The first impressions from the Marathon closed alpha are now in, and the extraction shooter has received mixed opinions from players. However, popular Twitch streamer Shroud recently shared what he believes is Bungie’s biggest mistake with the first-person shooter. According to the former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player, the issue could potentially “ruin” Marathon for PC players if it’s not fixed.
‘Marathon’ Has An Aim Assist Problem?
The Marathon closed alpha went live on April 23, and those who received private invites have already spent hours diving into the new shooter. While reactions seem to be fairly positive, one criticism keeps popping up — aim assist. More specifically, aim assist on the PC version of Marathon. Twitch streamer Shroud (Michael Grzesiek) shared his impressions of the game with viewers and issued a warning to Bungie about the potential impact of aim assist on keyboard and mouse players.
“They need to just remove the mouse aim assist shit. The magnetism they just need to throw that out. I get that they are trying to balance consoles and PCs for Crossplay. But it’s only going to ruin the PC part of the game. You’re basically trying to help PC be balanced against console, but you are just watering down PC. Your making PC mouse and keyboard players basically feel like shit. Because you are like “hey here is an aim magnetism to help you fight controllers.”
Shroud went on to argue that Marathon PC players would rather “improve on their mechanics” than have “an assist.” He even took it a step further, saying that PC players would prefer to lose than use the feature, before concluding, “I just think the aim assist is really weird, and they should just remove it.” Interestingly, Shroud isn’t the only one who holds this opinion — it seems to be a popular feeling among PC players who have participated in the closed alpha so far.
‘Marathon’ Closed Alpha Impressions
Now, I don’t want to sound like it’s all doom and gloom, but a lot of the impressions I’ve seen about Marathon are either fairly positive or really negative. Players so far have said the game feels like a more “casual-friendly” version of Escape from Tarkov. For example, Bungie actually gives players crates of items if they don’t have a weapon. While not everyone is a fan of the game’s art style, most players seem to like the graphics on PC and have said the game runs incredibly smoothly.
I’ve also seen quite a few players say the game is actually pretty challenging. AI opponents, in particular, have been taking down a lot of gamers streaming the shooter, stopping them from extracting. A clip from Destiny 2 YouTuber Aztecross is a good example of this: when he attempts to push the enemy with his shield, the NPC abruptly hits him and knocks him across the map. And just as he’s about to heal, the enemy is already aggressively in his face trying to finish him off.
But then there are also players who say that Marathon isn’t fun if you’re playing solo, as AI enemies tend to swarm you. Other complaints range from the shooting feeling “too slow” and cumbersome to the “menus, UI, and contracts” being “boring.” So, as you can see, Marathon impressions seem to be all over the map. However, at least in my eyes, hardcore players like Shroud are a key demographic for extraction shooters. So perhaps Bungie should take the first-person-shooter pro’s advice seriously, as the Marathon’s aim assist could drive players away if not addressed.
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