It’s onerous to consider we’ve solely hit the midway level in Marathon‘s first season. Simply when my consideration was starting to wane, Bungie has pulled me again in with a surprisingly massive replace that does all the pieces from tweaking weapons to including fully new social dynamics.
Marathon replace 1.0.5.2 goes reside at the moment and brings with it a laundry checklist of fixes, enhancements, and new concepts. The largest change is one thing referred to as the CyberAcme Runner Reinforcement Initiative. It’s a brand new set of bonus rewards that gamers get for finishing contracts or exfiling from maps with different gamers who aren’t a part of their present crew. Bungie is basically giving gamers free loot in the event that they determine to play good collectively as a substitute of capturing first and asking questions later. One other a part of that push is a brand new merchandise referred to as the Mercy Package. It permits gamers to revive strangers that they’ve downed, letting them use proximity chat to attempt to easy issues over and possibly even workforce up for an exfil.
Marathon offers peace an opportunity “We needed the brand new Mercy Package to offer methods for gamers to carry again enemy gamers with out spending a self-revive,” Bungie writes. “Typically the de-escalation occurs after the combat is over, we get it. Now you may make up for that fast set off finger.”
We’ll see how a lot these tweaks can chip away at Tau Ceti IV’s status for all times being “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and quick.” However Bungie can also be taking steps to attempt to make Marathon extra welcoming to new gamers. The sport’s Perimeter (Newbie) map is now solo-only till degree 12, with a decrease frequency of operating into different gamers general. Newcomers would possibly be capable of get a style of the loot loop earlier than rage-quitting. Marathon is getting extra beneficiant throughout the board, too. Solo gamers will now earn extra runner XP and faction status, with commonplace contracts giving extra status rewards no matter workforce composition. Contemporary rewards have additionally been added to the free and premium battle go tracks, alongside some new retailer objects.
This comes alongside a brand new match kind experiment that Bungie is operating later this week. It’s referred to as Dire Marsh Sponsored and is barely out there to gamers who enter with free kits. The aim is to stability the taking part in discipline. Anybody who hundreds into the map will know they’re solely going up towards opponents with comparable, restricted kits. No yellow shields or getting sniped from throughout the map. Recon buffed, snipers nerfed For skilled runners, this week’s patch will lastly make the Recon class helpful by letting her radar ping out enemy gamers particularly. Thermal scopes have been nerfed, in the meantime. Deluxe rarity thermal optics not spawn, and the effectiveness of the opposite thermal optics has been barely lowered. Shotguns, grenade spam, and the Vandal class stay untouched. It’s unclear if Bungie plans to tweak these ache factors by the top of the month. Whereas Marathon followers proceed to have enjoyable really taking part in the sport, everybody else continues to be left questioning whether or not Bungie’s extraction loot shooter can lastly begin constructing again up some momentum or if the area of interest GOTY contender’s destiny is sealed, no matter what new content material or modes get added.
Nothing on this patch hints at a battle royale-style shakeup of the kind that saved Epic’s authentic model of Fortnite, however it positively has me itching to get again to taking part in as quickly as I can.
