Doom vs Marathon (Gaming)

by nico, Sunday, June 14, 2020, 23:42 (1408 days ago) @ Harmanimus

Doom and Doom II are both significantly harder. Especially on higher difficulties. Also, both Games were released before Marathon. The defining feature of Marathon has always been the story. Almost all of its contemporaries were more difficult games, and many of them were implementing features at the same time (Rise of the Triad for example had a concurrent initial release with both Dual Wielding and Vertical Look and neither was the first on market with it) or in releases immediately after (Duke Nukem 3D and Dark Forces released 1 and 2 months after respectively and have a lot of additions such as jumping).

I would venture the assessment that Doom as a wholistic package is a better game experience from a moment-to-moment and design standpoint. And that even with its more technically relevant contemporaries Marathon mostly shines bright for its storytelling as well as the story itself over the details of gameplay.

Your points are well taken, but if we talk about “wholistic package,” I contend Marathon prevails. Sitting, terrified with little health left and with red triangles moving around your radar (like in the movie Alien), wondering if you might make it to the next save terminal — that’s emotion, that’s experience, that’s gameplay.

At some point, aren’t story-telling and gameplay not part of the “wholistic package?” And doesn’t the Doom franchise feel like one where you’re happy to put a few quarters into, and the Marathon franchise not one that’s worthy of dollar bills and more?