Marathon October 2026 Refresh - Promising, But Still Lacking
We are now on the second reset for Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon, a game that could have been in its third season but was delayed and mixed into their December update. I returned and spent a day with the shooter and found the new reset economy is finally doing what it was supposed to do in Season 2, which many didn’t experience thanks to the developers being a bit too generous in drops and premium kits.
How does it feel on day one? Better than how it was when season 2 started, but that’s all we are getting really.
It’s more of a take 2 of the season 2 reset as there’s nothing significantly changed here beyond the balance patch notes and the full economy reset. I still think the onboarding needs work, and it’s still a punishing experience to new and returning players. At best, it will appeal to those who accept and appreciate Marathon’s gameplay loop, who, honestly, aren’t that many at this point.
It’s still not a game worth recommending, despite me having fun with it. I’m the minority, like the rest of the remaining Marathon player base, as I enjoy the thrill of extraction shooters, the short time to kill, and the gunplay still remains to be one of the best in the business.
Bungie is really going all in, as the roadmap shown sees a plan to give them a variety of gameplay features to hopefully appease the PVE and PVP crowd. Will it work? Only time will tell because the Symbiosis update in December looks packed with content, that if, it doesn’t work, Bungie needs to change priorities soon, as it’s still hard to see Marathon as being their main cash cow.
It’s really hard to be optimistic about Marathon these days as we have months before the December update. It’s a blessing at this point that the game has been running since March despite its ups and downs with much of Bungie’s fanbase practically rejecting the idea of Marathon existing.
Marathon has the potential to be great, I still believe that, but everything around it makes it impossible to see it have enough runway to reach that point. If Destiny 2 were still in the forefront while Marathon slowly grows on the side, maybe, but this much pressure on a niche shooter is a painful watch. But i’ll be there in December to see what they’ve been working on, as I’d expect many will.
About the Author - Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.
The amount of effort seen here gives me hope for Capcom’s future attempts at reviving classic titles, as Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the latest title of the once dormant classic franchise, comes back in the best way possible as it very well might be my game of the year contender.