: Since this thread has turned in to a way of rating our favorite Marathon
: games . . .
: My personal favorite is MI. I know most people hate it, but I LOVE it. I love
: the story, i think it finally got the complex story telling back that the
: first game presented. I love when I really have to think to figure
: something out. Which is why I really don't like the M2 story.
: The first game is set up as horror sci-fi very similar to alien(back in
: theaters). It did a great job at this, an amazing job. I was shocked many
: a time when an alien poped out at me and I didn't get that feeling back
: till evil. The story is set up like a mystery that the player has to peice
: together. The terminals were gate ways to this mystery, each one a clue.
: This was never agian achieved in the marathon games. Every one pretty much
: agrees that it is the best story wise and this is my reason.
: All the games have a comlex story, but present them in their own way. MI
: tried to recapture the mystery of the first and fialed making it just
: confusing for most. There were just too few clue that clearly pointed at
: what was happening. In M2 the terminals all feel like commands or rewards.
: Personally I think that most could have been converted to cut secnes
: between levels and had pretty much a simialr effect. The story doesn't
: really add to that of M1, but goes off on its own tanget into a universe
: more like Dune then Alien(another reason I don't like the game, I can't
: stand dune).
: It does this in many fasions. The new map making is much more fun though. It
: looks good, but is still kind of blocky for my taste(Incredible for the
: time though). I really like playing through the levels and still do. The
: only problem for me was that it felt like I was jumping hoops for the sake
: of jumping hoops. I felt detached from the story, that what I was doing in
: the game had littel affect on the out come of the story. Where as in M1 I
: felt like the events reflected my doing.
: Another thing that I have mixed feelings on is arming the bobs. While its
: cool to have some one on my side they make the game easier. Infact they
: were constant ammo supplies after they did what they could. I feel they
: are better use in MI, trying to kill the player.
: M2 visualy is akward at best. The new sprites lose the feel of their proir
: being. The hunters have trimed down and are less intimidating, while the
: troopers look more threating. We lose my favorite sprite, the hulk, for my
: least favorite, the cyborg. And the game sprites don't really jive with
: the M1 styled walls. Like wise the terms use of some really great art
: teamed up with real photos. This kinds of inconsistency breaks down the
: reality of the game.
: Finaly we come to MI. It builds on the story of the last game and slightly on
: the orginal. The walls match the new sprites, dark and detailed. It mixes
: the feel of both M1 and M2. The duel story line is cool and this time the
: player is the driving force of the game instead of a tool to push it
: forward. The maps are dark and complex. I love how maze like many the
: levels are and that many of the puzzles are part of the game, not just an
: obsticle. The term art is great and the terms are set up as real terms
: like in M1. This is more real game world.
: I know every one has there favorite mine is a toss up between M1 and MI. I
: may have bashed M2, but it is really fun to play which is one of the prime
: reasons of playing a game. I can't say that I replayed M1, where as I have
: replayed many of the M2 levels.
: Ellio7t
: Well, I'm sorry if I got too rile. My favorite is M1, I don't know if i'm the only one who has : : : that favorite. But anyway, here's my opinion.
: Marathon 1
: Plot: I LOVED M1's plot. There was so much mystery and suspense, and just about : everything was going wrong. There was so much havoc, and the computers had their own role that they played in the game. I agree that there was very little scariness brought up in the following games in the Marathon series. I noticed how Durandals personality seems to be very menacing, like when he snatched you from Leela when she was about to transport you someplace, and Durandal put you in his "little game". He seemed more crazy. In the others, he just went on and on about what you had to do, and except for when Tycho came along, there wasn't much exciting personality in computers in the more recent Marathon games. And though Durandal gave information on what was going on, I don't like the way that in the future games he also gives hints on WHAT IS OUT THERE. For example, in the level Blaspheme Quarantine, he always says "unlike Leela, I give NO hints" and he does this, but in the others, he tells you stuff like "you will have to place the uplink chip here. This is what it looks like. You should also receive heavy resistance." Sure, Leela does that, but I think durandal isn't quite as cool as he used to be. But things were fascinating, being on a ship, alien invasion, don't know what to do, computers are crazy, difficult puzzles in levels to solve, AND MORE, and more melodramatics put in from the background music.
Level design: Level design in this game was overall, pretty darn good. There were different challenging puzzles, etc. Don't know what else to say.
Sound: Sound wasn't of high quality in this game compared to others, but one thing's for sure, I definately liked the uttered sounds from the pfhor enforcers in the first the best, including the sounds they make when they die, seemingly scarier, in the others it's always "raaaawwwww!". The sound from the pistol in the first, I must say, is just as good sound as the others, but when in the first it sounds a certain way, like "pow!" and the other two have the same old "blam!" I started missing that old "pow!" In the ship, it was usually just silent, and didn't have any ambient sounds like the rest, but I like the background music, it really gave feeling. Why, I would love to have some of that music on my iTunes!
Graphics: Graphics wasn't of high-quality as much as the other two either, but I liked the way the things in M1 looked the most. The way there was that HUD in M1, it's lost for the other two. And I liked the way the maps were more darker, scarier, stranger, more high-tech and industrial than those seemingly primitive world ones. I also liked the weapon's looks better, they seemed more technologically advanced, in the others, they look more like the guns we have today.
Marathon 2:
Plot: The plot was also great in M2, though not quite as suspenseful and stuff that was mentioned in M1, I think that though there wasn't quite as much dramatics and crazy computers and so many things seemingly wrong, the storyline was a little better. But nothing seemed to be so wrong in M2, just a bunch of running around doing Durandals bidding on a strange planet. But I liked the way it had it's storyline, and then we got introduced to more of the S'pht and the Jjaro... And something about finding a lost clan. But it seemed that there wasn't quite as much objective as in M1. I agree that there didn't seem to be much outcome for what was done in thsi game, unlike M1.
Level Design: In SOME ways, but not always, I noticed how often M2 maps have more room for you to walk in, M1 was a little more cramped. I didn't quite like the way the maps looked as much as I did M1, of course, that's just because of my taste.
Sound: The sound was of much better quality than of those in M1. Though I still have preferences for certain sounds from M1, I find these sounds an improvement. I still like background music the best, even with the ambient sounds around.
Marathon Infinity:
Plot: The plot, I agree, was quite confusing, but I liked the way there was so much seemingly prophetic stuff going on, more about 7, more about truth/tru7h, more said from people like the Jjaro. I believe it was communicating something. Sometimes I think, though the story-line was quite choppy, that there was a message being sent. I don't think they gave us enough evidence, but it was almost as if Bungie is creating some philosophy book or prophetic vision with this interesting fps, great atmosphere sort of visual.
Level Design: I don't know, the map design wasn't so good in my opinion. That's all.
Graphics:
Sound: Pretty much as good as M2. Ambient sounds are good. Of course, the bobs were different, and they sounded different.
So that's my opinion. Here is my overall rating IN MY OPINION from best to worst (including Rubicon).
#1: M1
#2: MR
#3: M2
#4: MI
