Marathon: Durandal Xbox 360
Marathon: Durandal Image
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Metascore
62 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.3 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 22 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Summary: [Xbox Live Arcade] Seventeen years ago, you survived a vicious Pfhor assault on the U.E.S.C. Marathon. Now you have been awakened by the enigmatic, sentient A.I. called Durandal and sent to an alien world to uncover the mysteries of their advanced technology. In Marathon: Durandal, armed with only a pistol, you are humanity’s last champion Marathon: Durandal is a cult classic first-person shooter (FPS) that continues the tradition of great gameplay while remaining faithful to the spirit of Bungie lore as the predecessor to the Halo franchise. Upgraded visuals: All images in the game have been redrawn in high definition. Marathon: Durandal features a new modern networking layer built with Xbox LIVE in mind. The redesigned controls take full advantage of the Xbox 360 Controller and enhance playing a first-person shooter on a home console. [Microsoft]… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 13
  3. Negative: 2 out of 13
  1. TeamXbox
    79
    Where the action of Doom’s XBLA debut sucked me back in, I didn’t have quite the same attraction to Marathon: Durandal, especially considering the stomach-churning byproducts of its “new and improved” look. It’s a good, smart shooter, but I don’t think it’s aged as well given its more deliberate pace.
  2. IGN
    74
    I think it's quite a bit better than DOOM in almost all aspects. But it's impossible to ignore the fact that everyone who has played Marathon has gotten nauseous. I've never seen this happen with a game before, but obviously anything that leaves people feeling worse than when they booted it up, can't get a very enthusiastic thumbs up.
  3. GameDaily
    70
    First and foremost, it has just as much charm as id's classic Doom, with hilariously bad pre-rendered enemies, a fresh feeling of exploration and multiplayer options galore, both off-line and through Xbox Live. The second is a rapid frame rate that induces motion sickness.
  4. Worth Playing
    48
    A Marathon title on XBLA could have been a fantastic way for Halo fans to see their favorite developer's roots, but thanks to bad controls and an illness-inducing interface, the game struggles to even serve as a window into the past.

See all 13 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8
  1. NicholasL.
    10
    This is one of the best games I have ever played. With an immersive story and fun gameplay (kill the man with the ball, and 8 player Co-op), this is probably one of the best games ever. Beats Doom in every way.… Expand
  2. SamF.
    8
    Like others, I played this on the Mac back in the mid 90s and it was easily the best game on the Apple Mac at the time. The original game was head and shoulders above Doom, which I cannot believe gets rated higher by both Shawn L and the Team Xbox magazine... the only reason Doom is held in high esteem is due to it being the first massively popular FPS. Marathon was the first fully fledged FPS with an engaging story, decent (for the time graphics) and immersive sound that, when played in stereo back in '94 left you requiring fresh underpants. Marathon Durandal is the Aliens to Marathon's Alien. All action, loads of weaponry and maps and probably the most popular online gaming experience on the Mac to date. It only gets 8 (rather than 10) due to the speeding up of the framerate, which doesn't make you feel sick, but it does make playing the game a little awkward at times.… Expand
  3. CharlesG.R.
    6
    The original Marathon was a real revelation for me. It was my first contact with a first person shooter. I woke up at night to play it in my university days! Marathon: Durandal was the most visceral game experience I've ever been fortunate to experience in my years as a gamer. At some point in the game I was backed up in a corner, just barely out of reach of a giant wave of enemies approching from several directions with only my grenade launcher left. With my health slowly draining, and no hope in sight I was able to defeat them with only a sliver of health left, it was a grand moment. To the original Mac Marathon saga, I give a heartfelt 10 out of 10. A captivating story, with a narrative that gave you though objectives and a foreboding sense of tension that never left your side. To this day, the map function has not been topped. It is beyound my understanding that FPS games don't make use of this! I have two reasons for low scoring this Xbox Live Arcade version. 1) although the game moves too fast, the enemies move way too slowly; 2) this is the only game (in over 25 years of gaming) that has made me nauseous!… Expand
  4. DONTBUYTHISGAME
    1
    I LOVE Marathon, but DON'T BUY THIS!!! The entire trilogy is freeware (yes, it's legal!) that you can download for PC. The graphics aren't as good, but it plays much better. I know you have a PC if you're reading this. Please take my advice and don't get ripped off.… Expand

See all 8 User Reviews

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