This guide works for Windows, OS X, and Linux.
With the release of Aleph One 1.0 on December 1st, 2011, the hitherto-confusing installation process has been streamlined dramatically. Curated community plugins have been bundled with the game files into a single download for each game.
Get your Marathon here!If you wish to find alternatives or additions to the bundled plugins, check out
Simplici7y. The site is active, with new content submitted regularly.
It should also be noted that Marathon 2: Durandal is available for purchase from the Xbox Live Arcade.
Useful StuffInstruction Manuals, Plot, and Walkthroughs
The instruction manuals are available as pdfs. They make for interesting reads.
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Marathon Instruction Manual>
Marathon 2: Durandal Instruction Manual>
Marathon Infinity Instruction ManualA comprehensive summary of the plot, as well as all terminal messages, may be found on
this site (scroll down the sidebar to the left to navigate by game/level).
If you get stuck, refer to the
Marathon Spoiler Guide. You may also use this to find all the hidden areas. Alternatively (and only for Marathon 2), BerserkerBarage has created a very nice series of video walkthroughs, found
here.The Preferences MenuBefore starting the game, walk through the preferences menu. You'll probably want to change your control scheme to use the mouse to aim. Also, take a look at the keyboard layout - of particular importance is the Map key, which brings up a map of the area you have explored so far. While you're there, an old trick is to make caps lock your Run key, so you can toggle it instead of having to hold it down (note that Always Run is turned on by default).
Tips & Tricks
You can start playing at any level from the main menu. Hold ctrl + shift then start a new game, and you will be presented with a list of levels. Note, however, that you will only start with a couple clips for the magnum and your fists.
Hangbrain has written a very nice summary of gameplay tricks found
here.MultiplayerAll the Marathon games have online play capabilities, including the Xbox Live version. There's likely to be a few people online at any given time, but for a more structured experience you should check out
For Carnage Apply Within, which is a very active group that organizes matches.
The Community and ExtrasMarathon Scenarios
Marathon has a dedicated and surprisingly active modding community. Many fan-made scenarios exist for you to play, with some approaching the quality of the original games.
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Marathon: ResurrectionA full remake of the original Marathon in the Unreal engine. Requires a copy of Unreal Tournament to play.
> Marathon: Eternal
(link is dead)Eternal picks up the story hundreds of years after the original Marathon. Using Jjaro technology, you and your A.I. travel back in time to the colony ship shortly before the Pfhor assault begins. Amazing music.
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Marathon: RubiconImpressive in its scope, Rubicon features multiple storylines and endings depending on your choices.
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Marathon: EvilYour starship crashes on a planet inhabited by strange and terrifying creatures.
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Marathon: RedAfter your patrol ship comes across a Pfhor cruiser drifting in space, a boarding excursion goes horribly wrong.
Community WebsitesThe following is a list of websites you should look into if you're interested in joining the community. If you have experience programming, making 3D models, or manipulating images, your contributions would be appreciated!
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Marathon.Bungie.orgThe hub of the Marathon community, major news such as the release of new scenarios or items of general interest are posted here.
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Marathon Open SourceHome of the Aleph One project. Watch this site for update releases and other news.
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Simplici7yThe current home for all user-created map packs, mods, and utilities. Have a look around - it's likely you'll find at least a few interesting things. Perhaps someday you'll submit your own.
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The PfhorumsHome for general discussion of Marathon with heavy emphasis on scripts, mods, and scenarios, the Pfhorums is where the minds that made this possible congregate. If you wish to contribute to the community, declare your interest here.
Other Bungie GamesThe Marathon Trilogy is the most recent game series to have been freewared by Bungie. Oni and the Myth series unfortunately possess the twin misfortunes of being hard to find and illegal to download, so the best you can do is find them on an online store or play the demos.
The main obstacle to playing even older Bungie games is that they were all written for now-obsolete Apple computers from the early 90's. The only way you are able to play these is through emulation (which will not be discussed here) or through the use of an actual Apple computer from that era. The games themselves are all freeware, and may be downloaded from the following pages:
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Gnop!>
Operation: Desert Storm>
Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete>
Pathways into Darkness Notes
Original thread by Tycho 41 49. Thread ported from Bungie.old. R.I.P BerserkerBarage
The Marathon Trilogy - Get It!