Marathon, the new extraction shooter sort-of related to Bungie’s trilogy of FPS games of the same name, gets a new ViDoc (video documentary, Bungie’s version of a dev diary).
The new info drop gives the lowdown on how the starting seven classes, Runner Shells, that will be available on launch.
This is the first time in public how Bungie has reworked what was previously hero shooter-esque characters with kits into what’s effectively classes, one of the many promised changes revealed earlier this year.
The player now embodies husks in the form of these Runner shells, rather than embody a named character. This is reflected by how the names have changed since the appearance of these characters in closed pre-alpha tests. It’s not Locus anymore, but the Destroyer Runner Shell. Not Void, but Assassin. Not Glitch, but Vandal. And not Blackbird, but Recon. The previously temporary name of the Thief archetype character is simply called Thief.
Marathon will have six Runner Shells, plus Rook, the “Scavenger Mode” frame.
Here’s the cliff notes of what each Runner Shell plus Rook does:
Destroyer (previously Locus): made for fights. Riot barricade shield to draw aggro. Thrusters for quick lateral dodges or boost to sprint speed. Ability: heat-seeking missile system. Can suppress enemy into being immobilised.
Assassin (previously Void): for sneaky infiltrators. Dive ability that negates fall damage. Ability: Invisibility, no movement penalty but invis strength lowers on faster movement and completely visible for a short period when doing an action (shoot, heal, reload). Can drop smoke, turning them invisible automatically.
Recon (previously Blackbird): for intel gathering and detectives. Tracker drone homes toward enemy and explode, causing them to overload (can’t move or sprint). Can ping an area of all nearby enemies (AI and actual players) and can get notified if an enemy pings you. Enemies with broken shields leave holographic footprints Recons can see and track.
Vandal (previously Glitch): for pot stirrers and hit-and-run shenanigans. Double jump. Longer power slides. Ability: Overload lets them chain movements together. Arm cannon that can knock enemies out of cover (or over cliffs/buildings).
Thief: for loot goblins. X-Ray Visor reveals nearby containers and enemies through walls. Controllable drone that can knock loot out of an enemy and steal them as well as for general recon. Grappling hook that can be attached mid-air, with improved stats based on how full of loot you are.
Triage: for support players and healers. Can revive downed players at a short distance. Same ability also can be used to charge weapons for more damage. Deployable drone that adds heals shield and health, also heals any teammates if you use a consumable if they are near to the drone.
Rook: Special frame for no-risk, solo eco-runs. Automatically enters solo que. Enters the game mid-match. Free fixed starter kit (can’t bring loot in). Can blend with UESC forces (AI enemies). Used to build back loot without much risk. At the mercy of other players, who may sympathise with a “new” player or be bullied and be shot on sight.
The loot you gather in Marathon are not just guns, but also weapon mods, cores and implants which can change how these Runner Shells behave. An example core loot is for Vandal, which negates self-damage from the arm cannon enabling you to use the knockback as a mobility tool (i.e. rocket jumping). An implant example can make you do damage after a long fall (i.e. you rocket jump into a downward smash).
Marathon had some setbacks, from the underwhelming reception of its closed alpha tests to the unfortunate plagiarism allegations that has since been settled. The game missed its initial September 2025 release date, which see another PVPVE extraction shooter becoming a big hit in its absence.
Marathon (2016) is slated to release this March, no exact date given yet, but it’s coming to PS5, PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X|S.
Source: Marathon