I rarely watch a video game trailer more than once. Still, with Bungie’s Marathon reboot/sequel/whatever, I found myself looping its sleek, sleek trailer. It’s not just because the trailer slaps, but because Bungie teases seems to be one of the coolest shooters released in years.

On March 24, shortly before a Spider-Man 2 trailer set off an all-new “puddle“, Bungie (Halo, Destiny) has revealed its next great first person shooter: Marathon. If that name sounds familiar, that’s because it’s actually Bungie returning to one of its oldest franchises, the Mac-only shooter trilogy, Marathon. You can read more about these ancient games, their beloved lore, and how it connects to Halo and modern extraction shooters in this piece from our very own Claire Jackson.

However, I’m not here to talk about lore, history, Marathon fandom, or anything related to the Bungie mythos. No, instead, I just want to gush for a few paragraphs about how refreshing and impressive the look and trailer of this game is compared to most other shooters and games available today. And I don’t seem to be the only one loving this trailer as it has already reached 18 million views on YouTube.

PlayStation / Bungie

Marathon has one of the best game trailers of 2023

From the moment the the intense electronic music of the trailer starts at the beginning, I was engaged. Then we see someone in a radiant-looking sci-fi outfit running through a tunnel, while shots of brightly colored robot insects create complex android-like beings. What’s going on here? I don’t know, But did you just hear that sick piece in the music?

Either way, the running character exits the darkest tunnels and enters an incredibly bright world where we see he’s also sporting vibrant colors, including a glowing neon pink helmet. The music builds as the camera zooms closer and closer to the runner. Things seem tense as the music turns into a digital mess, then BAM! That’s all she wrote for this racer as they are pulled from afar by a slick, paper-white looking android. Our now-dead runner is seen collapsing in slow motion into what appears to be a milk-like substance, their inky blue blood mixing and swirling in the water around their corpse. As the robot sniper snatches something from the dead runner, the music plays back, fades out and BAM! Bungie Reveals This Vibrant Trailer Was For A New Marathon.

“Vibrant” is really the key word here. Everything in this trailer pops in a way that I haven’t seen in most other shooters released in recent years. Many modern shooters seem focused on realism, which can be beautiful, but also a bit lackluster. The popular color scheme that we typically see on shooters is also starting to mix up shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield. Or they all look a little too much like Fortnite, which, while colorful, is no longer visually distinct. I really appreciate these modern shooters despite everything. But with Marathon, things are different.

In fact, it’s more than colorful. It’s almost garish with all of its pinks, yellows, greens and blues clashing in almost every image. Yet everything is balanced by hyper-realistic lighting, materials, textures, and models. The color palettes are amazing to look at and a few of us at Kotaku couldn’t help but watch the trailer.

Marathon’s new art style is fresh and bold

Bungie calls Marathon’s art style “graphic realism,” as mentioned in a recent behind-the-scenes video about the rebooted shooter. Bungie developer Emily Katske expands on the game’s art further, saying it’s “bold, colorful [and] stylized.”

Game director Christopher Barret, in the same video, also says that the team wanted the art to be “beautiful” and “vibrant”, “mysterious” and “familiar”, “but also weird”.

Bungie

Normally, I’d roll my eyes a bit at this kind of conversation, but after seeing the trailer and concept art for this new version of Marathon, yes, I get it. Balance is key, however. Bungie needs to carefully balance when and where to “compose [things] up to 11 inches and when to step back a bit so people don’t get overwhelmed trying to play.

It’s a risky option, taking a beloved franchise and reworking it into something bold. It’s also quite different from the original Marathon games, which featured more sober or grimy textures and Doom-like sprites. I’ve already spotted longtime Marathon fans upset with this more colorful and stylized new direction. And until we actually play the final game, we won’t know if any of this will actually work. Was it a big, costly mistake? Or a huge bet that lands perfectly? No idea!

