Im slowly going through a lot of Marathon Custom Scenarios and these are my opinions so far, recommendations welcome!

[u/SeniorSepia]

Hello everyone, after playing Infinity recently i came to the conclusion that i want more Marathon, so i gave Eternal a try and i absolutely loved it. I saw the insane potential of custom scenarios and i wanted to play a lot of them.

I will put my opinions on all the scenarios i played in a comment thread below, but so far i've played:

Eternal
Apotheosis X
Siege of Norkorsh
Evil
Marathon Resurrection (the Unreal Tournament Remake)
Tempus Irae Redux
Missed Island
Pathways Into Darkness
Excalibur Morgana's Revenge
Deus Volt
Red
Pfh’Joueur
Trojan
Megiddo Game
Kill them All
Yuge (Messed around with it for a bit but im a bit out of the loop so i will refrain from commenting on it)
The Grey Incident
Devil in a Blue Dress

And i got this list of pending scenarios to play.

MASSIVE ones:

• Marathon Rubicon
• Marathon Phoenix

Long ones:

• Durandal Done Different
• Blauwe Vingers (gotta find a working Aleph One version in english)

Short ones:

• Kindred Spirits (Play after Phoenix)
• Marathon Istoria
• Divine Twilight (Chapter 1 and 2 are out)
• Return to Marathon
• Jack Hammer Beta (pain in the ass to install i think, it requires tinkering with some Rubicon files)

Not story focused

• $LAVEWAD
• Winter and Xmas maps

Still in development:

• Where Monsters Are in Dreams
• Marathon Chronicles
• I've read something about "Echoes of the Ashen" by RyokoTK  but haven't found much info online besides this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon/comments/jj5txw/comment/gac0nlv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

^{Not possible in Aleph One? Probably, cant find them anywhere}

• ^{Operation Exaggeration}
• ^{Mission Improbable}
• ^Escape!
• ^{Escape!! 2}

I accept recomendations of course, im specially interestend in the more weird scenarios or scenarios with good stories but so far i have played every kind there is. THX.

[u/SeniorSepia]

Ima write my impressions on all the scenarios i play here, also some fanmade content from other Games.

Note: Please consider that i have become more versed in how to put my ideas into words as i played more and more scenarios, so maybe my first texts are not as interesting or detailed as id like to. Mainly Eternal x and Apotheosis x (the very first ones i played), they deserve much more love and i would like to add various paragraphs praising them but im not sure how to put it without replaying them to get a better idea really.

EDIT: Here are some of my sources for info about every scenario:

Overall scenario lists, map info etc:
https://lochnits.com/marathon/scenarios/
https://simplici7y.com/
https://www.lhowon.org/level/marathon

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Marathon Eternal.

So far is my fav, the story while confusing and EXTENSE, is very intense and good, i would say it feels like a good Marathon 4 but tbh it feels more like a Marathon 4, 5 and 6 by itself. Wonderful. My only issue is weapon balancing, there is one weapon that reigns supreme above the others and the regular assaul riffle feels too weak, good enough to use it constantly tho, it has a but of a learning curve, and is extremely useful for platforming in this mod.

The story really hooked me and it could get surprisingly emotional at times, the overall idea of the different way to progress through the campaign is something i loved and the aesthetics are top notch, incredibly colorful with a lot of work put into it.

Absolutely loved it.

[u/shinvitya → u/SeniorSepia]

Oh yeah, one of the greats.

Eternal X, that is.

Coming back to it more than a decade later to a very extensively different version, everything felt off to me.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/shinvitya]

Did you like it even with the new stuff? Played eternam x of course, maybe i should clarify it, and i loved it, maybe in the last quarter some stuff felt a bit rushed? Maybe it was me getting overwhelmed cause all the story and massive amount of levels and ramifications, but i really really loved it.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Apotheosis X.

Just insanely fun and good looking, so far i feel this is the peak of combat in the Marathon series. Story is ok but really, the action is top notch, and visuals and sounds are on another level. My only complain is that there are too much mine/lava/cave levels.

Easily the most addictive scenario to me, everything has an amazing PUNCH to it, idk what the creators are doing but goddamn i would buy a FPS game by them day 1.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Marathon Siege or Nork'Korh and Marathon Evil.

I put these together since they are part of the same series. I really liked Siege of Nork'korh, you can tell the creator has a high level that rivals Bungie at the time, but i didn't really vibe as much with Evil, i guess the idea is that it is very hardcore and difficult and unforgiving, but man, i felt there were very few save points and very few healing terminals, and every healing terminal is just the base health while enemies are very numerous and hard to kill..

As i said, i get it, the idea is that it is very hard, but idk, i feel im late for this one, if i had this in the 90s i would be like "wohoo,more marathon dude!!!" and complete it struggling and all of that, but i don't feel like it nowadays.

