There is no denying it Marathon Now placed under the microscope, for whatever reason, many gamers seem determined to see the game fail. Its Steam player count is hawkish and regularly compared to it Ark RaidersStreamers like TheBurntPeanut seem to be forced to play the game offline because their chats have gotten so toxic about it, and, as is usually the case with any controversial game, Marathon The bombing is reviewed. If anyone wants to go Metacritic User review page A few days ago, they will find a 4.6 average rating due to the sheer number of 0/10 scores. It's climbed to 5.5 as fans of the game try to reverse-review bomb it, a constant tug-of-war between extremely high and low scores, with the truth lying somewhere in between.
Some gamers have defended this review bombing, saying that valid criticism is to blame for the score. In reality, though, half of these criticisms aren't actually valid, and most have either already been addressed by Bungie or are in the process of being addressed. Although improvements are made, negative scores remain, reflecting poorly on the game and creating a lower average score than it truly deserves. For anyone wondering if these user scores should be trusted, the answer is undoubtedly no. While all review bombing is problematic, as users rarely go back and change their original negative review when they receive the changes they requested, this particular case is even more of an issue because it directly contrasts with the feedback from those who own it. Marathon.
Marathon reveals patch notes for March 11 update
Bungie releases a new update for Marathon, bringing the extraction shooter to version 1.0.0.4 with several significant changes and bug fixes.
The issue with Metacritic's user review scores is that they don't require anyone to prove they own a game before they can post their opinion. Naturally, this means that anyone who hates a particular game can go to its Metacritic page, immediately leave a 0/10 score, and be on their way, damaging the reputation of the game they hate even if they don't actually play it. Like games The last 2 of us Other titles tied to the culture war have fallen victim to it. And on the flip side, this lack of a vetting process from Metacritic has allowed the creation of internet memes, e.g Cory at home The DS is the third highest scored game of all time according to users.
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And although this alone would be reason enough to ignore user reviews on Metacritic, since astroturfing, botting, and hate campaigns regularly plague the website, what does it do? Marathon'Review Bombing' Most insignificant of all is the fact that gamers have access to data from real players. Since Steam reviews require those scoring the game to actually own it, its user scores are instantly more reliable. And sure enough, 90% of the 15,000 players who left a review for the game were positive about it, leading to a mostly positive status on the platform. And for even more proof, thousands of reviewers on PlayStation have scored the game with an average score of 4.6 at the time of writing.
If Marathon As horrible or unplayable as a part of the internet pretended to be — comment sections on videos, streams, and social media threads have become extremely harsh — it won't receive positive reviews from 90% of its player base. Obviously, the only explanation here is that the majority of 0/10 scores are from players who don't actually play the game and want to see it fail, which is pretty pathetic. Maybe they're angry at Bungie for direction destinyOr maybe they are Ark Raiders Fans who don't like the idea of competition. Maybe they are trying to punish Marathon To go back to Sony for a live-service push, or they could hit the game after struggling with a server slam. For whatever reason, these 0/10 scores can't be trusted, and it's easy to understand why equally ambiguous 10/10 scores are being posted to combat them.
While very authoritative Marathon Reviews are in progress, with 11 reviews posted so far and a score of 75 on OpenCritic. 7.5 makes sense for such a steep learning curve for a polarizing game, and while it's not flashy, it leans more towards good than bad. Again, this pushes the story back Marathon There is a disaster.
Marathon isn't flawless, but Bungie is listening to the criticism and addressing it quickly
This is not meant to be said Marathon And the studio behind it has done no wrong; Requesting reviewers to withhold reviews was practically begging for “unfinished game” jabs. And while many review bombers who complained that the game was too difficult could be laughed off with “got better” (something that many are quick to do with similarly difficult FromSoftware games), there were mixed valid complaints about the game. Yet what review bombers are failing to take into account when they continue to post unfair scores is that it's all too common to address the criticism of doing it as quickly as possible. shooter.
The main complaint about Marathon Which is addressed within its launch week:
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Weak microtransaction pricing: Players quickly noticed Marathon’s $10 currency pack left them 20 LUX short of shell skin, which caused understandable outrage. Yet on Day 2, Bungie added 20 LUX to this pack and rewarded all players who bought it with the currency they would have received if it had been priced from the start.
