Baby's first Extraction Shooter? (Gaming)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, March 03, 2026, 07:12 (3 hours, 13 minutes ago) @ Cody Miller

This is interesting, thanks. Marathon was the FIRST extraction shooter I've played, and while I found the audio to be invaluable, it seems wild that the hostile nature of the game precludes such interactions as you describe above.

I’ll say this about Arc Raiders—I think it has the best audio design that I’ve ever heard in a game, and before it I thought Bungie’s games set the gold standard. Part of that is the perception is it’s so important. You pay attention to it because it really matters. I don’t know objectively that Marathon’s audio is worse than Arc Raiders, but I concede the point that it’s less valuable because of the time to kill. I did play a bit more than a bit of the server slam, but I’m not going to go on highlighting what it lacks compared to other games. I’ll just say that I liked it more the more I played. I understood it more the more I played, and it consistently provided memorable moments. Arc Raiders does, too, and I think it’s a feature of extraction shooters. These games provide stakes, and that can feel novel. I remember when recruiting for raids, sometimes it was hard to instill that a commitment to a period of time mattered because other people’s time mattered. Maybes and mights and having to stop because you needed a snack had a cost. Yes, it’s just a video game, but there’s no pause button in extraction shooters. You have to achieve something to quit without losing something.

One more thing about the comparison to Arc Raiders: I don’t think Embark envisioned all of the organic dynamics that arose in their game. I would be shocked if Marathon doesn’t have its version of the same. If anyone reading this wants to join me Thursday night, I’ll be on and will appreciate the company—just let me listen to the cutscenes.