Marathon
Marathon is a 1994 first-person shooter developed by Bungie and released primarily for the Apple Macintosh. It casts the player as a security officer aboard the colony ship UESC Marathon, fighting off an invasion by the alien Pfhor while uncovering a deeper, twisting story told through the ship's artificial intelligences, whose text terminals gradually reveal betrayal, rebellion, and the AI Durandal's descent into rampancy.
The game pushed the genre forward with an unusually rich narrative for a shooter, atmospheric level design, dual-function weapons, environments with variable lighting and physics such as low gravity and vacuum, and support for cooperative and competitive network play. Its emphasis on story and its intelligent, sometimes unreliable AI characters set it apart from its contemporaries and earned it a devoted following, especially among Mac gamers who had few comparable titles.
The Marathon trilogy was later released for free by Bungie, and community source ports such as Aleph One keep the games playable across modern systems.
Play it today
Modern alternatives to Marathon, with the devices they run on and their price. Ordered editorially by how well each one stands in for the original, with community votes weighted in as they accumulate.
Prices, platform availability and Steam Deck compatibility can change at any time. Always check the store page before buying.
| Alternative | Price | Steam Deck | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Indie | € 21,99 | Steam Deck Verified | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch |
| Aleph One (Marathon Trilogy) Indie | Free | Not on Steam | PC, Mac, Linux |
| Prodeus Indie | € 24,99 | Steam Deck Playable | PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch |
| Halo: The Master Chief Collection | € 39,99 | Steam Deck Playable | PC, Xbox |
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Indie
€ 21,99A sprite-based retro shooter with heavy weapons and dense corridors, unashamedly 90s.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun runs on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch. Not available on Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet.
Aleph One (Marathon Trilogy) Indie
FreeA free open-source engine that runs the fully released Marathon trilogy on modern systems.
Aleph One (Marathon Trilogy) runs on PC, Mac, Linux. Not available on iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch.
Prodeus Indie
€ 24,99A modern shooter with retro sprites, meaty guns and a level editor.
Prodeus runs on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch. Not available on Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
€ 39,99Six Halo games from the same studio that made Marathon, carrying its story-and-terminal DNA.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection runs on PC, Xbox. Not available on Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet, PlayStation, Switch.
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