Marathon may be more than just an extraction shooter. According to creators who played during the testing period, the game will also feature complex PvE encounters, similar to dungeons in Destiny 2.
Skarrow9, a prominent Destiny creator, uploaded a YouTube video breaking down his experience with Marathon. While he goes on to say he didn't get a ton of time to explore these secrets and ultimately doesn't want to reveal too much of them, there is a PvE element that should get fans excited.
"I hesitate to call it raid-like, but is definitely like you're trying to solve puzzles, and secrets, find hidden lore, that sort of thing. Maybe more on the scale of like a dungeon, while you're in the midst of PvP. That sort of thing is going to be the secret sauce for this game."
If you've never played Destiny 2, raids and dungeons are some of the best content the looter shooter has to offer. Specifically talking about dungeons, they are three-player activities similar to raids but slightly downsized in scale. They feature multiple encounters that mix mechanic-intensive sequences with bosses that require coordination to take down.
Skarrow9 mentioned that the fourth map, set to be in the Marathon ship, could potentially be filled with these sorts of secrets. It makes sense, considering the lore dumps in the original Marathon occurred while exploring the ship's terminals (something Bungie would also implement in the Halo series). Having said that, it's possible the three launch maps also feature PvE sections and secrets to uncover.
If Bungie's vision for Marathon does end up becoming true and they can innovate the extraction shooter genre, then the eventual price tag could be justified. Game director Joe Ziegler feels the foundation is strong enough to do so already.
In any case, Marathon is set to be released on September 23 for PC, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5. If you're looking to play on other platforms besides PS5, Bungie confirmed that you won't need a PSN account. There's also a Closed Alpha happening this April, check out how to register.