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With the end of Destiny 2's development, Marathon, already struggling to hold onto players outside a small but loyal base, has suddenly been promoted to Bungie's main and only live game. Unenviable expectations, and a Steam review bomb from disgruntled Destiny 2 fans, loom over the newly released developer deep dive for its new season, which tragically shares a name with one of Destiny 2's most iconic activities – Nightfall, known to Guardians as a difficult type of dungeon-lite Strike.
To put it mildly, Bungie faces a tough crowd. To put it less mildly, Bungie would have an easier time convincing the French to retire at 70. But evaluated purely as Season 2 of a game that reviewed well, and which I really enjoyed for over 100 hours, Marathon's Nightfall does look pretty cool. (You can read our Marathon review for more.)
Some of Bungie's fresh "developer insights" video repeats old news, but there are some interesting details in here. The first new Runner shell, Sentinel, is probably the headliner. It's a defense-focused shell equipped with a deployable mine that slows enemies, a turret-like device that shoots down incoming grenades, and a short-range radar that reveals enemy movements (a little more Aliens "inside the room", a little less like the wall hacks of fellow shell Recon). Taking explosive damage also jacks up Sentinel's defenses temporarily, making it a durable pick that's good for locking down areas.
Nightfall's name is surely no coincidence, but it's really a nod to the new night version of the Dire Marsh map. Night Marsh is pitch-black outside dangerous lit areas, and Bungie says it's really leaned into night vision tools this season, even giving us proper flashlights and signal flares. In a blog post, the studio stresses a "survival horror experience" for Night Marsh, with fewer players and added environmental challenges.
"Dire Marsh and Night Marsh will both be available at all times for at least the first week of the season. After that, the maps will rotate availability with one another every 90 minutes," Bungie explains.
The UESC robots will escalate PvE this season, Bungie says, and Night Marsh is crowned by a UESC vault that seems to echo the coveted storage rooms of the popular Outpost map. If you can shake off other players and survive the bots, you'll walk away with some of the best loot around.
And Bungie has spiced up the loot this season. A new SMG looks capable of melting anything at close range in well under one second, whereas our new burst-fire battle pistol functions as more of a strafing weapon. Additionally, virtually every mod and implant has been retouched, with Bungie promising a "holistic" look at power and rarity. Implants, in particular, will now be "perk first, stats second," which sounds more interesting and readable.
Finally, we get a good look at the Cradle progression system, which lets you break down gear to earn points spent on bonus runner stats like agility and melee power. This will raise the average power of your runner builds, for one, and bring more permanent progression (barring seasonal wipes) to a game where most everything feels ephemeral.
Honestly, I'm more excited by the incoming changes to material and XP costs for traditional faction progression, as that's ultimately what made me drop the game – a sense that I wouldn't get anywhere without investing a lot more time. We'll need fewer materials for unlocks, contracts won't have as many "in one run" requirements, and priority contracts are no longer level-gated and "will be more focused on granting loot rewards."
Still to come is the experimental PvE mode Bungie promised, not to mention a slightly more confusing PvP-lite offering set for Season 2. With Destiny 2 dead, PvE in Marathon is now a very different proposition, but I wouldn't expect any dungeon or raid-style activities from what's inextricably a PvP shooter.