But the trailer, concept art, and overall style of Marathon have me more excited than I thought to play this upcoming extraction shooter. I’m not even a fan of this kind of online FPS, but I want to see more Marathon so badly that I’ll give it a try. As long as I can waddle around Bungie’s amazing new world for a few minutes before I get killed, I’ll be happy to play and explore Marathon on every outing.

Big changes are coming to Destiny 2 this year and some of them fled earlier in the month. Bungie now thinks it knows who is responsible and has taken action, banning popular Twitch streamer Ekuegan Teko-Agbo from the game he plays for a living. The content creator says he’s innocent, though, and no one really knows what to make of the whole episode.

Every once in a while, Bungie hosts a secret meeting with star players and content creators from around the world. Destiny 2 Community to preview upcoming changes and get feedback on the state of the game and its future. These summits are invite-only and strongly NDA, but that hasn’t stopped apparent screenshots of a PowerPoint presentation from the most recent from being leaked to Discord on April 5 by a user called Freezing Dart. The slideshow apparently revealed upcoming content, weapons, and gameplay changes. A week later, Bungie took the unprecedented step of publicly acknowledging the leak.

“Community interaction and engagement is at the heart of Bungie and our games,” he tweeted April 14. “For years, we’ve invited creators and other community members to confidential summits to provide their input on the future of Destiny. It’s a beloved part of the process, but one that relies heavily on trust.

The studio continued:

Breaches of this trust could prevent us from organizing more summits. We take these violations very seriously and are taking steps to reinforce our policies with those invited to these internal meetings.

He didn’t mention Ekuegan by name, but the streamer later confirmed that Bungie chose him as the source of the leak in an interview with Paul Tassi from Forbes. The veteran player known in the community for his skills and achievements in the game said he won’t be playing it again after the ban and proceeded to remove some VODs from past Destiny 2 streams. Yet he says he is innocent and has no knowledge of the leak, despite practically attending the summit in question.

What seems to have singled out Ekuegan as the leaker are desktop icons in the leaked computer screenshots that match his own. He told Tassi that was the explanation Bungie gave him, and he even suggested that he might have been framed. “I’m in so many NES [at the moment], why would I violate it? It’s part of the job,” Ekuegan told Tassi. “I spent 14,000 hours on this game, many hours helping people in Grandmasters.”

One possibility is that the leaks were expertly photoshopped to incriminate Ekuegan despite coming from someone else. Another possibility is that someone else used their computer to produce the leak. It’s Tassi’s theory, and that would reconcile people’s perception of Ekuegan as an honest and dedicated figure in the Destiny 2 community with all the evidence Bungie has. It would still be a violation of his NDA, but it would make more sense for Ekuegan to blow up his career to momentarily and secretly impress a small Discord channel.

Ekuegan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other big Destiny 2 streamers and content creators were also in disbelief. I saw Ekuegan as nothing but kind to me and the community,” wrote Gladd. “It’s a pillar. I trust him; take it for what it’s worth. At the very least, Bungie needs to take a closer look at this. Destiny 2 Lore YouTuber Byf was more concise“No idea what to think. The whole situation sucks.

It is not known when or if answers will be provided. Bungie didn’t elaborate beyond its first two tweets and didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the meantime, Ekuegan is still streaming other games and said he was working to clear his name. “I’ve come to a place where I’m happy with who I am in life,” he tweeted. “I personally know the truth, I know who I am and I am happy to know it. Only God can Judge Me.”

Update 4/17/23 10:24 PM ET: Bungie released a new statement late Monday night saying it had “irrefutable evidence” showing a pattern of Ekuegan leaking confidential Destiny 2 information for several years now.

“We are very disappointed to have learned of this information and wish things had turned out differently with this individual,” the studio wrote. “We do not take these steps lightly and we are confident in our decision. This is our last communication on this subject.

