Ambitious sci-fi shooter Marathon has received middling reviews from critics, with the game failing to crack the top 25 best-reviewed titles of 2026.
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Marathon launched last month but developers Bungie reportedly asked reviewers to wait until last week’s Cryo Archive raid was released before reviewing it. According to review aggregate site Metacritic, Marathon currently has a “generally favourable” score of 81 per cent.
“At first glance, Marathon may seem like a fundamentally solid game with a lot of potential, but one that simply feels too intimidating to invest in. But if players are willing to jump over the unnecessary hurdles in the opening hours, they’ll likely discover that Marathon doesn’t just live up to its potential, but it exceeds it,” wrote GameRant in their review.
“Not only is Marathon impeccably stylish, but it also backs up that audiovisual flair with sumptuous combat and maps riddled with secrets, surprises and opportunities. After all the hubbub surrounding its development, Marathon‘s quality speaks for itself,” said Eurogamer’s Rick Lane.
However not everyone was as impressed. “Marathon is a wildly inconsistent game that reaches blood-pumping highs, in between rounds of pure frustration. There’s a great shooter hiding in there, but players will jump off before they find it,” reads Dexerto’s three-star review.
According to Metacritic, Marathon is currently the 28th best-reviewed game of 2026, behind MIO: Memories In Orbit, Planet Of Lana 2 and Escape From Ever After. However user reviews on Steam have given Marathon a “very positive” rating.
The game’s soundtrack, created by Son Lux’s Ryan Lott, has been praised across the board though. “To get in the ground level of a process of literally building worlds was really intoxicating,” said Lott in a behind the scenes clip. “Something that was really inspiring about the concept of the game was that you relinquish your human body for a ‘Runner’ shell. You hold onto your soul, you take you with you, but you leave your body behind. I thought, what better way to take the human voice, which is the soul of your person, and transform it into these playable instruments.”
In other news, Pokémon is continuing its 30th anniversary celebrations by launching collaborations with footwear giants Puma and specialty coffee brand Grind.
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