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Marathon: Durandal

EMAIL PRINTxbox360

7.7 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 19 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Microsoft

Developer: Freeverse Software - Bungie Software

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: August 1, 2007

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]

Cheat Codes & Hints: GameFAQs

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Team Xbox

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.

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IGN

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.

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GameDaily

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.

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PALGN

If you can get past the potential motion sickness, you've got a simple but lengthy and engrossing adventure with Marathon: Durandal.

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GameSpot

The spiritual predecessor to Halo is an interesting glimpse to the dawn of the shooter age, but the gameplay feels dated at this point.

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Console Gameworld

While Marathon: Durandal has its feet planted firmly in classic gaming history, the gameplay just doesn't work by today's standards.

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Official Xbox Magazine UK

An interesting curio for Halo fans, but expensive. [Oct 2007, p.96]

Eurogamer

Despite being ahead of "Doom 2" in many respects, it's simply nowhere near as fun to play. Saddled with clunky combat, it's impossible to come to this with fresh eyes and appreciate what the fuss was about.

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Boomtown

The Marathon fan base out there who played the game over 10 years ago will most likely be the only ones to get any real enjoyment out of this one.

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Official Xbox Magazine

Marathon is certainly interesting for aspiring game designers and historians who want to observe Bungie's roots. But as a $10 offering in 2007, it just doesn't hold up very well. [Sept 2007, p.74]

X360 Magazine UK

Its use will result in two separate emotions - boredom and a desire to play something else. [Issue#25, p.118]

Worth Playing

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.

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Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

A blast from the past that should have stayed unblasted. Play the free version if you must. [Nov 2007, p.94]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Nicholas L. gave it a10:
Best game ever, in my humble opinion. Plus I never got into Doom but really do love Marathon.

Sam F. gave it an8:
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.

Nicholas L. gave it a10:
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.

Shawn L. gave it a0:
Worst game ever. *shakes head* is that game a joke? If it were possible I would really try to get my Microsoft points back. I'm really sorry.. but this game is just terrible.. and i love games like this like doom.. and quake 3.. i cant believe i actually have to force myself just to get these pointless achievements. It's the first game I've ever had to boost to get achievements the first day of getting it.. Im really sorry.. but i feel like i totally wasted 800 points. And on top of it all playing the game made me and others nauseous. I'm very sorry.

Charles G. R. gave it a6:
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!

C. H. gave it a10:
I'm guilty of being nostalgic. I used to play the Marathon trilogy way back on an Apple PPC Performa. I was ecstatic to see Marathon coming to Xbox! The game's held up well over the years, and the new version looks awesome with the new HD graphics. Controls handle just like Halo, and the game runs at over twice the FPS as the original. Definitely worth taking a look, especially if you're curious about Halo's pedigree.

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Marathon: Durandal

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