Following the launch of Bungie’s classic shooter, Marathon, on modern platforms, the team behind the project, Aleph One Developers, has released Classic Marathon 2 for free on Steam. The game is compatible with both Windows and MacOS and is a great way for fans to dig into the series ahead of Bungie’s return to it.
While Bungie is working on a completely new Marathon game, a group of savvy fans has come together under the name of Aleph One Developers to drag the original Marathon trilogy onto Steam, where anyone can play it. The first game was released in 1994, followed by Marathon 2: Durandal in 1995. It might have taken almost three decades, but now everyone can see yet another entry in the series Bungie believes is worth reviving for the modern era.
Two out of three, and for free no less
Classic Marathon 2 picks up the story of Classic Marathon right where you left off. Your triumph on the colony ship Marathon wasn’t enough, and you’ve now been picked up by the rogue AI Durandal and sent to do its bidding wherever it fancies deploying you in the galaxy. Over the course of the story, you’ll uncover the secrets of an ancient civilization and battle terrible foes that time has long forgotten using advanced weaponry.
The trailer and images on the Steam page make this game look like Doom 1993 running on, well, anything, but it’s had a fair few improvements courtesy of the developer’s community. It uses original data files but brings the FPS up to 60, includes positional audio, and even has 3D filtering/perspective.
Aleph One Developers explain that all these improvements were made in case the “original is too authentic.” I can definitely see some elements being way too retro for many people who are just getting into video games or who didn’t grow up playing titles that looked way better, thanks to our imaginations filling in the blanks.
With Classic Marathon 2 out of the gate, the developer only has one title left to bring to Steam: Marathon Infinity. This final title in the trilogy takes the story in a wild direction, making use of the dimension-hopping themes we see in the second game to create a narrative arc that’s so massive in scope I’m not sure how players took it all in when the game was released in 1996.
This and all the classic Marathon games definitely aren’t for everyone. If you’ve ever enjoyed a Bungie title such as the early Halo games or Destiny 2, they’re well worth a try just to see where the developer made a name for itself.