Things haven’t been going well for Xbox lately. Microsoft faces strong resistance in its bid to acquire Activision Blizzard. He hardly released any big exclusive blockbusters last year. And he just cut over 10,000 jobs last week, including many senior developers at the Halo Infinite 343 Industries studio. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer tried to stay optimistic and damage-limiting on each of these and more in a new interview with IGN.

“Every year is critical,” he said. “I don’t find this year more or less critical. I feel good in our momentum. Obviously we’re going through some adjustments right now which are painful, but I think it’s necessary, but it’s really to set us and the teams up for long-term success.

This week has captured both the peril and the promise Xbox faces right now. On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a decrease in net income of 12% for the last fiscal quarter compared to the previous year. Xbox gaming hardware and software have fallen by similar percentages, and Microsoft hasn’t said anything about how many new subscribers its Game Pass service has gained since hitting the 25 million mark exactly one year ago. year.

Then, on Wednesday, Microsoft provided a sleek, streamlined preview of its upcoming games in a Developer Direct livestream copied directly from Nintendo’s playbook. Forza Motorsport has apparently been quietly delayed to the second half of the year, but looked like a beautiful and impressive showpiece of racing sim. Arkane’s Sandbox co-op vampire shooter Redfall has had a May 2 release date. Real-time strategy spin-off Minecraft Legends will arrive in April. And to top it off, Tango Gameworks, creator of The Evil Within, has lost the shadow Hi-Fi Rush on Game Pass, a colorful left-field rhythm-action game that has already become the undisputed top gaming hit of 2023.

Screenshot: Tango Gameworks / Bethesda

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“2022 was too light on games,” Spencer confessed in his IGN interview. 2023 shouldn’t be thanks to Redfall and Starfield, Bethesda’s much-anticipated answer to the question, “What if Skyrim but space?” But both of those games were technically supposed to come out last year. Meanwhile, Hi-Fi Rush, like Obsidian’s Pentiment before that, is shaping up to be a critically acclaimed Game Pass release that might still be too small to move the needle on Xbox’s biggest fortunes.

Spencer remained vague when asked about the success of these games or their impact on Game Pass, whose growth would have stalled on console. “I think creative diversity grows for us when we have different ways for people to pay for the games they’re playing, and the subscription certainly helps there,” he said.

Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall, Starfield and a new The Elder Scrolls Online expansion coming out in June are also all from Bethesdawhich Microsoft finished acquiring in 2021. Microsoft’s former first-party game studios have been relatively silent in recent years while working on their next big projects, or, in the case of 343 Industries, have recently been hit by a number surprising layoffs. .

Following the news of the cuts last week, rumors and speculation began circulating that 343 Industries – which launched a well-received Halo Infinite single-player campaign in 2021 but struggled with seasonal updates of the multiplayer component in the months that followed – was benched. The released studio a brief statement over the weekend saying that Halo was here to stay and would continue to develop it.

Image: Bethesda/Microsoft

Spencer doubled down on that in his interview with IGN, but offered little information about the reasoning behind the layoffs or his plans for the future of the franchise. “What we’re doing now is we want to make sure the leadership team is set up with the flexibility to come up with the plan they need to build,” he said. “And Halo will remain critically important to what Xbox does, and 343 is critically important to the success of Halo.”

Where Halo Infinite has been touted before 10-year plan fits into this, however, remains unclear. “They have other things, some rumored, some announced, that they will be working on,” Spencer said. And on the future of the series as a whole, he simply said, “I expect that we will continue to support and grow Halo for as long as Xbox is a platform for people to play. ” It’s hard to imagine Nintendo talking about Mario with a similar lack of conviction.

Microsoft’s ongoing difficulties with some of its internal projects may be part of the reason it’s so focused on seeking help outside of the company. Currently, that means trying to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion and fighting an antitrust lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission in the process. Microsoft originally promised that the deal to get Call of Duty, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush would be done before the end of summer 2023. That deadline is fast approaching, even as the company continues to offer compromises, as would have given Sony the option to continue paying for Activision’s games on its rival Game Pass subscription service, PS Plus.

