Marathon fans are debating the best way to get more people into the brutally difficult and complex endgame raid, Cryo Archive, suggesting ways to help more casual players learn the high-stakes map.
Across the board, if you fail to exfil at the end of a Marathon game, you lose everything you took in with you, including your weapons and consumables. But Cryo Archive is even harder to get into, because your loadout needs to be worth at least 5,000 credits just to play.
"Give everyone the free loadout that was offered when the map launched once per week," suggested redditor timeobedlam. "It'll give players a low-risk way to engage with the content (on a very limited basis) and won't really inject that much value into the overall economy (let's be honest, most of those loadouts will get wiped out by super-kitted teams and will be left on the ground)."
The proposal picked up traction on the Marathon subreddit, where hundreds of players left upvotes and commented. Many agreed with the idea of "just make it free once and then charge 5K [credits] after that."
"I’d play more of it for a straight-up credit exchange set than piecing a 5k kit together," explained one player, while others liked the idea of being able to load custom pre-made loadouts so "you wouldn't have to rebuild all the time."
"Would love to be able to make a kit from regularly stocked items you can buy, and then have a one-click option to buy the kit," suggested this player. "It would pull items from inventory if available, and then automate purchases after."
Bungie has repeatedly said that while Marathon has a steep learning curve, over time, recovering from a bad loss gets easier. But then Cryo Archive doubled down on the ultra hardcore experience, with several requirements you need to meet in order to access it.
Former professional Counter-Strike player, Shroud, has said that while Cryo Archive offers an incredible experience, it's too difficult for casual players. Speaking in a recent stream, the influential gamer said: "Cryo Archive is insane. It's the most elaborate extraction shooter map I've ever seen in a game ever. The loop that they made is truly something special. The problem is, is it too elaborate? Is it too complex? Is it too much of a grind? Is your 9-5 grandma and grandpa going to be able to do it? I don't know."
Marathon's difficulty is the subject of much debate, and is often cited as one of the reasons the game has struggled to maintain players or sell in mainstream numbers. Are people bouncing off Marathon because of how brutally difficult it can be? Were some put off by its steep learning curve?
A new report recently claimed Marathon’s budget is over $200 million, and while player numbers have fallen significantly since launch, Bungie’s extraction shooter is allegedly not facing an imminent shutdown.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
