The launch for Marathon’s season two yesterday was a forgettable one, thanks mainly to a myriad of server issues.
It was a mess for several hours, and Bungie was forced to take the game offline as players everywhere were getting disconnected from matches and losing their loot constantly. It couldn’t have come at a worse time, either, as a new trailer played during Sony’s State of Play during a time when it was basically impossible to get online.
But now that things have stabilized, gamers are enjoying a lot of what the Nightfall content update has brought, myself included. Along with the new Sentinel Runner Shell that functions as a trapper/ambush type class, the new Night Marsh map is more than I expected. I was thinking it would just be a night version of the Dire Marsh map (and it is at first), but the darkness, new enemy types, missions, loot, atmosphere, and overall sense of dread makes it feel like a different kind of horror experience from the rest of the game.
The much-maligned UI? Also vastly improved. Tons of bug fixes, a smoother Faction menu experience, and a big simplification of item tiles makes it way easier and more user-friendly to navigate, marking a change in one of the biggest overall complaints the game has had since its closed beta.
“Aside from the disappointing server issues, this is an incredible update,” one Marathon player said on Reddit. “The amount of new content, balancing and re-contextualizing of existing content is pretty astounding. I was initially sad that we weren’t getting an additional zone, not because I expected it but because I was afraid S2 wouldn’t be enough to keep me motivated to play more of a game I really love.”
The season two launch coincides with a free-to-play week for the game, running from June 2 to 9, allowing anyone to play the full experience. This has led to an influx of more players, peaking at over 40,000 concurrents today. Is that enough to save the game from the impending doom that so many feel is on the way? No clue. But for now, the game is better than it was two days ago, and it’s enough to get me back out there.
“It’s a huge upgrade,” another player said of the update. “There’s a ton of subtle changes beyond the obvious ones that make everything feel much much better (things like subtle color palette and intensity choices on the gear icons for example, or objective icons embedded into contracts).”
The full season two patch notes paint the picture of a live-service game that could vastly improve with each content season. While Destiny is unfortunately ending its content updates, Marathon is just beginning, and this sign of things to come has me feeling somewhat hopeful about it for the first time in a while.
I hope that the free players enjoy it enough to stick around and Marathon is given a chance by all involved (including Sony), because it’s a pretty great game, no matter how niche.
