Marathon

This article is about the video game series. For other uses, see Marathon (disambiguation).

Marathon is a series of science fiction first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software released for the Apple Macintosh. It was Bungie's most popular video game prior to the Halo series.

In 1996, Marathon and its sequel Marathon 2: Durandal would be released as a bundle for Apple's short-lived home console, the Apple Bandai Pippin, as Super Marathon. In 2000, Bungie released the games' source codes and other assets, just prior to Microsoft's acquisition of the company. On August 1, 2007, a remaster of Marathon 2: Durandal was released on the Xbox LIVE Arcade by Freeverse. Since the original game hadn't been released, the Xbox Live version was renamed "Marathon: Durandal". 4 years later, the entire Marathon trilogy would be released on the App Store for free in 2011.

The Marathon trilogy is now available for free on Windows, Linux and Mac here, though the games require a source port (Aleph One) to work on Windows operating systems.

Games in the series

Marathon

Main article: Marathon (Game)

Marathon was released for the Apple Macintosh and was one of the earliest first-person shooters to appear on the Macintosh. Unlike some other similar games of that era (for example, id Software's Doom) Marathon and its sequels, Marathon 2: Durandal and Marathon Infinity were notable for their intricate plots, predominantly told through various terminals.

Set in the year 2794 A.D., the player assumes the role of a security officer aboard the human starship UESC (United Earth Space Council) Marathon. The Marathon was constructed beginning in 2408 by hollowing out the Martian moon Deimos to produce a colony ship that was launched towards the star Tau Ceti. The story begins some time after Marathon arrives in the system and begins the construction of a colony on planet Tau Ceti IV.

The player is awoken by one of the Marathons three artificial intelligences, Leela. The player interacts with Leela through computer terminals found around the ship. Leela explains that the ship is under attack by an alien race, the Pfhor, who have also attacked the colony on the planet. She has been damaged in the attack, and the other two AIs, Durandal and Tycho, appear to have been disabled.

Throughout the game, the player attempts to defend the ship and its inhabitants from the Pfhor. As he fights against the invaders, Leela regains contact with Durandal, who has gone rampant. Leela eventually succums to the attacks, and Durandal takes over Leela's role in directing the player. For the rest of the game, the three AIs periodically appear as one or another contact the player, with a reanimated Leela ultimately left in control while Durandal leaves the ship.

Marathon 2: Durandal

Main article: Marathon 2: Durandal

Marathon 2: Durandal was the sequel to Marathon. In addition to being released for the Apple Macintosh, a Windows 95 version was also released. The game engine itself underwent several changes from its first incarnation. Although most of these changes were "under-the-hood," a few were visible to the user. The Marathon 2 engine offered performance gains on some machines, in addition to support for higher resolutions, higher color depths, and better quality sound. The enhanced engine also allowed the loading of maps from external files, allowing for users to (later) create and play their own maps.

Marathon 2 begins 17 years after the first game's ending. The player awakes aboard the Pfhor ship that Durandal stole, having beamed the player aboard as he left Tau Ceti. He reveals that after they left, a Pfhor fleet arrived and destroyed the colony. He further reveals that he called the Pfhor to Tau Ceti in order to steal their technology. Now they orbit the ruined S'pht homeworld, Lh'owon.

Durandal sends the player and an army of ex-colonists to search the ruins of Lh'owon for information that would give Durandal an advantage against the Pfhor, who are planning a new assault on humanity. Among the new characters in this adventure are Durandal's evil counterpart Tycho, who played a minor role in the first game; a Lh'owon-native species known as F'lickta; an ancient and mysterious race of advanced aliens called the Jjaro; and the long-lost S'pht'Kr clan.