Spencer told IGN that he remains optimistic about closing the deal, even though he claims to know nothing about the logistics of doing so when he started a year ago. “Given that a year ago, for me, I knew nothing about the process of making an acquisition like this,” he said. “The fact that I have more insight, more knowledge about what it means to work with the various regulators, I’m more confident now than I was a year ago, just based on the information I have. and discussions we had.

Image: EA

The last time we took a look at Battlefield 2042, the beleaguered online shooter had just released its second major update and was finally starting to look like something approaching a finished video game. With Season 3 releasing this week, it’s now even closer.

Note that I am not making this statement as a criticism. Battlefield 2042 released in the middle of the pandemic, with nearly two entire years of its development affected. As a lifelong series fan – but also a video game journalist familiar with how this stuff works – I’ve made peace with the fact that the game was clearly rushed by executives to achieve a financial goal. in the short term, regardless of the damage it has caused to the long-term reputation of the brand.

So I’m just not exactly reaching when I say – as anyone who played the game at launch knows – it just wasn’t ready for release in November 2021. Those of us who still found something to love in the game and kept playing have, for months, essentially played and publicly tested an unfinished video game.one that was never going to feel “complete” (at least compared to its predecessors) after months of updates.

Well we are now at that point of “months of updates”, which in previous Battlegrounds would have been the stage where the game was significantly added, but in the case of 2042 it’s right there where he is within touching distance of normal.

This week saw the release of Season 3, which adds a huge new map (set in Sweden, around two square robotic weapon factories), a new anti-tank vehicle, a railgun and a new specialist, whose weapon unique is a miniature air-burst explosive rifle.

Battlefield 2042 | Season 3: Escalation Gameplay Trailer

It’s perfect! The map, Spearhead, is large, and as failed before is clearly differentiated by the presence of two large indoor playgrounds for close combat, surrounded by large open spaces for snipers and vehicles. I had a great time with it, as its long design and rocky terrain between the two buildings means games often turn into meat grinders at central checkpoints, leading to huge, explosive battles.

The new Specialist, Rasheed Zain, is also something the game has needed; his air-bursting rifle is able to kill enemy forces bunkered down in cover or around corners, giving infantry the kind of space-clearing ability that was previously only available to vehicles or the rare few who can actually use grenades properly.

I’m not quite as sold on the other two main additions, the railgun and anti-armour tank. The latter, the EMKV90-TOR, plays like StarCraft’s Siege Tank; you can drive it around for a bit with limited firepower, but when you really want to mess stuff up, you can lower its suspension and snipe enemy tanks from across the map.

The railgun, meanwhile, is all about timing; it’s useful as both a medium and long-range weapon, but only if you can master the way it charges itself then discharges automatically when ready. Nearly all of the game’s current roster of weapons and vehicles feel somewhat contemporary, with gentle concessions made to the fact this game is set 20 years in the future; these two additions look, sound and feel more like Halo weapons.

Image: EA

When you look back at all the work and updates the game has received since launch—not just new stuff but revisions of old maps and tweaks to things like Specialist appearance and their soundbytes, giving the game a more cohesive tone—it’s clearly a much-improved experience!

I think when the unpopular Specialist system is reworked next month to revert to traditional Battlefield classes, that year-long effort to make this the game it should have been will be done. Which, given how disastrous the game’s launch was, will be one hell of an achievement.

And yet, it also can’t have us help but wonder: what could this game have been if the last 12 months had been free to add to the game, rather than just perform emergency repairs? I really like the setting of 2042, one of the few blockbusters to ever take the threat of climate change seriously, and its near-future arsenal has been so much more fun to use than the historical gear available in the last few games.