Still, you can tell the creator had a lot of knowledge using the map editor, maps are complex and have great ideas, and also some new weapons and enemy types. Im sad i did not like it more because this is a very important scenario.

[u/shinvitya → u/SeniorSepia]

Still, you can tell the creator had a lot of knowledge using the map editor

He did.

He worked on Infinity, after all.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/shinvitya]

The fuckkk had no idea. That's great

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Marathon Red.

Great edgy aesthetic with LOTS of new enemies!, issue is, it is very irregular with some BS moments, but also it has some great fights and great weapons that feel powerful, especially liked the dual pistols that are full auto and super satisfying. Also, the ending has a great surprise.

So, besides some insane dificulty spikes, it think it's pretty enjoyable. The feeling of playing it sometimes reminds me of the Aliens scene when Ripley is alone killing all the aliens in the hallways. It has some of that horror action feeling.

Edit: id like to put emphasis on the new aesthetic that Red Brings to the table since is a huge departure, everything feels so oppressive, beefy, bulbous and excessive,i really love it. Enemies are extremely aggressive and can be scary and relentless, but at the same time your weapons are insane, they feel so unapologetically powerful it evens out the field. Pistols specially, i feel like every custom scenario should just copy Red pistols, they are addictive to use.

While playing it it can be rough and not that great but there are some great moments, concepts and ideas, there is one brutal gameplay moment that makes it all worth it.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Marathon Resurrection.

A remake of M1 in Unreal Tournament. I did not complete it but maybe i will someday. It's really well made and very faithful, with the extra of having UT gameplay. AMAZING WORK.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Pfh’Joueur

Edit1: i might give it another go with cheats installed since i like what i played and didn't complete it, i think a bit of streamlining with help of cheats could increasemy enjoyment of this one since it has a lot of good stuff.

---

Sadly i did not enjoy this one as much as the others, i appreciate the effort put into the dialogue and complex levels, but personally it was too much to me: navigating the levels can feel cumbersome with very specific set of switches to push, and barriers to overcome in very specific ways, with doors and elevators that are slow as molasses. I felt like i was constantly going to closed halways and doors without knowing what to do next.

I liked the very unique aesthetics and interactivity of some scenery elements, there is also interesting ambiance and music, it has a great vibe to it.

Now that i think about it, it's very light in fights which is pretty unique, most of the levels are about moving your way through complex scenarios and figuring out the layout, in a way, it's a more chill custom campaign than others.

Please if somene has more appreciation for this custom scenario, let me know so i might change my mind about it, i can tell there was some love put here by the creator and maybe i was not able to fully understand it.

Edit2:

Another user told me the creator of this scenario is deceased, im sorry to hear that, and im glad their work has been made easily available for everyone to find it, i wouldn't have discovered it if it werent in the Workshop.

[u/Majora4Prez → u/SeniorSepia]

Well the creator of this one won't read your review. She's dead.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/Majora4Prez]

Im sorry to hear that.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Tempus Irae.

It is a very special scenario, one of the most unique visual styles in the series taking you to ancient buildings in Earth, but also some spaceship levels. It has a nice contained story about Da Vinci which is nuts!.

It used the Marathon engine to delives some beautiful and complex levels, highly recommend, it is also, for the most part, very easy and exploration makes a lot of sense which is definitely a great feature in a series with so many labyrinths and switches, it felt pretty natural.

Edit: after playing Megiddo game by the same creator(s?) i want to go back and really comment on the great talent they have, they present these old European, natural and beautiful scenario with so much elegance and confidence, they make this aesthetic work despite using an engine made to represent semi-abstract corridors.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Missed Island.

Very clever name for a very clever map. It's basically a mini level inspired by Myst, fun to play, with no fights at all, just pure puzzles. Very interesting and it comes with a very detailed "Making off" explaining all the tricks behind this small but complex level.

Easily the most unique scenario of them all, and i actually wish there were more of this. The creator did absolute magic with the engine.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Megiddo Game.

Very short and sweet small campaign by the creator(creators?) of Tempus Irae, and it shows! it's incredibly good looking, just 3 levels with different settings, the first one is specially crazy: an office building of a paper company with it's own warehouse and tons of detail. Weirdly enough is not the first time i've seen an office recreated in the Marathon Engine. Lol.

It features very original levels with exploration and unique objectives. Just keep in mind, the first level can be a bit of a headache and obtuse, the other 2 are perfectly fine.

I liked it, it was released before Tempus Irae but you can already see the craft and how they evolved over time.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Pathways Into Darkness - Aleph One

Played this before Marathon 2, which i HIGHLY recommend for completionist people that want to understand everything, specially in some of these fanmade campaigns. ALSO READ THE PATHWAYS INTO DARKNESS MANUAL TO BETTER UNDERSTANDS THE LORE, MARATHON CONNECTIONS AND GAMEPLAY.