Marathon Infinity

Main article: Marathon Infinity

Marathon Infinity included more levels than Marathon 2, which were larger and part of a more intricate plot. The game's code changed little since Marathon 2, and many levels can be played unmodified in both games. Marathon Infinity was only released for the Apple Macintosh. The most dramatic improvement in the game was the inclusion of Bungie’s own level-creating software, Forge, and their physics editor, Anvil. Forge and Anvil allowed a new generation of players to create their own levels using the same tools as the Bungie developers themselves. In Forge, distance was measured in World Units, which are roughly equivalent to 2 meters (6 or 7 feet). Another improvement was the ability to include separate monster, weapons, and physics definitions for each level, a feature heavily used by Double Aught, who designed the Marathon Infinity levels.

Marathon Infinity begins as the Pfhor destroy Lh'owon using a Jjaro-derived doomsday weapon known as the Trih'Xeem (early nova). Unfortunately, the weapon also releases a powerful chaotic being which threatens to destroy the entire galaxy. Because of the chaos, or by means of some Jjaro tech of his own, the Security Officer is transported back and forth in time and through his own dreams, finding himself jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides in a desperate attempt to prevent the chaotic being's release. After multiple instances of "jumps," the player (seemingly the only being who realizes he is being transported between possible realities) activates the ancient Jjaro Station, preventing the chaotic entity's release. The ending screen of Infinity leaves the story's resolution open-ended, taking place billions of years after the events of Marathon Infinity.

Halo and Marathon

Main article: List of Marathon references in the Halo series

Halo: Combat Evolved shares many similarities with Marathon, though Bungie has confirmed that it is set in a different universe. Examples include the Marathon logo embedded in the Halo logo, the Hunter's design being influenced by the Pfhor Hunters, and the SPNKr (also known as Lazyboy or Spanker) rocket launchers, not to mention varying similarities to other weapons. The logo can also be seen on Captain Keyes' shirt, right above his medals, when Master Chief first meets with him. Halo plays very much like a modern, high-end version of Marathon, though it has far fewer puzzles. CE's Assault Rifle is also similar to Marathon's as it was originally supposed to have a grenade launcher underneath, much like Marathon's MA-75 AR/GL. Bungie often recycles components, famous phrases, and jokes from its games, such as the Security armor, which intentionally resembles the armor worn by Marathon's Security Officer.

Characters

Pfhor S'pht Drinol Wasp Looker Flick'ta Jjaro

W'rkncacnter BOB The Cyborg Leela Durandal Tycho Thoth

"Frog blast the vent core!"

This is a phrase synonymous with the Marathon series. Explosive "simulacrums" occasionally shout the phrase, trying to blend in with the regular BoBs in an attempt to explode around a large amount of humans. Since they are only piecing together random words, their nonsense gives them away. Doug Zartman, who performed the BoB voices, was instructed during recording to improvise a random phrase, and this is what he came up with. It is very popular to say in the text chat of a network game of Marathon; meant more as a joke than anything, the sheer randomness of this phrase means that it can be used at any time.

The phrase has appeared hidden in other games, such as Myth, Tron 2.0, and Oni. Also, a Morse code deciphered from the Halo 3 map High Ground also states this.

Trivia

• The music for Marathon 2 and Marathon Infinity was performed by a band called "Power of Seven".
• Marathon is a territory in ancient Greece where the first battle of the Greco-Persian War was fought, following with Bungie's theme of ancient Greek references in their games, such as the Spartans.
• The Halo 3 Marathon Man achievement, which is unlocked by finding all seven terminals, is a reference to the Marathon series' terminals, which are the sole source of in-game story progression. The emblem's icon is a stick figure with the Marathon logo for a head.

Related links

• List of Marathon references in Halo
• Rampancy

External links

• marathon.bungie.org: The Marathon news site
  • marathon.bungie.org: The Marathon Storyline
• Download the Trilogy for Classic MacOS, or the Aleph One-converted versions for OSx and Windows
• Marathon Open Source Project, the official website for Aleph One which also posts news updates on other Marathon fan projects.
• Pfhorpedia - the Marathon Wiki