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Poor Reward Pass Value: With only one shell skin on the Reward Pass for Runner Vandal, many rightly found it disappointing. Bungie's response? Adding 3 more shell skins MarathonA prize pass with a new free shell for each runner.
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Early game is very penalized: Bungie listened to these criticisms, making sponsored kits better, which was the next day 2 change. Recently, it added more medical cabinets throughout the perimeter and adjusted the in-game economy to be less harsh.
- MarathonThe UI and balance; Bungie has reiterated that it is hard at work on the UI overhaul, while pain points are already being addressed, such as the recent nerf to thermal scopes.
Marathon 1.0.0.4. The update has a clear goal
Bungie's latest post-launch patch is bigger than it looks, and it puts thermal scopes and USEC bot health squarely in its crosshairs.
There are still improvements that can be made and hopefully, whatever that may be MarathonPreventing players from cheesy tactics like showing off or robbing the thief runner at the last second. But the reality is that not much MarathonReal players are enjoying the game, but they are making quick and welcome improvements as a result of their constructive criticism. Bungie's speed to listen and act is rare, even though it has owned up to its mistakes and clearly shown it cares about the game and its community, many people haven't stopped hating or giving Bungie the credit it deserves to improve. The same points continue to resonate, although many are no longer relevant, which can only be summed up as blind hatred.
If you're interested in marathoning, don't let the blind hatred of the Internet put you off
There are few things more frustrating than seeing a user review that reads something like, “This probably deserves a 6 or 7, but I'm giving it a 0 because…” or something similar. MarathonThe lack of art and shooting mechanics, still not free-to-play, gives it a 0. Fate 3Or simply to have a direct-service title. People are still fetching Marathon’s art theft controversy, even though the issue was resolved months ago by Bungie both paying the artists and including them in the credits. What makes everything worse is that this exact same thing has happened twice now, causing video game shutdowns on both occasions, and it would be truly devastating to see it happen again.
Both consent and Highguard Those were the games that the Internet doomed from the moment they appeared, beating the former for daring to carry the price tag (though Hell Diver 2 One was and the other is dear) and was later revealed to be show-ending at the Game Awards 2025. Both games had issues like uninteresting hero designs, but they had issues like the former's weekly cinematics and strong core gameplay or the latter's fun mounted combat and objective shakeups. Neither Die nor Nonstop were beatable from the second they were publicly unveiled, as they had fans who loved playing them and developers who loved crafting them. and consentSeveral 7 and 8/10 scores from respected critics reflected that it wasn't a “live-service slop” or a bad game by any means. With these games, unsuspecting Internet users acted as if they had won a huge victory by putting their foot down and declaring that gamers no longer wanted live-service hero shooters, and now, this hive mind said no to more extraction shooters. But really, the only victims are the players who love these games.
While everyone is eager to point out MarathonThe player count game on Steam is a loser, often laughable at its 87k peak, that still has thousands of willing players who need to deal with constant hate about something to give them joy.
While a successful live-service game can print money for years, all the failed attempts will be worth it to publishers looking to maximize profits. Many of Sony's live-services fumbles haven't stopped like games Horizon Hunter Gathering since made. killing consent and Highguard It did nothing to stop the spread of the live-service, it just robbed the two fan bases they were just starting to tap into and cost developers their jobs. It was nothing to be proud of, it was a futile hatred of a movement for good. killing Marathon History will only repeat itself; Bungie won't get back the time spent on it, and live-service games will be made regardless.
If anyone is concerned Marathon Or just not liking the game, that's all well and good, but they should let those who enjoy it do so instead of flooding the discussion with their negativity. “Let people enjoy things” is simple advice, but lately, it seems to be said more often than it should be. And if you are interested MarathonDo yourself a favor and ignore the user reviews on Metacritic. Incoming critic scores and Steam reviews tell the real story. hopefully, Marathon Some of its rock is able to push through the beginning, providing its existing community with plenty of content to enjoy for years to come. And finally, maybe hate will give way to positive word of mouth, ending the tendency for promising games to die before they have a chance to flourish.
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Juvenile/animated blood, language, violence, in-game purchases, user interaction
- Multiplayer
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Online multiplayer, online co-op
