Marathon: Durandal review (Xbox 360)

I was one of those who couldn’t wait. I couldn’t wait to see more from Bungie other than Halo. I know the Marathon series has been available for free for some time, but being the kind of gamer who likes a sofa and a pad, the news that Bungie’s ‘masterpiece’, Marathon: Durandal was to get the High Def treatment and become the latest game to appear on Xbox Live Arcade was more than welcome. I would finally get the opportunity to see what all the fuss has been about especially after ID Software has done such a wonderful job with its genre-defining Doom that hit XBLA earlier this year - a game I still go back to every now and then for some first class old school action. Another classic FPS was on the way and yes, I couldn’t wait!

My hopes were instantly raised as I was met with a beautiful high-res shot of a cyborg standing amongst piles of debris and sparks whilst I waited for the game to load. I knew of course that the 150MB download would not contain graphics of this nature at all but I was left under no illusion whatsoever as to how bad it was when the campaign finally got underway. More on that later.

Alone at last!

As soon as the game started I found myself accompanied by my crew and armed only with a single shot sidearm surrounded by enemy Pfhor. These gangly extraterrestrials are what will stand in the way of me and my various missions that are handed out through the various computer terminals that are scattered around the UESC (United Earth Space Council) Marathon starcraft. Like Doom, I can also choose to fight with my fists although close combat does mean you take heavy damage of course. However, an Achievement is available to those who want to fight it out with seven of your attackers and for an Achievement guzzler like myself, I didn’t need asking twice, put it that way.

One thing I noticed instantly was how static and unthreatening the Pfhor were. A simple strafe and fire technique easily disposed of them and they seemed unresponsive and cumbersome. This struck me as odd as although Doom was released just a year earlier, the movement of your opponents, or moreover their method of attack provided the player with a challenge from the get-go. The fire-patterns of the Pfhor seemed random, sparse and above all inaccurate. I remember getting picked off from a distance by Doom’s demons and zombies and being startled and bemused as to where this bombardment was coming from, not so in Marathon. It was as though the Pfhor want you to kill them, rather than being a breed of crazed alien dirge that will do anything to thwart your quest: shame.

Innovation in the space station

Your quest is what keeps Marathon from being just another old skool shooter. The aforementioned terminals offer not only background information but dish out missions to the player. This is where Marathon really raised the bar back in 1994 and separated it from the likes of its contemporaries as the only way to progress to the next level is to complete the tasks that are set throughout the game. Rather than finding the blue key to the corresponding door, Marathon uses its mission structure to engage the player in the plot and tries to add a sense of purpose other than that of coming away with all your faculties in tact. We can see how they’ve continued this trend and then some with the various books, comics and paraphernalia that accompanies the Master Chief on his quest through the Halo Universe.

I did however find the text to be incredibly small and quite an eye-popping shade of green. Reading the on-screen text actually made my head hurt somewhat, and in the end I found myself skimming the background information - and therefore missing the plot – and quickly digesting what I had to do in order to save myself from gauging my eyes out. In typical Bungie fashion the story is not a straight forward one either, so I found my incentive to get things done waning and the monotony of ploughing through Pfhor at will soon started to make itself apparent. The lack of any real threat and the over-powerful weapons that include a flamethrower, rocket launcher and assault rifle really didn’t help matters at all.

Motion Sickness

Finding your way around the corridors and vast maps isn’t exactly an easy task and is made only worse by the glaring colours and repetitive nature of the level design. I traversed the same areas many times in search of an opening or walkway that I hadn’t seen before. Also, many have complained about a feeling of nausea and motion sickness whilst playing the game that Freeverse is intending on addressing in a future update. I too suffered from this and was glad when I discovered I wasn’t alone. I can’t quite put my finger what causes it but the busy environments and the feeling that you literally are going around in circles can’t help matters much.

All the multiplayer modes from the original are there and rather ironically co-operative play over Xbox Live is available - although not four players! Old and current favourites are available such as King of the Hill, Every Man for Himself and Kill the Guy with the Ball (Oddball for those Halo fans out there). All this culminates in a title that you could quite happily squeeze quite a bit of life out of and offers some variety away from the mundane challenge of the campaign mode. Just keep a bucket next to the chair just in case you start to feel a bit giddy!

One for the Hardcore

Hype is something that Bungie knows all about and the furore surrounding almost every move it has made since Halo: Combat Evolved made its debut on the Xbox back in 2001 has been relentless. Marathon’s recent release wasn’t exempt either and maybe I just became over-excited because the name ‘Bungie’ was attached to it. I couldn’t wait for Marathon: Durundal. I wanted it to be on a par with Doom. No scrap that, better. I wanted to see the innovative and creative birth of the team who have created one of the most iconoclastic figures in gaming history. I was disappointed.

The Marathon fan base out there who played the game over 10 years ago will most likely be the only ones to get any real enjoyment out of this one. The improved HUD over the original seems to have been met with a ‘thumbs up’ amongst the community and the High Definition make-over really is a vast improvement on the original look. At 800 Microsoft points and with classics much more worthy of praise such as Doom already out there, I would advise the uninitiated to tread carefully with this one.