Marathon.

[itszutak]

So I just finished the first part of the Marathon series.

Download it here, now. (http://source.bungie.org/get/)

Or, if you don't want to play and just want to know the story, the terminals are all transcribed here. (http://marathon.bungie.org/story/contents.html)

Holy crap it is amazing. I don't even care about the graphics-I just play it, and the way the storyline is presented is amazing. It plays very differently from halo- I can't just run in and expect to kill everything, because health doesn't regenerate. But the gameplay isn't what kept me playing-It's the terminals. Durandal is an amazingly well-written character, and in fact all the AI seem more lively (to me) than many of Halo's characters. Terminals, to me, are an amazing way to tell a story, and I wish more games used them.
Now to download part 2 on a fsking dialup modem
It really got me excited for a never-to-happen graphical update to Marathon. I really need to start a petition.

[Pooky]

ill agree with you that Marathon had a great and well presented story, but the gameplay made me want to throw up. It's basically just doom with soft science juice all over it.

Except somehow bad.

[Saggy]

It really got me excited for a never-to-happen graphical update to Marathon. I really need to start a petition.
The Xbox Live Arcade version has updated graphics.

[Pooky]

The Xbox Live Arcade version has updated graphics.

Oh and also Aleph one does have updated graphics <_<

[itszutak]

The Xbox Live Arcade version has updated graphics.And added motion sickness. At least on my TV. <_>


Also, pretty much every game at that time had some exaggeratedly bad or cheezy feature, but you're right-most of the art was terrible. Then again, I'm good at ignoring that kind of thing.

[LinkandKvel]

[ninja]Now to download part 2 on a fsking dialup modem[ninja]
You failed at ninja tags, way to go. Maybe I'll DL the demo for XBL Arcade.

[itszutak]

You failed at ninja tags, way to go. Maybe I'll DL the demo for XBL Arcade.
SHHHH

[t3h m00kz]

MARATHON!!!!1111111

I forgot most of Marathon 1... I should read the story again some time.

That UT remake of the entire Marathon 1 campaign is pretty sweet too.

[Pooky]

UT remake of the entire Marathon 1 campaign

What.

[itszutak]

UT remake of the entire Marathon 1 campaignWait, what?

[ultama121]

http://resurrection.bungie.org/

:awesome:

[Arteen]

I played through some of Marthon I, but I didn't particularly like the gameplay. I'm not a fan of any FPS which doesn't feature some sort of health regeneration system (most of them?), and overall I think the gameplay is just too dated. Sure, the story is interesting, but not interesting enough.

I was hoping I could get into the Marathon games via the M2 XBLA title, but it gave me motion sickness like everyone else.

[Pooky]

I'm not a fan of any FPS which doesn't feature some sort of health regeneration system

See that's what made me quit playing Marathon.

I'd get all the way through a fucking level only to be left at the end with 1 HP, and get killed by a strong updraft. Then it's just too frustrating when I have to start all the way back at my last save, which might have been a long time ago.
You want to know what's wrong with health meters Yahtzee?

That's what is wrong.

[itszutak]

Later in the game, there are 2x and 3x shield regenerators that can be used indefinitely, and every level has at least one 1x shield generator.

Also setting the difficulty to "kindergarten" helped me ._.

[Warsaw]

See that's what made me quit playing Marathon.

I'd get all the way through a fucking level only to be left at the end with 1 HP, and get killed by a strong updraft. Then it's just too frustrating when I have to start all the way back at my last save, which might have been a long time ago.
You want to know what's wrong with health meters Yahtzee?

That's what is wrong.

Suck it up and drive on. Regenerating health, especially the way Halos 2 and 3 do it, is wimpy. You lose the sense of desperation that taking on an enemy with <50% health brings. Also, it forces multiplayer into a Run and Gun bullet-hose kind of style, where you have to kill them or start over. There's no chipping away at each other, which made for some interesting games on Boarding Action in Halo, or even Counter Strike.

Regenerating health is not the solution. Strategically placed and used health packs are. I think the FEAR system was the best so far.

[Terin]

Marathon is :awesome:. I played through the first two as a kid, and I was glad I could now play Infinity since it's available online. I even made some maps with Forge for Aleph One, and play it pretty often.

Also, seriously, you do not need regenerating health to play a video game. I think a LRN2PLAY is in order. It's what made Halo 2 and 3 boring to me, compared to Halo 1, where I could steamroll through massive amounts of enemies, stock up on ammo, and continue through like nothing happened.

[ICEE]

Suck it up and drive on. Regenerating health, especially the way Halos 2 and 3 do it, is wimpy. You lose the sense of desperation that taking on an enemy with <50% health brings. Also, it forces multiplayer into a Run and Gun bullet-hose kind of style, where you have to kill them or start over. There's no chipping away at each other, which made for some interesting games on Boarding Action in Halo, or even Counter Strike.

Regenerating health is not the solution. Strategically placed and used health packs are. I think the FEAR system was the best so far.


I rather like how halo 1 did it. A slowly regenerating shield, covering a health meter.

[Terin]

Yeah. A compromise is good. However, it seems like a lot of games that do it, do it to the extreme. Sit behind cover for five seconds, and bingo, you have full health. Condemned 2 had a good system, a three level regenerating health bar. It regenerates, but only to the closest third of health you have. Still, playing games without regenerating health means that you actually have to be careful...

[ExAm]

Regenerating health is not the solution. Strategically placed and used health packs are. I think the FEAR system was the best so far.
I liked the one in Black - save a couple of health packs for later use.

[Pooky]

Regenerating health is not the solution. I think the FEAR system was the best so far.

Having low enough health that you die in one hit is not fun, no matter how manly you try to be in justifying it.

Also, FEAR has a regenerating health system. <_<

I never said a Halo 2/ Call of Duty 2 style system was the best.

[Warsaw]

Health in FEAR did not regenerate last time I checked. You got shot, and had to use a health pack to restore your health (I can't remember if it restored 20 or 25 points), and you could carry a limited amount of said health packs. Did something change between the original game and the expansions? I never played the expansions.

[Ifafudafi]

In FEAR, if you were below a certain amount of health (25 on Normal) it would regenerate up to that point. Everything above that had to be taken care of with Healthpacks.

I don't like the Marathon system because you have to constantly search for health stations tucked away in a corner rather than being able to carry a few spare medpacks, or finding 'em on the ground like in Doom.

[Warsaw]

Huh...I never got that low in health...didn't know that tidbit. Oops?