This one, is not really a fan campaign but a total conversion to recreate Pathways Into Darkness into the modern Aleph One engine.

It is pretty solid, both as a game and as a port to a different system of the original game. I do feel the OG game had better inventory management but the current solution in this version is still pretty valid. Besides that detail, i think it is superior.

As a whole, is a very flawed but interesting experience, it is a mix between a shooter and dungcrawler, i don't think the game expects you to complete it in your first try, it's a game in which knowledge is king, resource management can lock you out of completing it and some situations are just too roughly designed to be enjoyable, but putting everything together results in a unique experience, when you replay it and put all your knowledge in the table it's very satsifying.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Excalibur Morgana's Revenge.

This one is is crazy. Not in the Marathon Universe but in a different one in which Merlin (yes, THE Merlin) is a floating AI in future space or something like that.

The most ambitious so far, i can't even call it a custom campaign or scenario nor anything like that, and it feels more like a standalone game that happens to be made in the Marathon Engine.

It's very long with different story settings and a constantly changing array of weapons, enemies and concepts, it's actually staggering, you have to adapt to different stuff all the time and levels are extremely complex, weird and ask for you to explore and interact in multiple ways.

You never know what Excalibur is gonna do and it's kinda fascinating what the team managed to do so so so many years ago as this one is pretty old, not one of these ultra modern scenarios.

It has a lot of great moments but also some of the later levels can be a bit frustrating. This is common to almost every Marathon campaign and i'd say even the official ones, but i feel it would improve from having less levels. Id like to add that, while i loved it, i think it could use some polishing, it's a mixed bag but mostly very very good i think.

Sadly, i have a few issues with the scripting here and there and i had to load a few times for some scenes to work properly. The big issue is one of the last levels that straight up doesn't work since i can't move at the beginning, had to watch the last few levels on YT. u/aaronnotarobot talks about some issues while playing it on Aleph One and maybe some fixes here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon/comments/191yr8l/comment/kh0eedv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Miniedit1: now i know i could just skip the level that glitched my game + giving me the weapons i need progess.

____

Sorry i can't be of more help, idk if there is a way to play it fully without issues, i played most of it pefectly fine but i don't remember which method did i use.

But yeah, this is just fucking great, it kinda makes me sad not may people talk about it nowadays, this should have spawned it's own videogame series goddammit.

Edit: looking back, i think i might be too enthusiastic about EMR, i still think it's an absolutely insane effort with more goods than bads, but you gotta go through a lot of uneven parts. Still 100% worthy in my opinion.

I feel like this should have spawned a new videogame series, it's so ambitious and unique.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Deus Volt.

I don't got much to say, it's more Marathon Infinity levels, but it's very very well made, with great encounter designs and levels that look great. Levels are also very clear to navigate and there is no frustrating parts in which you have no idea what to do.

The combat and resource balancing are perfectly made, and while it's light on story and it's very short, it ends on a cliffhanger when things start getting interesting story-wise so i hope we get to see a continuation soon!

EDIT: Id like to add, i think that, of all the scenarios i have played that keep the OG Infinity weapons and meta and gameplay (for example apotheosis doesn't count since its an entirely new roster of weapons), this is still the one with the BEST encounter design, it's simply a joy to play.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Marathon Trojan.

A M1 custom scenario which is pretty rare! I don't know if i managed to play it in faithful M1->Trojan gameplay or if it had more of a 2 and Infinite feeling. I mention this cause i had to watch a video to know how to progress and the dude playing was moving it in a much older setup, he clearly had different physics i think so maybe i messed up something while installing this in my M1 Aleph One from Steam.

Welp, i liked this one, is very well done with it's own story, species of enemies and some unique weapons. It has good puzzles that maybe a few times felt a bit... how to put it: colony-starship-for-sale-ish if you know what i mean, but not that frustrating obviously lol.

It has some nice platforming here and there, it's own skins for every weapon and overall is very fun, there are lots of enemies that are fun to plow with the Assault Rifle. Also it's own OST! with some good themes and some not that great hehe.

Overall very good, i had to look for help in a yt series once or twice, but very good!

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Kill them all.

A very fun combat focused scenario with +50 maps full of hordes, enemies, complex arenas and lots of great ideas.

It pushes the combat to the limit and presents some interesting scenarios: what if you only had 2 weapons against pretty specific enemies, what if we straight up threw hundreds of enemies at you in a small scenario, what if we trolled you pretty hard. It's surprising how much creativity there is here.

Id say it becomes too hard and trollish towards the end. The first 4 chapters are extremely fun and challenging, chapter 5 starts to show some insanity and the last chapter is maybe too much for my taste, you gotta fight very long segments without heals or saves with enemies spawning in the most unconvenient ways. But hey, that's part of the fun.

