"”The core loop is about scavenging an abandoned colony, so we set out to tell the best possible story about that colony and the people who lived there,” explains Nardin. “A lot of that is done through the loot itself – there are text files and audio logs that you can collect that will help you piece together what happened on Tau Ceti IV.””
"”We want Marathon to be an additive experience in the sense that all priority contracts and story content aims to be evergreen, meaning that it doesn’t matter when you join, you’ll still be able to play through the established questlines and fill out your Codex with achievements and collections that allow you to uncover additional layers of the world. We’ll be adding to this foundation over time in the live service environment, depending on our players’ response and at a cadence we can support, but we know what direction we want to go in and what we want to create for the community to uncover next.””
“we had to ask Vinton, one of the art leads on the game, about how Bungie landed on its striking mix of cyberpunk DNA, techwear elements, and sci-fi imagery that felt reminiscent enough of its previous works without being more of the same”
“it all started with a “deconstruction” of the old Marathon games and “digging into” the industrial sci-fi elements and “crisp graphic designs” that evolved alongside the studio during the development of Halo and Destiny games”
"”On Marathon, we call this aesthetic ‘graphic retro futurism’ – kind of a fusion of retro roots, oddball cool, modern technology, and visuals that correlate with modern tech, such as digital dithering that you see when rendering, and lattice structures seen with 3D printing… Our approach is to make the weird and unexpected look cool, in a uniquely Bungie and Marathon way. So yeah, the cyberpunk and techwear tones grew out of this search for freshness and surprise, and now they form a pillar of the game’s identity,” he explained.”
“Marathon also clearly leans way harder on science fiction and cosmic horror than ‘space fantasy’ as seen in the two Destiny games. Some of that comes from Halo’s many dark sections (remember the Flood?), but it’s all amped up here”
“essential and a natural “inversion” of what Bungie fans had come to expect”
“Nardin pointed out there’s an interest in exploring “Runners as a community” and the kind of people “willing to give up their human body” for an augmented one: “Your consciousness has been copied, making you functionally immortal, but it comes at a great personal cost. And are you even still really you?” Marathon isn’t just about the alien planet and the thrill of raiding a colony’s remains; those looking for deeper sci-fi themes (and willing to do some reading and listening) will be fed too.”