"Mac users have a BETTER game than PC USERS!"

It's time for sequels.

DOOM II has been out for a while, and 1st person DOOM clones are coming out of the woodworks. Rise of the Triad and all that, y'know? Well, Mac Users were singing happily when they learned of Bungie's plans to sequelize Marathon. Ohhhhhh, JOY! AN ALL NEW ENGINE, TOO! Eat that, PC USERS!

The first thing noticeable about Marathon 2, if you're played the original, is that the small field of vision has been replaced by.. well, a large field of vision. Instead of getting a corner of your screen to play in, you now get about half a screen to play in. All the graphics have been redone to look less cartoonish, and some new gizmos have been added -- notably, the shotguns. Owww, so sweet... and you can hold two at once. YES!

The plot is simple, yet UNBELIEVABLY convulted. After defeating the Phor in the original Marathon, you are abducted by Durandal, the rogue AI from the original. Lo and behold, you're working for him now, in a mission to free the Spht of Lho'won from the eveil Phor! Nothing too complex.. until you find out Tycho is alive, and about the secret resistance... honestly, the plotline of the Marathon trilogy has yet to be topped by any game. It's worth playing for the story alone.

The Graphics are purdy -- as good as the pseudo 3D shooters got before the advents of full 3D. You can still look up and down, and those wonderful enemies are still viewable from 16 angles.. and they look much better. The variety of enemies has also been upped.. there are even some enemies you might not even see.

Many of the sound effects were recycled from the original, which is both good and bad. The sound effects are good but... well.. sometimes they seem just a little too old. Music was axed in favor of ambient sounds -- a good idea, since the ambient sounds add more to the experience anyways.

The gameplay is also smooth -- everything is easily controlled from the keyboard. No need to mouse here -- you should be fine just using the arrow keys.

The Marathon Trilogy is the most important gaming series to grace the Macintosh Platform. And, unlike the other chapters in the trilogy, this one came out for PC too. At any rate, you should see to it that you go out of your way to play this game. It's worth it. Long and satisfying.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99