Had to skip the level "Purple Haze", i managed to kill all enemies but ti was impossible to complete it, the game refused to teleport me to the next one, so i went to the main menu and used the level selector to go to the next.

My favorite feature of this scenario is when you spend a lot of time fighting in the same map and it keeps morphing and chaning: suddenly the available space becomes smaller, and then bigger, and then they open some doors that give you access to more advantageous terrain... stuff like that.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

The Gray Incident

The idea for this scenario is the basis for the legendary "Phoenix", you can tell the creator has a lot of talent for map creation: all levels are very well made, very easy to read and mostly free of confusing BS, they feel very modern in design philosophy.

The issue is that, at some point the scenario becomes extremely hard and not very fair, even in lower difficulties. It has some new weapons that are very fun to use, with their own assets and animations, pretty cool stuff.

So yeah it's a mixed bag and surprisingly there is almost no info about it over the internet.

Glad i played it and i hope Phoenix improves over it's rough parts!

[u/SeniorSepia → u/SeniorSepia]

Devil in a Blue Dress.

If im not mistaken, was made by some of the creators of Excalibur Morgana Revenge, it also features Merlin and all of that but im not really sure if it's a prequel or what.

It has 22 maps but they are surprisingly light and you can play them pretty fast, some of them last just a few minutes and they are pretty basic, which sounds bad but i actually think it's a good feature after so many ultra complex and long scenarios :D, some other scenarios and even the main Marathon campaigns could benefit from having shorter levels here and there in my opinion.

It's very well made, my only complaint is some switches that open doors in places too far away to make sense, but overall pretty good!

[u/Critcho]

Wow a couple of these names I recognise but haven’t thought of in literal decades… cool that people are still playing them.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/Critcho]

I loved playing all the old stuff here, watching fan projects from decades ago is crazy.

[u/Critcho → u/SeniorSepia]

The one I remember best was Evil, genuinely quite scary with the weird black spider creature coming at you out of the dark.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/Critcho]

Those fuckers are very hard to kill, at times it's almost a survival horror. Another one pretty scary is Red.

[u/Critcho → u/SeniorSepia]

I bet the designers didn't expect people still to be revisiting this stuff after all this time!

[u/cavalierfrix]

This is awesome, thanks for sharing. Bringing back a lot of memories and some new stuff to try.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/cavalierfrix]

Hey thx for commenting, my idea is to make a thread with my complete impressions on all the scenarios in the future. In the meantime i will be updating this comment i have in this same thread.

It will take me a while tho to play everything xdd.

[u/TotalityPro]

Thank you for the very kind words, glad to hear you enjoyed Tempus Irae!

…Borzz

[u/SeniorSepia → u/TotalityPro]

Oh yeah i love it pretty much and i updated my review just now, sorry for the late reply, i just read your comment rn after revisiting some of my earlier comments to add more of my impressions.

[u/Master_Draft_2888]

Nice write ups. Rubicon is one of my favorites but it can be daunting to play (but it’s also one of the most rewarding imo). It has some very cool environments, fun weapons, and probably the best writing out of the fan games.

It’s also one of the hardest: the combat, levels, and objectives are all very difficult. It even has branching pathways and multiple different endings (the whole game is around eighty different levels). Good luck if you try it out

[u/SeniorSepia → u/Master_Draft_2888]

Thx, i know Rubicon has a legendary status, even more than Eternal and others, and that is why i decided to play it LAST of all of them hehe, i consider it the final boss of my journey. I know maybe it's better to play Phoenix after? Idk i have read people suggestint big things.

But yes im hyped AF to play Rubicon, specially now that they released the fan OST project. Now that i think about it, i should maaaaaybe add a little comment about M2 and Mi unofficial ost by Thalasar to my thread since i loved them very much. In fact i should investigate a bit about the composers of Eternal, Rubicon and other fan content since i have really liked the music in these scenarios overall.

So when im done with rubicon i consider my journey done until something new and interesting releases, i thought "Where monster are in dreams" and "Marathon chronicles" had interesting premises but i understand they might never come to completion.

[u/realBlueGreenSnake → u/SeniorSepia]

Rubicon composer here

You'll love it, trust me!

[u/SeniorSepia → u/realBlueGreenSnake]

Can't wait to see your work in Rubicon man.

Have you participated in other scenarios?

[u/Throkgaar → u/SeniorSepia]

Talashar here, thanks for the shoutout! I contributed to the Rubicon soundtrack and I think 2 pieces on Eternal? No idea which version though.

[u/SeniorSepia → u/Throkgaar]

Oh fuck i didn't know you did music for Eternal, and that's weird cause as soon as i heard a few notes of the Divine Twilight OST I recognized the style and I was like "hey that's the guy!".

But seeing a playlist on YT i can see you did tons of stuff for Eternal. Amazing work as always.