We’ll never know! A pandemic and the investor class conspired to curse this game, and so if all we can look forward to is one last Season 4 update before the whole thing gets binned and everyone moves onto the next Battlefield, then that’s what I’ll be looking forward to. Me and the other people who have been enjoying the game since launch. We are dozens! Dozens!

Image: EA

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

If you have an appetite for destruction, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is happy to provide you with a nearly endless supply of guns that you can customize to an absurdly delicious degree. Seriously, it’s almost as fun as sorting my nail polish colors.

But it’s not about making all the other soldiers, gals, and non-binary buddies envious of your brutal styles; there are a ton of stats you’ll want to understand as well. For every attachment you apply to a gun, there are obvious pros and cons. And once you reach max level with a given gun, you unlock weapon tuning, allowing you to tweak the feel and performance of the guns even further.

Read more: Fans won’t stop comparing Modern Warfare II to Modern Warfare 2 (they’re totally different games

Modern Warfare II gives you plenty of room for freedom, style, and min/maxing, so while time will tell what the god-level meta will end up being, don’t be afraid to dive in and experiment. a setup that helps you step onto the dash while looking cool and adapting to your style of play.

This guide focuses only on the guns you point and shoot, i.e. your primary and secondary weapons. Let’s dig.

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II Pistols 101

As soon as you load the game, you’ll see a set of tabs at the top: Play, Weapons, Operators, Battle Pass, and Store.

The weapon selection will take you to where you can sort through your loadouts, killstreaks, and vehicle customization. In Loadouts, you’ll notice that you can have up to 10 custom builds, so don’t worry about having to commit to a narrow selection. A loadout is made up of six elements: you get a primary and secondary weapon to choose from, as well as your tactical and lethal gear, perks, and a field upgrade.

Your upload is shown in a horizontal bar on the “Edit Uploads” screen. Selecting a specific loadout will allow you to configure each of the six types. Some of your available weapons are dictated by the perks you have active for that loadout. Primary weapons have the following types:

Main weapon types

Assault RiflesBattle RiflesSMGShunting RiflesLMGSniper RiflesSniper RiflesMelee

There are only three types of secondary weapons.

Secondary Weapon Types

Weapons break down into platforms, which look like a skill tree in an RPG, showing what attachments you can unlock for a given weapon. When looking at a weapon in the loadout or weapon menu screen, you can see the progress of the platform by pressing V on the keyboard (touchpad on PlayStation, view button on Xbox).

The M4 platform, for example, is a family of weapons consisting of the M4 Assault Rifle, 556 Icarus LMG, FTAC Recon Battle Rifle, M16 Assault Rifle, and FSS Hurricane SMG.

Read more: Modern Warfare 2 has an excellent weapon XP farm, if you can pull it off

You level up each weapon by going out and scoring kills. Some weapons from a specific platform are locked behind a weapon tier. For example, to get the Bryson 890 shotgun, you need to build your Bryson 800 to level 16. You can also upgrade each individual gun for even more attachment customization.

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

Customizing Weapons and Attachments with the Gunsmith

When viewing a specific loadout in the menus, some weapons will have an “Armourer” option. Here you can change how your weapon is built.

In Gunsmith’s “Build a Weapon” tab, you can install many different “Modifications” to the weapon’s optics, muzzles, magazines, stocks, and ammo types. You can select up to five mods at any time, and you can also swap out the gun’s receiver – essentially its core to which everything else attaches – for others in the weapon’s Platform family. (Note that not all weapon mods within the same platform are compatible.)

After making changes to the Gunsmith, you can jump straight into the Firing Range to test out how the new changes look. It loads pretty quickly too, so while you can’t directly A/B compare some mods, you can still get a good feel for each selection without spending forever behind a loading screen.

Each change affects stats in unique ways, and each has specific pros and cons. The 419mm EXF gun, for example, will increase your damage range, hip-fire accuracy, and bullet speed (perks), but at the cost of down-sight speed and recoil control. hip (disadvantages).

