Marathon has been doing significantly better than I suspect the majority of people assumed it would. Even if we were to look exclusively at the internet’s favorite yet utterly incomplete metric of Steam player counts, Marathon still appears to be healthily chugging along at a brisk pace. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty of room for it to grow, both in its player base and as an experience. For all its many amazing qualities, and there are plenty, Marathon is also lacking some key features that could end up harming it quite significantly in the long run.
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Should Bungie wish to continue Marathon’s success and see it flourish throughout the many years to come, then it needs to start adopting some new ideas, crucially ones centred around making it a more approachable experience for casual players. As much as I certainly appreciate the sweaty nature of its fast-paced, frenetic combat, there are undoubtedly many impressed by its unique visual style or enthralled by its abstract worldbuilding who, ultimately, are put off as it’s a largely inaccessible experience for most. Fortunately, and a little surprisingly, of all games to help, Synduality: Echo of Ada, a controversial extraction shooter from 2025, has the solution to this major Marathon problem.
Marathon Has An Inaccessibility Problem
I’ve spoken in the past about how Marathon needs a story mode, but that was largely in reference to its tantalizing lore that’s so poorly delivered in the final product. It was also inspired by Bungie’s past, a legacy of amazing single-player, narrative-driven experiences that went on to define generations of shooters. It is a shame that rather than elevating the seemingly abandoned linear single-player FPS genre with a new, genre-defining title, Bungie chose to enter an altogether unfamiliar market with an incredibly niche experience that appeals to a large, but ultimately hardcore audience and not, I would argue, the fanbases it mustered through Destiny and Halo.
While I concede that a story-mode was never in the cards to deliver Marathon’s lore, I do feel as if it could be the one thing capable of drawing in a wider pool of players without sacrificing what makes Marathon unique, or, at the very least, good. Marathon’s inherently challenging gameplay loop is ultimately what sets it apart from the competition, especially the complexity and accuracy of its AI-controlled opponents. That level of difficulty necessitates a high-level of skill from the get-go as well as a team of people backing you throughout each run. While it is certainly possible to play Marathon solo, it isn’t largely encouraged, as you’re going up against practically all of the odds.
Of course, this creates an inaccessibility problem, as Marathon can only ever really appeal to players either willing to grind for hours as they figure out how to navigate its punishing difficulty, or those already accustomed to this level of hardcore extraction shooter. While that audience undeniably exists and has done for some time (the genre was largely built upon this foundational premise), Marathon’s position as a AAA title from a well-known studio and one of the largest publishers in existence will invariably encourage those unfamiliar with the genre or its conventions to check it out. Naturally, when they hear of its challenging gameplay, they’ll turn to other, more accessible titles.
Unfortunately for Marathon, that exists in the form of Arc Raiders, a similarly challenging experience that ultimately fosters co-operation between players, implements a handful of key mechanics (such as free loadouts) to lessen the blow of losing everything, and offers maps that provide plenty of opportunity to escape deadly foes, AI-controlled or otherwise. Additionally, Sony’s $3.6 billion buyout of Bungie further necessitates a huge influx of players. That won’t come about purely from the hardcore fans of the genre. It requires a steady stream of casual players who get invested enough to stick around and pay for skins. Helldivers 2 achieved this, but I’m not wholly certain Marathon can with the punishing nature of its gameplay loop. This is where the aforementioned Synduality: Echo of Ada comes in with its all-important solution.
Synduality: Echo of Ada’s Singleplayer Mode Would Fix Marathon’s Inaccessibility Problem
I’m not about to call Synduality: Echo of Ada, the game with a Mixed rating on Steam and a 65 on Metacritic, one of the best extraction shooters ever made, as that would be immensely disingenuous. It suffers from a myriad of flaws that seemingly only get worse with each update, and the dwindling population showcases the enormous problem with both live service games and catering to a fanbase and genre that, while slowly growing, is still in its infancy. However, what it does get mostly right is the implementation of its single-player mode. In an attempt to future-proof the title, something it evidently desperately needs, and offer those seeking a story-focused experience set within this universe, Synduality: Echo of Ada offers solo missions exclusively against AI-controlled enemies in a completely unique location.
There are, naturally, with a game of this calibre, some frustrating quirks to these missions, such as the fact that they’re only unlocked after having played a few rounds of the online mode. However, their existence is nevertheless refreshing in a genre that seems hellbent on neglecting solo players. More importantly, they serve as a good blueprint for other extraction shooters, including Marathon. Rather than introduce an easier version of the base game mode that divides the player base and causes friction with existing fans, a single-player mode that is aimed solely at onboarding new players (as well as, ideally, fleshing out that tantalizing lore) would enable Bungie to cater to every type of player without rocking the boat too much.
Synduality: Echo of Ada’s single-player mode removes the loss of equipment upon death, but similarly doesn’t allow players to keep whatever they extract with. It removes the risk associated with extraction shooters while still allowing players to get better at the overall gameplay loop. That loss of frustration early on will empower those less accustomed to extraction shooters as a whole to keep playing, thus ensuring Bungie maintains a healthy player base long term. This is all without mentioning that a full-blown story mode would only further incentivize players to pay the game’s $40 premium price tag, something that is almost certainly going to be a barrier to those who are sitting on the fence as a result of the game’s aforementioned challenging difficulty.
If Marathon were a free-to-play game, then I wouldn’t really feel the need to suggest Bungie implement a story mode akin to Synduality: Echo of Ada’s. After all, the lack of a price tag would encourage everyone to at least try it and likely land a few new faces willing to persevere. However, it isn’t free; it is $40, and, as a result, it makes perfect sense for Bungie to fall back on its experience making narrative-driven single-player games to flesh out the experience on offer and help onboard those unfamiliar with extraction shooters. While I obviously cannot guarantee that such a story mode would help, I firmly believe that the benefits it brings would certainly incentivize a lot more people to play it than its current gameplay loop does without sacrificing what ultimately makes Marathon such a special game in the first place.
Do you think a story mode in Marathon would help bring in more players? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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image courtesy of Studio Ghibli -
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Courtesy of Shueisha / Kadokawa / Square Enix / Shogakukan
