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Marathon (computer game)

Marathon is a series of science fiction first-person shooter computer games from Bungie Software released for the Apple Macintosh.

The first game, Marathon (1994), was followed by two sequels: Marathon 2: Durandal (1995) and Marathon Infinity (1996). Marathon 2 was also released for Windows 95.

Games in the series

Marathon

Marathon was released for the Apple Macintosh and was one of the earliest first-person shooters to appear on the Macintosh. Unlike some other similar games of that era (for example, id Software's DOOM) Marathon and its sequels, Marathon 2:Durandal and Marathon Infinity were notable for their intricate plots.

Set in the year 2794 A.D., the game placed the player as a cyborg Security Officer aboard the human starship U.E.S.C. Marathon, orbiting a colony on the planet Tau Ceti IV. Throughout the game, the player attempts to defend the ship and its inhabitants from a race of alien slavers called the Pfhor. As he fights against the invaders, he witnesses the three shipboard AIs' interactions, and discovers that all is not as it seems aboard the Marathon.

Marathon 2: Durandal

Marathon 2: Durandal was the sequel to Marathon. In addition to being released for the Apple Macintosh, a Windows 95 version was also released.

Marathon 2 begins 17 years after the Marathon security officer helped the insane AI known as Durandal take over an attacking Pfhor scoutship and liberate the enslaved S'pht (end of Marathon), as the renegade scoutship arrives at the ruined S'pht homeworld Lh'owon. Durandal sends the security officer and an army of ex-colonists to search the ruins of Lh'owon for information which would give Durandal an advantage against the Pfhor, who are planning a new assault on humanity. Among the new players in this adventure are Durandal's evil counterpart Tycho, a Lh'owon-native species known as F'lickta, an ancient and mysterious race of advanced aliens called the Jjaro, and the long-lost S'pht'Kr clan.

Marathon Infinity

Marathon Infinity included more levels than Marathon 2, which were larger, scarier, and part of a more intricate plot. The game's code changed little since Marathon 2, and many levels can be played unmodified in both games. Marathon Infinity was only released for the Apple Macintosh. The most dramatic improvement in the game was the inclusion of Bungie's own level-creating software, Forge, and their physics editor, Anvil. Forge and Anvil allowed a new generation of players to create their own levels using the same tools as the Bungie developers themselves. In Forge, distance was measured in World Units, which are roughly equivalent to 2 metres (6 or 7 feet). Another improvement was the ability to include separate monster, weapons, and physics definitions for each level, a feature heavily used by Double Aught, who designed the Marathon Infinity levels.

In addition to the 3 Marathon games, several games such as Damage Incorporated used the Marathon 2 Engine.

Marathon Infinity begins as the Pfhor destroy Lh'owon using a stolen Jjaro doomsday weapon known as the Trih'Xeem (early nova). Unfortunately, the weapon also releases a powerful chaotic being which threatens to destroy the entire galaxy. Because of the chaos, or by means of some Jjaro tech of his own, the Marathon Cyborg is transported back in time and finds himself jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides in a desperate attempt to prevent the chaotic being's release.

Types of enemies

The Pfhor

The Pfhor are an extraterrestrial ancient spacefaring race of alien slavers seeking to control the galaxy and perform numerous evil deeds in the games. The Pfhor are bipedal, somewhat taller than humans, have three red eyes and green skin, and come in a variety of classes and flavors.

• The most basic variety is the Fighter, a lightly armored pfhor wielding a shock staff and, optionally, a projectile weapon. Fighters come in four flavors, in order of ascending rank and nastiness: Green, Purple, Orange, and Blue.
• Troopers are heavily armored and pack automatic rifle/grenade launcher combo weapons. Troopers come also in Green and Purple flavors.
• Hunters are the Pfhor assault troops. They wear very heavy armor and have shoulder-mounted energy cannons. They come in four flavors: Brown, Green, Purple and Blue.
• Enforcers are the Pfhor MP's. They wear strange cloaks and possess alien shotgun weapons. They come in four multicolored flavors (?) plus Grey.
• Juggernauts (aka Big Floaty Things that Kick our Asses) are Pfhor tanks.

These flying armored weapons platforms are like a mix of a tank and an attack helicopter, only bigger and badder. They fire dual homing RPG's as well as machineguns/alien shotgun bursts. They come in two flavors: Bad and Worse (Grey and Brown).

The Pfhor also utilize the 'Conditioned Ranks', or enslaved soldiers, who are forced to fight for the empire. Conquered races make up the majority of the conditioned ranks.

The S'pht

The S'pht are a race of alien cyborgs, created from F'lickta by the Jjaro to terraform Lh'owon. They were enslaved by the Pfhor c. 1810 A.D., and liberated en masse by Durandal and the unenslaved and technologically superior S'pht'Kr clan in 2811 A.D. The S'pht consist of extremely complex brains carried in flying cybernatic bodies. They are armed with some sort of built-in energy pulse weapon and some carry cloaking devices.

The F'lickta

F'lickta are native creatures of Lh'owon, living in sewers, water pools, and lava. They are ancestors of the S'pht and often harass Pfhor forces. F'lickta have a simplified digestive system, absorbing nutrients from the sludge they live in, and are extremely irritable. Entering their home turf unarmed is not recommended.

The Jjaro

Little is known about the Jjaro, an extremely advanced species which disappeared from our galaxy millions of years ago, leaving much of their technology to fall into the hands of the Pfhor. The Jjaro are known to have possesed high-quality cyborg technology (such as that used to create the S'pht), a star-destroying weapon known as the Trih'Xeem, and the ability to move entire planets by warping space around them. (as used by the S'pht'Kr).

The Jjaro were first used in an earlier Bungie game, Pathways Into Darkness.

BOBs

Other than the player's character, the human characters in the game are all referred to as "BOBs" (which stands for "Born On Board"). They wear different-colored suits, but all have the same face. Most are harmless and generally ignore the player; some carry weapons and will attack the enemies. A few, however, are actually living bombs; upon seeing the player's character, they will run directly towards him (usually shouting things like "Help! I'm out of ammo!", "Thank God it's you!" or the infamous "They're everywhere!" and "Frogblast the vent core!", (see below)), and when close enough they will explode and inflict severe damage to him and to other BOBs. This is especially a problem on levels where a certain number of BOBs must be protected to pass to the next level. Some common signs that a BOB was a bomb was speaking certain phrases that wouldn't be odd if they were to come near you, a green uniform, and if tagged by a bullet, yellow blood.

"Frog blast the vent core!"

This is a phrase synonymous with the Marathon series. The BOBs occasionally shout this as a battle cry. It is also very popular to say in the text chat of a network game of Marathon; meant more as a joke than anything, the sheer randomness of this phrase means it can be used at any time.

The phrase has appeared hidden in other games, such as Myth and Tron 2.0.