At least in my perception the initial reactions to Marathon are overwhelmingly bad and for Arc Raiders overwhelmingly good Im genuinely interested in what key differences these two extractor shooters bear to spark such a delta since I like to talk about game design specifics.
So what do you think in specific, like what is that much better in arc raiders to compete with established blockbusters like tarkov?
Marathon is "just another extraction shooter" is what I heard as a sentiment. So this is going off the assumption that both games do nothing new as in "been there done that"
My imperssions of Marathon:
- I see how "graphical realism" art style is a complete flop - personally as a trained media designer (elements on the map i.e. having that printer test stamp - very cliche)
- gun models and characters feel like they are not worthy of that universe
- the running shield animations dont help that either haha
- personally dislike hero shooter elements
- UI design aesthetic is very intern-level and execution often questionable (visual weighting off, uninteresting/overloaded pictograms) -> but: the implementation of the one in-game at least seems to have high level execution weirdly enough.
-> but: Gunplay seems fresh? Like no game has done that responsive recoil feedback before, no?
-> but: sound design seems very good too?
Arc Raiders has some really strong points I see:
- The audio design is top (not a sound designer so cant tell you specifics).
- The UI in the A to A- department, only adding responsive UI elements and other fancy tech could add as a final optional highlight.
- Presentation and staging of the world elements seems abolutely like a blockbuster movie. Huge structures and generally a feel like youre in that post apocalyptic rebel world.
-> but: The long term combat appeal of arc is questionable, progression and long term motivation unclear.
That seems a little lacking for such negative rating, sure addicted gamers tend to be very emotional about these things but idk - even more laid back people seem to agree with these evaluations - in sum these points above are smaller likes or dislikes, but in its essence and gameplay both games do nothing much different - dont they?
Is it because the dev studio's reputations mainly? Also marathon having such a rich backbone, feels like its disrespected by the studio. Tell me my what specifics you like and dislike in these titles - did you feel different about the games?
I think a big part of this sentiment has to do with Bungie burning a lot of bridges with their fan base in recent years. I'd played Destiny 2 for several years (from Shadowkeep through The Final Shape), and in that time Bungie had made a lot of very unpopular moves. From things like the "Destiny Content Vault" (where old content was removed from the game to make room for new content), expansions getting delayed by several months, massive studio layoffs, apparent mismanagement of an entire expansion (Lightfall), more studio layoffs... It's just really hard, as a player, to back a Bungie project right now. I no longer feel like their priorities line up with mine.
Meanwhile, I've also been a huge fan of Embark's previous game, The Finals. It's a totally different type of FPS compared to Destiny, yet they managed to capture my interest by doing correctly all the things Bungie did wrong. They nailed the monetization of the game and it doesn't feel predatory, they listen to their community, and they constantly show a commitment toward making The Finals into the best game it can be (and not necessarily the most profitable game it could be).
So while Marathon looks like it's got all the makings for an amazing game, I just don't feel like Bungie fans have enough faith left in Bungie anymore. For a lot of people, myself included, The Final Shape was the "end" of Destiny; not because Bungie stopped making it (they're still releasing content), but because we got the closure we wanted out of Destiny's story and we're just done with Bungie's antics.
That said, I just don't like extraction shooters. I played a bit of Arc Raiders to see how it is, and it's just not for me. Honestly, I hope both games do well, because it's clear that both studios put a lot of heart into these games and I'm interested in learning about both games' stories. But right now, Bungie has to overcome their reputation if they want Marathon to succeed.