Is Bungie’s extraction shooter back on the rise? The community’s attitude suddenly seems to have changed completely.
The reveal of Marathon in spring 2025 could hardly have gone worse. Fans were quick to label Bungie’s new extraction shooter as generic, interchangeable, and disappointing.
The gameplay trailer was met with a barrage of thumbs down, and the developers even asked fans to refrain from making comparisons to Concord. A plagiarism scandal seemed to complete the disaster, and Marathon was postponed and pre-orders were canceled.
But the tide seems to have turned: after the developers promised profound changes, the marketing offensive for the March release is now back on track. And fans clearly like this new version of Marathon much better!
7 classes, dozens of gadgets, endless playstyles
In a new video, the developers now present the revamped Runner Shells – the artificial cyber bodies that players use to search the hostile world of Tau Ceti IV for valuable loot. The class system has been significantly revised since the beta. Here’s the clip:
The various abilities and characteristics of the Runner Shells are designed to enable a wide range of approaches and tactical options. The developers describe the principle as follows:
Each Runner Shell is geared toward a specific playstyle archetype—such as gathering information, disrupting combat, or healing on the battlefield. The distinctive silhouettes of the shells let you know at a glance how dangerous the other players are, allowing you to plan your next moves in a flash. The play style of each Runner shell can be customized with the cores, implants, weapons, and mods you take with you on your runs.
“Much more confidence than a few months ago”
The new gameplay footage seems to be steering the mood in the community in a completely new direction: “That was much better than I ever expected,” writes one user in amazement under the X post (formerly Twitter) about the marathon update. Another agrees: “Okay, I’m in now.”
The like ratio on YouTube also paints a completely different picture than last year. The ratio of over 9,000 thumbs up to 700 thumbs down speaks for itself. Many seem to be rethinking their opinion of Marathon.
“I have so much more confidence in Marathon now than I did a few months ago,”& nbsp;says someone about the new YouTube video, and over 300 users signal their agreement.
The various class gadgets, their synergies, and combination possibilities seem to have managed to transform the negative first impression of Marathon into anticipation.
However, it remains to be seen whether this new wave of euphoria will be enough to make Marathon a lasting success in an extremely competitive genre. After all, Arc Raiders, a heavyweight contender, already entered the ring in October.
