Vault Breaker - Marathon's roguelite mode - is a step in the right direction

If you've been reading this site for the last year, you know I've been a Marathon fan. I love the game now, I've loved the game since I first played it at Bungie last year, and I even host a weekly podcast about the game with some fellow YouTube folk. I think it's unironically great. I've played 500 hours of it since March. It's unquestionably my Game of the Year.

But even I have to admit that it hasn't really resonated with the majority of folks out there.

Now I'm not going to predict what happens next with Marathon, because we don't have enough information to predict that future – no matter how much some people say we do. But it's pretty clear the game needs to grow in new directions and attract new players.

Well, I have good news on that front, as Bungie has started to push the game in some PvE directions in an attempt to grab some of the Destiny 2 audience that no longer have a home. And while Bungie has now announced that Marathon will get a full PvE mode come Season 3 in September, there's an experimental mode called Vault Breaker out for the next two weeks (July 21-Aug. 4).

Vault Breaker allows players to squad up with friends, drop in as a duo, or even try their hand as a solo player against the endless waves of UESC robots aboard the titular Marathon ship in the endgame Cryo Archive map. Cryo Archive is typically reserved for the most hardcore Marathon players, and it's filled with extremely sweaty PvP fights that feel like they take years off your life. But Vault Breaker is entirely PvE, so there's no danger of running into any other teams while you adventure.

In the normal version of Cryo Archive, players can bring in keys for vaults they find on other maps. These vaults contain a ton of loot as well as "AI Subroutines," which players need to extract with to unlock the ultimate encounter: the boss battle against the Compiler alien from the original games.

Vault Breaker takes that concept and turns it into a roguelite. Instead of being able to drop in with really good stuff, players instead appear with the worst quality loot in the game. They're given a key on infill, and need to struggle against the hordes to unlock one of these vaults. Inside there are no subroutines, but there is "vault data" and another key for them to take. If they can run that next vault before the 30 minute timer hits zero, they'll get yet another key, and if they can do that third key in the same run, they'll get a shot at the Compiler itself.