At least in my perception the initial reactions to Marathon are overwhelmingly bad and for Arc Raiders overwhelmingly good Im genuinely interested in what key differences these two extractor shooters bear to spark such a delta since I like to talk about game design specifics.
So what do you think in specific, like what is that much better in arc raiders to compete with established blockbusters like tarkov?
Marathon is "just another extraction shooter" is what I heard as a sentiment. So this is going off the assumption that both games do nothing new as in "been there done that"
My imperssions of Marathon:
- I see how "graphical realism" art style is a complete flop - personally as a trained media designer (elements on the map i.e. having that printer test stamp - very cliche)
- gun models and characters feel like they are not worthy of that universe
- the running shield animations dont help that either haha
- personally dislike hero shooter elements
- UI design aesthetic is very intern-level and execution often questionable (visual weighting off, uninteresting/overloaded pictograms) -> but: the implementation of the one in-game at least seems to have high level execution weirdly enough.
-> but: Gunplay seems fresh? Like no game has done that responsive recoil feedback before, no?
-> but: sound design seems very good too?
Arc Raiders has some really strong points I see:
- The audio design is top (not a sound designer so cant tell you specifics).
- The UI in the A to A- department, only adding responsive UI elements and other fancy tech could add as a final optional highlight.
- Presentation and staging of the world elements seems abolutely like a blockbuster movie. Huge structures and generally a feel like youre in that post apocalyptic rebel world.
-> but: The long term combat appeal of arc is questionable, progression and long term motivation unclear.
That seems a little lacking for such negative rating, sure addicted gamers tend to be very emotional about these things but idk - even more laid back people seem to agree with these evaluations - in sum these points above are smaller likes or dislikes, but in its essence and gameplay both games do nothing much different - dont they?
Is it because the dev studio's reputations mainly? Also marathon having such a rich backbone, feels like its disrespected by the studio. Tell me my what specifics you like and dislike in these titles - did you feel different about the games?
So I’m coming at this as a MASSIVE Destiny nerd. I was in the original’s Alpha, I own the first six lore books, and over the series have a bit shy of 4,000 hours (granted I imagine a few hundred hours of that is just chilling in orbit waiting on/chatting to my fireteam. It has been a very important game to me as I still game with my clan mates from D1 to this day.
Bungie gunplay has always been my favourite in the industry, the encounters are satisfying when you have a competent fireteam, and the gameplay loop kept me going for a long while. For me personally though; my friends and the overarching story were key.
After a decade, things are going to get stale. So I would take breaks here and there and come back when I actually wanted to play. Then the studio became an absolute nightmare to be invested in. The Skeletor Destiny videos are an extremely hilarious but accurate depiction of my feelings towards it all.
I was one of the handful of players that actually enjoyed playing CoD’s extraction variant, and was willing to give Bungie a chance to the extent that I participated in the ARG when Marathon was first announced. Everything since then has been negative in my personal view; from the internal drama of job cuts and accusations of poor workplace conditions to the actual game mechanics and story.
Marathon has great lore and it jogged so Halo could run. Now they’re saying there really won’t be a story right away. I actually like the character and map designs, and the gunplay is basically just Destiny 2’s with some small modifications, that’s just how the Tiger engine looks. With all that I’m just not excited.
TL;DR: I’m not going to pay 40$ so I can be a beta tester for a game that isn’t really promising me anything. I’ve done that for the last decade and largely it’s worked. Bungie has lost the prestige it really needs to make this the ‘next big thing’ IMHO
Yeah the lore of marathon is really something else - more at the end.
So yeah the reputation plays a big role here it seems, huh..
I feel the same, just already through all stages of grief, since they I was very into Halo and even loved Reach. But then D1 didnt catch me at all, since I valued mainly the gameplay and story but also just the whole package way more.
The gunplay felt like in another league in older bungie games and is still top contender across all games. That alone though is not nearly enough to me
Off-topic:
You mentioned lore books and hours in destiny. Have you seen the lore series on the marathon trilogy or know the trilogys' lore and universe?Apperantly there is a rabbithole theory that all bungie games are one big shared universe with a coherent underlying lore or something. This blew my mind and made me interested in playing marathon's trilogy one day for the lore. Also how intricate and layered the whole story was. Great series heres a youtube link to it