Marathon's ongoing Server Slam gave the gaming community a taste of Bungie's burgeoning extraction shooter genre. So far the reception has been… mixed.
Marathon is unlike any other extraction shooter game out there today. It's a strange balance between the fast-paced action of Arc Raiders and slower, more atmospheric options like Hunt: Showdown.
As you can imagine, our most dedicated players have already put in dozens of hours of marathon hours, and I'm back with some tips to help you improve, including what I've noticed in my short time with the game. ASaltyGamer13 and others took part in a thread full of 'veteran' tips on the gaming subreddit.
keep it down
One piece of advice I find particularly important is to not run around with a knife. Yes, you can move faster. If you're racing to an extraction point with a few minutes left in the game, it may make sense to rush. But I assure you, when you run around like that, you'll be the loudest person in the Frenzied Marshlands.
Movement and gunshots are very audible in Marathon. Both sounds can be heard from incredible distances. If you're near a team of people running around with swords, you're likely to hear them stomping after them. Even better, since it's not equipped with a gun, your squad will likely beat the ambush without much trouble.
As pointed out in the aforementioned thread, Marathon's kill time is quite fast, so if your team is put in a situation where they can't return fire immediately, there's little chance of survival.
This thread advocates patience for teams trying to compete in a close race in a marathon. Walk around the map and listen. Gunfire can be heard from very far away, so a patient team can easily pick up loot by following the noise and attacking when the time is right.
It is in this aspect of the game that Marathon is most similar to Hunt: Showdown. Because in some ways fighting non-player characters is somewhat discouraged. Defeating elite-level enemies requires a large investment of resources, and prolonged battles against the AI create noises that can be heard from miles away. This is in contrast to Arc Raiders, where player versus environment is a bigger part of the experience.
Fighting NPCs can quickly deplete your ammo and medical supplies, so only engage groups of NPCs when necessary.
Marathon's detractors say that avoiding combat is unfun and against the spirit of the genre. But I'd argue that's just recency bias based on the success of the Arc Raiders.
The genre is built on slower, more critical gameplay. There is a place for marathon-like competitions that straddle the line between old and new.
marathon
- released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen/Animation Blood, Language, Violence, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
- multiplayer
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Online multiplayer, online co-op
- cross platform play
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saturated
