Hands On: Marathon's New Season Is Impressive, But Probably Not Enough

There is undeniably a lot riding on Marathon right now.

With Destiny 2 announcing its end, and Destiny 3 supposedly not in active development, Bungie needs a win. Marathon hasn’t quite been the commercial slam dunk that it was hoping for, even though for me, it’s currently holding the top spot for my GOTY.

So, I was really hoping that Bungie would come out swinging with its second season of Marathon, titled Nightfall. After a handful of rounds, I’ve come away quite impressed, not so much by the new content, but more so with the quality of life changes.

Nightfall’s big new addition is the night version of its map, Dire Marsh. Initially, when I heard that this was the direction Bungie was going with this season, I was quite sceptical as to whether it was enough.

I’m still not entirely sure it is, but one thing I love is that the night version of Dire Marsh plays like an entirely different game mode. Nighttime is properly dark here, so it isn’t just an aesthetic change, and it really brings to life the horror of this universe, which I adore.

Bungie has introduced flashlights, vector rounds and grenades, flares, and darksight scopes, all used as different ways to either illuminate your surroundings or highlight enemies. I really enjoyed the constant fear of light exposure, whether that was from using my flashlight or from exploring the high-risk areas, which are decked out with floodlights.

There is also the new Runner shell here called Sentinel, which features a bunch of defensive capabilities, like the Defender System that can block incoming grenades, or the Snare Mine that slows unsuspecting enemies. I really rate the new Prey Tracker, though, which basically acts as a little UAV for moving enemies. I don’t think this Runner is really going to shake up the meta, but it is quite a nice addition to the roster.

There are also a couple of new weapons, the KKV-9SD pistol-framed SMG and the D54 Battle Pistol. The former has some real potential to buck the shotgun meta that dominated the first season. I enjoyed the Battle Pistol from what I played of it, but that SMG is a real standout.

However, my favourite changes to Marathon, from my limited time with its new season, are the quality-of-life tweaks. Loading screens now let you access Faction quests and Codex files, the Vault has been somewhat streamlined, and mods and implants are now much easier to read.

The best of the bunch, however, is the progression system. It’s no secret that launch Marathon was a grind. I really enjoyed that grind, but losing matches resulted in very few credits and XP. After about 35 hours, I was only around level 34 in season one.

Now, in Nightfall, I’ve reached level six in around an hour, and I’ve already amassed over 7,000 credits. Looks like I’ll actually be able to afford shield recharges this time around.

The biggest improvement, though, is the introduction of the Cradle, a new stats progression system shared across the Runners. Whereas before stat bonuses were buried in Faction upgrades, which could get a little difficult to track, the Cradle now puts stat buffs and perks in one handy skill tree, across six different groups.

You can upgrade something like Resistance, which will improve your self-repair speeds and Hardware resistance, but put enough points in, and you’ll be granted a perk that slows down your bleed-out speed when downed.

Earning credits to upgrade this tree is still down to completing Faction quests, but you can now also break down unwanted gear and convert it into XP. And if you’re not quite happy with how your stat buffs are playing out in the field, you can just reallocate your points without being penalised.

With the Faction upgrades now being left to focus on unlocking Armoury items, the whole progression system feels much more approachable and streamlined. And I'm now more appreciative of the progression reset that Marathon has with each season, because of it.

I hated the idea of losing my progress since I don’t always get a lot of time to jump into the game. But it also means that now, with this season, I’m able to start fresh and have a good idea of what I’m grinding towards, instead of getting overwhelmed by a bunch of systems I haven’t touched in weeks. This was the big thing that plagued Destiny its entire run.

There’s plenty more I’m keen to dig into with this latest season, but undeniably, Marathon feels like it’s moving in the right direction with Nightfall. Will it be enough to bring players back? Honestly, I don’t think so, but I think that's a real shame. Bungie has begun the process of polishing and refining an already fantastic game, and I’d highly encourage people to give it a go — especially since the game is free-to-play this week.

What do you think of Marathon’s latest season? Are you planning to jump back in? Or perhaps try it for the first time? Let us know in the comments below.