ARC: Raiders and Marathon are two games developed for fans of the extraction genre. Both games have been conducting tests to gather feedback from fans. While the former managed to surprise players, many tuned into Marathon with boredom. An MMO expert now explains what might cause Marathon to fail when it goes to release soon.
Which expert is speaking here? This is “Bellular” Bell, a YouTuber known for videos related to World of Warcraft and Blizzard. Bellular is particularly known for his sharp criticisms of Blizzard, addressing factual problem points.
Recently, however, he addressed the controversy surrounding the upcoming extraction shooters “Marathon” and “ARC: Raiders.” Both games ran a test where fans could check if they liked the games. ARC: Raiders was convincing, while Marathon left skepticism. What the critic has to say could particularly displeasure Bungie.
ARC: Raiders does many things right
What does the expert say about ARC: Raiders? Bellular speaks of an advantage that ARC: Raiders can enjoy, namely the head start in development. The game was announced back at the Game Awards 2021 – at that time, there wasn’t much to see other than a trailer. The title was initially supposed to be a PvE extraction shooter, but the plans have changed since then.
The studio behind ARC: Raiders was thus able to smooth out the game over four years, remedy problems, and draw learnings from other games to polish their game. They dared to leap into the PvP area to also appeal to hardcore fans and ensure excitement.
Proximity chat was implemented, and the setting was refined to fit the genre. Not to mention the possibility to start a round solo. The efforts have seemingly paid off, as testers praise the shooter.
However, it looks different for Marathon. Bungie is taking a different approach. They deliberately forego the immersion and realism that makes an extraction shooter and exclude proximity chat. Additionally, the setting is less appealing, and the focus is not so much on PvP, but rather on co-op with other players.
Bungie does not aim to appeal to hardcore fans but rather to create a game that could be interesting for a broader audience. However, the alpha test showed that not many could make use of Marathon.
What is Bellular’s conclusion? The critic believes that studios and funders are trying to create a genre hit, just like Fortnite did with Battle Royale. However, he is not sure if anyone can achieve this, especially in the extraction shooter genre.
ARC: Raiders looks good, but it remains to be seen whether the release can attract a large player base. Marathon simply lacks time in development and the right decisions to make the game more interesting.
According to him, the release of Escape from Tarkov version 1.0 is also planned. The game would soon leave early access and finally be complete. If such a hit is not released this year, it could become difficult. More about version 1.0 regarding Tarkov can be found here: “1.0 Release? Who are you?” Escape from Tarkov surprises fans with launch date, reveals plans for the future
