Marathon’s next major update, Symbiosis, arrives December 8th, and today Bungie released a new trailer showing off what players can expect from the update.
Symbiosis looks to address a number of concerns, complaints, and wishes that players have had since the Marathon launched back in early March. The biggest change, and most requested, is the addition of a permanent co-op, entirely PvE mode called Expedition.
Bungie describes this new mode as a “co-op PvE roguelite.” This mode, or rather pure PvE, has been requested by many people (some who played the game, many who didn’t) since before launch, and it’s great to see that Bungie has finally given in to the pressure to release a dedicated PvE mode. The studio says that players will need to work together to complete objectives and take down challenging AI enemies.
Much like Destiny has the Tower, Marathon will also be getting a social space in the December update. The space, called Limbo, will be a place for players to gather and hang out, and will include a firing range if you want to test out weapons and shells.
Speaking of shells, the Symbiosis update will also come with a new Runner called Bishop, whom you can see in the trailer.
This update will also see an expansion and overhaul of the Perimeter map to include new playable areas, burrows, and the map is now overrun with some sort of plant or something.
If that wasn’t enough, Symbiosis will also see a beta test for a new PvP mode called Deathmatch. As the name implies, this will be a strictly PvP traditional deathmatch mode for players who want to PvP without AI enemies and the extraction setting.
For the release of Symbiosis, Bungie will be opening Marathon up for another Open Play week. This means on all platforms, for the week of December 8 until December 15th the game will be available for everyone to download and play for free. There will even be a Crew Up event where you can tackle challenges in the new Expedition mode with friends to earn new cosmetic rewards. You can see more about that here.
As Destiny 2 is coming back to life, will you be supporting Marathon by at least checking it out during the free play week and taking the new PvE mode for a spin? If not, why not if you’re a Destiny fan?
Smith’s Sentiment: Bungie has always known how to make a killer trailer, and this one is certainly no exception. I haven’t played Marathon since late March, but I rather liked it at launch. Yes, I was one of those who wanted a PvE mode and didn’t care for the PvP aspect of it all that much, so this update certainly has my interest, and I’ll be checking it out. Where Bungie may have some issues is the timing. Grand Theft Auto VI will have only been out for a few weeks, and the full release of Path of Exile II is set up for just a few days after this, on December 11th. So there’s a lot vying for people’s attention.
