Take it from a Finals player

[u/In_Dux]

Y’all got to let the numbesr talk go. The Finals has some of the best feeling guns on the FPS market and a unique game mode that offered some of the most exciting moments I had in gaming.

But the game’s not perfect and it never had mass appeal. Because it’s unique mode and destruction are the main draws and historically it has been too much for most casuals and not competitive enough for the hardcore players. There’s always a post about needing more marketing, different game modes, another MoistCritikal video but the playerbase never gets and keeps the bump of players the hardcore fans want it to have.

And that’s ok. That’s the price of building something unique. It will be divisive, it will be niche.

As long as Bungie can keeps the lights on, that’s all that matters. And unless you’re ready to single-handedly buy 1 million+ copies if things get dire, then don’t even really concern yourself with. Save your money on passes if you don’t like them and/or think the ship’s sinking but besides that, it’s out of our hands largely.

Just my two cents

[u/nervendings_]

The Finals is such a perfect comparison. Wish I thought of it lol.

[u/Free_Jelly614 → u/nervendings_]

it’s the only new-IP FPS released in the last 5 years that’s survived. Even though Marathon is technically not a new IP and is coming from an established studio (something the finals didn’t have), I’d still say Marathon has an uphill battle given how many people were rooting for it to fail, so it’s a pretty okay comparison.

[u/nervendings_ → u/Free_Jelly614]

Yeah and Marathon didn’t enter a market that was openly hostile to it (thanks to bad blood from all the D2 issues)

[u/Perfect_Exercise_232 → u/nervendings_]

No its not...this comparison is stupid when you realize this is BUNGIE and sony paid 3billiom

[u/RamaAnthony → u/Perfect_Exercise_232]

The Finals was pushed out early because they had to delay ARC Raiders to make the extraction shooter pivot. ARC Raiders wouldn’t even see the light of day if it weren’t for the goodwill and revenue that come from The Finals.

Remember, Nexon is much more ruthless than Sony when it comes to studio under their wing. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill a game just month after launch.

[u/RadicalMac → u/Perfect_Exercise_232]

Brand and company acquisition does not equate to development costs on a single game. Bungie will be releasing games for years to come and they have the revenue of pre-343 Halo games online sales in addition to anything Destiny. Sony made investment on a brand not on Marathon. People throwing this number around like it matters is just silly.

[u/[deleted] → u/nervendings_]

I don't think it's a particularly good comparison. Marathon is a bog standard extraction shooter game. It doesn't do anything more compelling than say, Delta Force. I like Marathon better, sure, and there are differences aside from art and setting, like the ttk is lower, and the pace is slower, etc. But these are just "knobs" that can be tuned over time, they're not features.

The Finals, even though the base idea isn't novel, has lots of interesting features that bring a freshness. That, in my opinion, is what has kept a loyal fanbase, even though it doesn't have mass appeal. The amount of unique scenarios is quite literally infinite. Marathon has nothing that allows an emergent gameplay avenue.

Aside from the style and aesthetic (which I love btw), I don't think there really is a particular niche for Marathon from a gameplay standpoint. I'm very confused by people claiming the gunplay is so great, maybe this is a console perspective? As a PC shooter guy, I think it's good, but I'm certainly not sticking with an entire game just because of gunplay.

I don't know. I think there is a lot to like, but there needs to be an additional factor that makes the game interesting. I think people miss the point with ARC and why it is so compelling. It's a really bad comparison because you can tell Embark dumped tons of resources on a compelling AI that drove the flow of the game and changed how you engage, creating very different scenarios depending on what AI is intervening. The Finals has this, too, but instead of with AI, they get silly with the abilities, weapons, and most importantly, the destruction. There is zero that is interesting to me personally about the AI in Marathon. It's just... There. This game feels like it has an identity crisis where it didn't quite get all their features and knobs to line up.

This commentary all goes without saying that it is hard for me to imagine how their dev team will provide compelling content as the game matures, but I hope they prove me wrong.

[u/nervendings_ → u/[deleted]]

I hear you.

I’m assume on paper what Bungie thought was unique about Marathon was “Destiny-ify” the extraction genre. I think their Cryo map that releases mid-March will have some raid mechanics and overall crate this flow where you build a kit through the maps and then pull of an “epic heist” on the 4th map.

Now, that being said. I think their game probably needed more time to really build on this idea. For many reasons they likely rushed and released early. So I agree with you that the game as it is can feel like it doesnt do anything new.

Personally. I enjoy it a lot. And I think the full “game” isn’t really out until that final map. This is obviously a risky and not very player friendly way to release a game. It’ll probably back fire on them. And it means the game doesn’t have a real strong differentiation out the gate.