon comes with medium-sized maps dotted with structures that largely look the same. You're mostly exploring cramped indoor areas and then moving across bland terrain to explore another cramped indoor area. There are no larger landmarks or visual markers that would help each location feel distinct.

To make matters worse, these locations are doused in similar neon colours that form a large part of Marathon's visual aesthetic. Each structure feels like its walls were randomly splattered with neon green, purple, and red. Consequently, no place on the map has its own visual identity.

These spaces are also not very engaging. You can take on missions for various factions and head to specific areas to complete them, but beyond that and the PvP and PvE encounters, the maps feel dead. When you're in the menus, there's a ton of lore dump through flavour text and a talking cybernetic head telling you what to do next. But when you're in a match, the world of Marathon doesn't feel alive and inviting.

Shooting in Marathon feels snappy and responsive
Photo Credit: Bungie

This is where Arc Raiders succeeds. The extraction shooter creates a convincing setting where you feel you're part of a larger world and working towards a common goal. But Marathon largely feels like any other PvP squad-based shooter, especially since PvE encounters feel stale. Your actions in the game doesn't seem aligned towards a larger purpose or progression. To be fair to the game, endgame progression and more content will be unlocked when the game launches this week. More runner shells and maps will be available, too, and they could end up adding further variety and depth to an experience that looks very one-note at the moment.

Marathon also suffers from UI bloat. There's a haphazard explosion of fonts in menus, loadout, and inventory screens, all screaming at you at different pitches. The UI and some of its visual elements are confusing, too. Often, it's hard to tell weapon attachments, player mods, consumables, and other items apart when you're sorting your inventory in the middle of a match.

Performance on PC was satisfactory, but not ideal. We tested the game on a rig provided by CyberpowerPC India, which features a 13th Gen Intel Core i5-13400F processor, 16GB DDR5 RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, and 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD (PCIe Gen4). On 'High' graphical preset and 1440p resolution, i was able to get an average framerate of around 65fps.

Marathon's busy UI and inventory menu can be confusing
Photo Credit: Bungie/ Screenshot – Manas Mitul

It's too early to say if Marathon's complete package is worth the $40 asking price. But it's also not a great sign when a sizable section of a live service game's early experience doesn't feel inviting. Based on what I saw, I might try out more of the extraction shooter when it launches, but it seems unlikely to become a something I play long term. That wasn't the case with Arc Raiders, a game I have poured in over 100 hours of my time and continued to play months after release.

That's not to say that Marathon doesn't have an audience. While the live service space is extremely competitive, there is room for something unique to shine through and find its own community. I can see players more interested in PvP gravitating towards Marathon. A lot of Destiny 2 players are likely to take to the shooter as well. But live service games live and die by their player numbers. And Bungie will be under a lot of pressure if its next big multiplayer title does not instantly hit desired heights. After all, we've seen several multiplayer games shut shop after a faltering launch. Does Marathon have the legs to go the distance? Only time will tell.

Marathon

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Genre Shooter

Platform PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player

More Bungie Games

Comments

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Further reading: Marathon, Marathon Server Slam, Bungie, Sony, PC, Steam, Arc Raiders

Manas Mitul

Email Manas Mitul

In his time as a journalist, Manas Mitul has written on a wide spectrum of beats including politics, culture and sports. He enjoys reading, walking around in museums and rewatching films. Talk to Manas about football and tennis, but maybe don’t bring up his video game backlog. More