Marathon is addicting but flawed
Early reviews agree Bungie’s extraction shooter nails the gunplay and tension, but many players are frustrated by slow progression and balance problems — Tom’s Guide logged 81 hours on PS5 and still called it a ‘frustrating’ grind. (tomsguide.com) Specific complaints include the overpowered Thermal Optics sight and general balance issues that critics say need urgent tuning. (gamerant.com)
Marathon is the kind of game that can make a 20-minute run feel like a bank robbery and a tax audit at the same time. Bungie’s new shooter launched on March 5, 2026, and the split in reviews is unusually consistent: the shooting feels superb, but the systems around it keep tripping players up. (bungie.net) (ign.com) (tomsguide.com) It is an extraction shooter, which means you do not just try to win a match. You drop onto Tau Ceti IV, grab loot, fight computer enemies and human squads, and then try to leave alive, because dying means losing the gear you carried in. (pushsquare.com) (bungie.net) That structure is why Marathon’s gunplay gets so much praise. In a normal arena shooter, a good firefight wins you a round, but in Marathon a good firefight can save a backpack full of weapons, ammo, contracts, and faction progress, so every bullet feels more expensive. (ign.com) (eurogamer.net) Bungie also gave Marathon a strong hook outside the shooting. At launch it had three maps, and a fourth arrived shortly after, with players scavenging a lost colony around the ship UESC Marathon and working for rival corporations through faction contracts. (pushsquare.com) (bungie.net) The problem is that the same high-stakes loop that makes wins feel electric can make losses feel like unpaid labor. Tom’s Guide said it spent 81 hours on the PlayStation 5 version and still found the progression “frustrating,” while other reviews described the onboarding as brutal and the grind as the main thing holding the game back. (tomsguide.com) (notebookcheck.net) (theouterhaven.net) That frustration lands harder in Marathon because progress is not just cosmetic. Better runs feed faction reputation, contracts, sponsored kits, and access to stronger gear, so when advancement feels slow, players are not just waiting for a new skin, they are waiting for the game to open up. (bungie.net) (pushsquare.com) Balance complaints turned into the second big fault line almost immediately. Thermal Optics became the clearest example, because the sight could highlight enemies at long range in a game built around hiding, flanking, and spotting movement first. (gamerant.com) Bungie has already started cutting that back. In update 1.0.0.4 on March 11, 2026, the studio reduced visual clarity on thermal scopes and lowered highlight distance on several weapon classes, including sniper highlights dropping to 100 meters from 180 meters. (bungie.net) That patch was not just about one sight. Bungie also increased ammo and healing spawns on Perimeter, reduced the health of many UESC enemies by about 10 to 15 percent, cut boss shields by 25 percent, and later said it was also rebalancing knife damage, shell balance, and bubble shields. (bungie.net) (pcgamer.com) So the early verdict on Marathon is not that Bungie missed the shot. It is that Bungie built a shooter people want to keep playing, then wrapped it in enough grind, friction, and tuning problems that even positive reviews keep sounding like warnings attached to recommendations. (ign.com) (eurogamer.net) (tomsguide.com)
