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Doom vs Marathon (Gaming)

by Cody Miller @, Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Monday, June 15, 2020, 09:26 (1383 days ago) @ nico

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.

I tend to think that the non recharging health in Doom makes this even better. You need to seek out corners of the level, and secrets that have powerups in order to survive. The secrets not only become part of the normal part of the game for survival, but they tend to be designed in such a way that make the levels feel bigger and more cohesive. Romero would always let you get somewhere if you could see it. It was just a question of how.

There are no health powerups in Marathon 1. So going back and forth to a recharger becomes what determines survival. Secrets are limited to ammo caches, terminals, and very sporadically an early weapon.


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