Those of you who were around for Doom’s explosion onto the scene, you will recall one familiar, tantalizing image of a soldier holding a bloody spinal cord that was vaguely similar to id’s famous marine. The picture was for Marathon, a first-person shooter for the Mac that was wowing Windows PC gamers from the beginning. Instead of a lone soldier fighting off a horde of demons, guns a-blazing, this was a solitary figure standing among a mass of ruins, looking ominously awesome.

The Marathon titles were later released on Windows, though with muted fanfare. Doom and its numerous clones had saturated the market, but Marathon had already made its mark. A more methodical affair, Bungie, the developers now famous for Halo and, in my heart, Myth, decided to punctuate the story with action as opposed to the action with story. The result is a game that still retains a creepy atmosphere as warring aliens find time to turn their attention to you, the soon-to-be badass.

It has been 17 years since the events in Marathon, the original’s name coming from ship that you were serving on when it was attacked by the Pfhor. In Marathon: Durandal a sentient artificial intelligence named Durandal has awoken you to track down and learn about advanced alien technology. In the great ‘WHY?!?!’ tradition of screwing the player over, everything you had or could possibly have from the original has been stripped away – this is explained, but no explanation can make up for the lack of serious firepower – and replaced with a pistol. Damn technology. Soon a vaguely familiar machine gun will be found, along with other weapons that feature alternate firing modes, a fairly new idea at the time, and computer-controlled allies (fodder) that aid in the fight.

Durandal sets off from there, putting you in a ship that requires you to navigate some very colorful rooms and to combat some equally colorful foes, gaining new weapons and uncovering more of the story along the way. The game requires you to keep in touch with the computer by accessing terminals, from here you will find objectives, regain health, and learn background information. Interacting with the artificial intelligence in a structure with invading aliens is enjoyable in and of itself, but it is also interesting in that you can see the genesis of the Halo franchise. Halo fans will be tickled at that aspect alone: simply seeing how Bungie initially approached first-person shooters and what they applied to their later releases is incredibly interesting, even if you aren’t a diehard fan of Master Chief & Co.

There will be a brief period of adjustment, though. The enemies are extremely colorful – they aren’t afraid to spot bright green and yellow – and the environments have been splotched with blue and purple with reckless abandon. There is also the weird sensation of the game being a screen in front of you that moves, as opposed to you moving through the environment. It can be a little unsettling at first, and extremely unsettling with the new high definition graphics turned on as it’s been upsetting more than a few stomachs. It doesn’t take long to settle in, and it’s definitely worth sticking with. Aside from the main campaign, there is also a survival mode and online co-op – wee!

Purchase: Yes. Marathon: Durandal is a fantastic first-person shooter that will sit comfortably in your hard drive alongside its demon-infested, action-oriented counterpart.