Joystiq hands-on: Marathon Xbox Live Arcade

Being the last day of E3, we were bound and determined to finally lay our greedy little hands on Marathon: Durandal for Xbox Live Arcade. Having been turned away from Marathon's suite thrice yesterday, we were eager to finally get a hold of Bungie's seminal shooter (being developed for XBLA by Freeverse). Seeing as we only had a short time with the game, we decided to set off into multiplayer immediately. There were several maps to choose from, but "Giant Flaming Pit of Lava" caught our eye, so off we went.

Anyone familiar with Marathon will instantly be at home with the XBLA version. The game sports widescreen and higher resolution textures than the original game, though it's not likely to forcibly remove your socks. The action is fast-paced and frantic, even more so than DOOM, XBLA's other FPS. The Marathon engine supports a few more features than the DOOM engine, including the ability to look up and down and quick-look left and right. Many of the game's weapons also support alternate fire. For example, the assault rifle can also fire arcing grenades.

Those unfamiliar with the game will definitely be able to see the influence that Marathon had on the Halo series. Many of Halo's weapons and concepts are direct descendants of those found in Marathon. The fusion pistol, for example, is essentially the plasma pistol. The rocket launcher is nearly exactly the same as Halo's. There are shields, overshields, active camouflage, even the motion tracker is there. Not only that, even many of the maps are familiar. Thunderdome, for example, will be familiar to fans (and rocket campers) of Halo 2's Foundation.

The game is definitely showing its age, but it's also surprisingly entertaining. Multiplayer supports up to 8 players via system link or Xbox Live and 4 players via split-screen on a single box. The maps vary from wide open killing fields (Thunderdome) to narrow hallways perfect for ambushes (Ok, Come Get Some). Nailing an unsuspecting opponent with dual-wielded, double-barreled sawed-offs as he rounds a corner is very satisfying.

At the end of the day, Marathon serves as a surprisingly fun first person shooter on XBLA, and that's without even considering the campaign. There are sure to be some complaints about the dated graphics (perhaps valid ones at that), but for those who don't mind the "classic" styling -- or perhaps even appreciate it -- and for those looking to bone up on their Halo history, Marathon is worth a look.

Update: Fixed chronologically inaccurate weapon statement. We blame lack of sleep.