The second tab of the Gunsmith interface is “Customize”. This is where you can apply different weapon charms, skins, stickers, etc. Each camo skin will have different requirements, but it’s very similar to unlocking attachments: Simply earn Weapon EXP by scoring kills and completing specific challenges noted under each camo skin. There are also weapon mastery challenges that you must complete once you unlock the Gold, Platinum, Polyatomic, and Orion skins.

The more you level up a specific weapon, the more attachments you will have access to. Once you’ve maxed out a specific weapon, you can start tuning those attachments to take even more control over its performance.

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

Weapon Tuning in Modern Warfare II

Weapon tuning allows you to further tweak the pros and cons of each attachment. Remember that you must reach level 20 with a specific weapon in order to adjust the modifications.

You can’t adjust all of the attachments, but the ones you can will offer two sets of sliders that let you emphasize everything on a weapon’s strengths or back off the cons a bit. Keep in mind these are all fine tuning adjustments. If you want to maximize your down-sight speed, for example, you’re better off going for mods that prioritize that rather than trying to compensate for slower ADS speeds via weapon tuning. That said, Modern Warfare II’s high TTK rate means that even the finest tweaks can make a difference in the heat of battle.

Weapon tuning is really best leveraged once you have a good idea of ​​what weapons and mods you like. This stage of weapon customization is more of an art than a science, so expect to take your time figuring out what works best for you.

Upgrading Weapons in Modern Warfare II

Maxing out your weapons is one of the main goals of the game, and you’ll make the most progress with the weapons you actively use. Keeping a firearm holstered or slung over the shoulder will not suffice; to upgrade a gun you have to be there using it to put lead into your enemies.

With so many weapon choices, it’s not a bad idea to stick to a few weapons, two or three at most, at first. Playing with the Overkill Perk equipped (available with the Assault preset package) is a good way to see what it feels like to wield two primary weapons at once.

Screenshot: Activision / Kotaku

Don’t forget to take advantage of the Weapon XP boosts as well. You can select them in the multiplayer matchmaking screen. Be careful though, as your XP boosts count in real time outside of matches. With that in mind, it’s best to save XP boosts for use in playlists that aren’t as latency-heavy.

Quick Play and Ground War generally have faster queues. However, keep in mind that 32v32 modes such as Ground War might have you in gunfights less frequently as you’ll often spend time moving between objectives. On the other hand, it can be a good opportunity to upgrade a sniper or sniper rifle, as you will have more distance to work with. If you’re looking to upgrade close-range weapons like shotguns, smaller 6v6 sets might be your best bet, but your mileage may vary.

One thing I like to do is set aside a loadout specifically for weapon leveling. Label it “Leveling” and simply use it to swap out the weapons you want to progress, leaving your main loadouts intact and free to select when you want to change your playstyle in a match.

Read more: The easiest way to unlock one of Modern Warfare 2’s hardest achievements

If you swap out a gun in a loadout that you plan to use regularly, all mods will be reset, which isn’t ideal. A dedicated “Upgrade” loadout will allow you to prioritize your remaining nine loadout selections with the weapons, mods, and settings you prefer. You may also want to prioritize certain perks that can make leveling up a bit easier. Overkill, for example, will allow you to have two primary weapons on the field, so you can progress with two at a time (although again, you must actively use a given weapon to gain XP from ‘gun on it.) I also like having Fast Hands equipped for an upgrade loadout, as it allows for faster swaps between guns, which is useful when trying to give both a practice session. . Scavenger is another good perk to have for leveling up weapons, as you’ll be able to get more ammo during a game.

Modern Warfare II didn’t disappoint when it comes to delivering a ton of fun guns to shoot and blast shit. Spend some time equipping your weapons, and you’ll probably play better and look cooler on the field. And once you have an idea of ​​which weapons and mods you like best, don’t forget to try tuning the weapons to further tweak the feel of the game for you.