Bungie ask Marathon critics to delay "full reviews" till the release of an endgame zone, and I am wistfully reminded of Vault of Glass

Bungie's Marathon reboot released yesterday, but you might not get that impression from the developer's coverage embargo guidelines, which request that critics delay their "full review and impressions" until the launch of a "pinnacle endgame zone and experience" later in March.

It's a "request/suggestion", not a demand, but it rubs me up the wrong way regardless. The Marathon reboot is not an early access launch that is marketed to buyers as unfinished.

Here's the complete excerpt from the embargo mail, as shared with me by RPS sheriff of guidestown Ollie Toms, who has already written a bazillion Marathon guides. "There is no embargo on any coverage, impressions, livestreams, VODs, or assets. You can publish content as you play the game. However, we ask you to hold your full review and impressions until you play Cryo Archive, Marathon's pinnacle endgame zone and experience, which will be unlocked in the second half of March. To be clear, this isn't a mandate, but a request/suggestion."

The Cryo Archive zone doesn't have a final release date. Also coming at some point in the second half of March: a ranked PvP mode.

Those of you old enough to drink will possibly be reminded of the launch of the original Destiny, back at the dawn of the live service looter-shooter era in 2014. I was one of the launch reviewers, handing it an 8/10 with points awarded for some gorgeous traversal abilities and grenade skills, and points deducted for a campaign that was all grandiose build-up and no crescendo. Back in those days, a Bungie game getting an 8/10 was widely considered to be a sign of Armageddon (this was their first post-Halo project). Bungie sought to mitigate the relatively mixed reactions by pointing to the Vault Of Glass, Destiny's first raid, which landed a week or two after launch.

The Vault Of Glass is very good, and very hard. Releasing it later made a certain sense in terms of letting players master the basics, and form enduring squads with their friends. Nonetheless, I disliked how Bungie massaged the initial reactions then, and I dislike it now. The wording of their Marathon embargo comment above is mild, but I can see it encouraging more timid or time-strapped launch reviewers (and what launch reviewer isn't time-strapped?) to hedge their bets and pull their punches. Marathon exists as a thing you can buy right now, and we only have the creator's word that Cryo Archive will be the "pinnacle" of the experience.

I might be less grumpy if Bungie and Sony hadn't held off revealing what Marathon's microtransactions actually involve till yesterday, thereby minimising the odds of these things being analysed prior to launch. Cheeky! I have vaguely enjoyed what I've played of Marathon, despite being not much of an extracto-fan, but I do not enjoy playing 4D chess with marketing teams.