Marathon

[Benedict]

The best game ever? Quite possibly. Created in 1994 by Bungie Studios (yes that Bungie Studios) prior to their release of Oni and the Halo series (I don't say trilogy because of the final screen in campaign when you beat Halo 3 on Legendary (Halo 4?)) Set in the year 2794, the game consists of an attack on the Tau Ceti colony and the orbiting ship Marathon by a group of several alien species, led by a species called the Pfhor. As the security officer on board the Marathon, your job is to drive away the attackers and end the threat to humanity. With gameplay full of devilishly hard puzzles, awesome weapons, and intimidating enemies, the player's character (the security officer, for those who weren't paying attention) uses his superhuman abilities (and shield, and... oxygen supply) to fight the alien threat. Aided by one of the ships three AIs, Leela, the security officer must go on several missions to reclaim the ship. However, your efforts are continually thwarted by another one of the ship's AIs, Durandal, who has gone rampant (computer-crazy). The third AI, Tycho (named after the astronomer) doesn't appear much in the first game (he's basically comatose), but later returns for the latter two games. Running through corridors full of aliens, BOBs, and plasma fire, the security officer fights nearly insurmountable odds just to survive. This is fps the way it should be.
For the rest of you Marathon fans (both of you), post your favorite moments from the Marathon series! What did you like or love about the game?
For those of you who have never played the game, go do so (google AlephOne). Then return.
The Marathon trilogy was originally released for mac, but later ported to pc as AlephOne (free). Marathon 2: Durandal is also available on the Xbox Live Arcade.
The final screen of Marathon: Infinity (minor spoiler): http://marathon.bungie.org/story/_images/mifinalscreen.gif

[Vekter]

(I don't say trilogy because of the final screen in campaign when you beat Halo 3 on Legendary (Halo 4?))

I think that the new Marathon game is supposed to continue where that left off. Not sure, though.

[andyvn22]

My absolute favorite Marathon game isn't by Bungie at all: it's Marathon Rubicon, a TC made as an alternative to Marathon Infinity. It is SO VERY AWESOME, especially if you're a fan of M1 and M2; it's nonlinear, and the new version has a plank in which you help Tycho instead of Durandal... That was fun to find, too. I love games that reward the player for inventiveness.

[edit] http://www.marathonrubicon.com/ [/edit]

[Prole]

(I don't say trilogy because of the final screen in campaign when you beat Halo 3 on Legendary (Halo 4?))

I think that the new Marathon game is supposed to continue where that left off. Not sure, though.

Slightly Off - Topic: The Halo developers have said that the series wasn't going to be a trilogy, rather that it was going to be a franchise.

There'll be an RTS and a film, and probably numbers 4-6, seeing how well the third one did.

Its in an interview, which i don't have a link to at hand.

[Jesse]

However, Bungie themselves have never made more than three games in a series. Hell, they really only managed two Marathon games. Infinity was sent to a different company although staffed by former Bungie members if I remember correctly.

[Benedict]

the new version has a plank in which you help Tycho instead of Durandal

Actually, in Marathon: Infinity, you do help Tycho at one point. For a significant portion of the game, Tycho tasks you with undoing Durandal's work, eventually taking a Spnkr rocket launcher to Durandal's core processors and memory, destroying the rampant Durandal AI. However, Durandal previously downloaded his core code and intelligence directly into the Security Officer's brain, later resurrecting his code and combining it with the ancient S'pht AI, Thoth. Durandal/Thoth goes on to give up his quest to escape the universes collapse, very existentially accepting his fate and destruction at the quantum moment before the universe's collapse.
(Also, there was at one point speculation that Tycho escaped the collapse and appeared in Halo: First Strike (novel) as a damaged and almost completely corrupted AI helping the Covenant. Since then, however, it has been inferred that that AI is actually Medicant Bias, the AI that betrayed the Forerunner, in the Halo 3 terminals.)
(Anyway, my point is that Marathon Rubicon is an excellent game that stays true to the Marathon series, carrying on it's legacy well. If your looking for a 3-D version (instead of the 2.5-D original engine version that made maps like 5-D Space possible), try Marathon: Resurrection, based on the Unreal Tournament engine. Team Unpfhorgiven did a great job restoring the original game into a new engine.)

[Vekter]

Slightly Off - Topic: The Halo developers have said that the series wasn't going to be a trilogy, rather that it was going to be a franchise.

There'll be an RTS and a film, and probably numbers 4-6, seeing how well the third one did.

Its in an interview, which i don't have a link to at hand.

YOU GET ME A FUCKING LINK RIGHT FUCKING NOW, PROLE.

[Benedict]

I think that the new Marathon game is supposed to continue where that left off. Not sure, though.

Huh, wha? Didn't here anything about this. Unless it's a fan project, like Resurrection or Rubicon. Linky, please!

[elevenfifty5]

Favorite Marathon Moments:
First time I played Tempus Irae.
The elevator shaft on Total Carnage in the M2 Demo
Trying To vid master All roads lead to sol without taking any damage.
Hearing that BOB death rattle.

[SpitValve]

Funny you should mention this: for the last few months I've been playing through the whole trilogy and just finished it today.

There is barely a game that is as atmospheric as Marathon. However, the combat mechanic _is_ a little dated...

[Benedict]

There is barely a game that is as atmospheric as Marathon. However, the combat mechanic _is_ a little dated...

Granted.
Marathon: Resurrection (using the Unreal Tournament engine) makes the combat a little more interesting, what with actual 3-d effects.
As far as combat mechanics, I've been disappointed by lots of games (not Halo, though). Actually, (not to get sidetracked, but) Assassin's Creed is one of the few games I've seen that had a really interesting combat system, in real time. More games should do stuff like that.

[Benedict]

Hearing that BOB death rattle.

Aaauuugh-aaa!
They're everywhere!
Thank God you're here!
Frogblast the ventcore!

[SpitValve]

As far as combat mechanics, I've been disappointed by lots of games (not Halo, though).

That's the cool thing about Bungie: they actually learnt how to advance combat mechanics and make them more fun. It now seems weird and old-fashioned to play games where you have to pick up health packs and can hold 8 guns at once - even if they're good games like Halflife 2 or Bioshock.

[Marlowe]

I like that Marathon makes the player work for the story. That effort on the player's behalf makes it worthwhile. Plus the fantastic relationship between the player and Durandal, who I belive to be one of the most fantastic Villans/quasi-protagonists in any game ever.


"Esacape will make me God"


I cried. I actually cried.

[Nath]

So I just found out about the new version of AlephOne, and was debating whether or not to go back and finish the fight (I raegquaat, appropriately enough, during the Durandal level Begging For Mercy Makes Me Angry). I realized that there were only seven years between Marathon and Halo. I played Marathon just ten years after the initial release; it's astonishing how dated it felt. I mean, Halo was released ten years ago, and still plays pretty much like a modern game, which is why they are now selling it again with better graphics for $40.

Apparently games haven't changed much over the past few years. Another example: Baldur's Gate and KOTOR were released five years apart, and feel like completely different generations. KOTOR still plays like a modern RPG, even though it's eight years old.