News

Bungie's classic first-person shooter Marathon coming to iPad soon

Controls to remain authentic

Bungie's classic first-person shooter Marathon coming to iPad soon
|
| Marathon 1

We first got wind of Daniel Blezek's iPad port of Bungie's proto-first-person shooter Marathon back in February, and it seems the game is now imminent.

In an interview on Bungie.net, developer Blezek reveals that the port will run at 30fps and have a range of control options, a classic reticule-less mode being the default.

For those not well-versed in video game history, Marathon is an early first-person shooter trilogy along the lines of Doom. The fact that it was Mac-only limited its prospects at the time, but it's still considered seminal.

Bungie released the source code in 1999, though Microsoft's acquisition of Bungie meant that Microsoft owned the publishing rights until 2007, when Bungie went solo again.

In the interview, Blezek describes the game's input on iPad in some detail:

“For now, there is a left thumb virtual joystick for moving, the "action" button is tucked under. On the right thumb, you have primary and secondary fire buttons; the weapon switch buttons are at the bottom. There are a few hidden buttons as well. Touching the HUD motion sensor brings up the auto map. The left and right sides of the ammo display switch weapons and the center toggles between the ammo and inventory displays.”

He also reveals that his wife home schools their children, and they he owns a dog called Quin.

The article doesn't reveal, however, a price or launch date, but the introduction describes Marathon for iPad as “recently released”, which, though manifestly untrue, implies that the game will be with us imminently.

In February Blezek hinted at an iPhone version, so that may be along at some point too.

Eurogamer
Michael McNally
Michael McNally
After an earlier brush with death (The Music Industry) and attaining a Masters Degree in Call Centre Misanthropy, Michael now spends most of time writing about life's big questions. Namely, why hardly anyone he meets has played Jet Force Gemini.