New Marathon update takes a leaf out of Arc Raiders' book and encourages you to play nice

A new Marathon update finally adds the one thing it's been desperately missing - a reason to respect your fellow players. The immaculate style and Bungie's trademark FPS game fundamentals make Marathon easy to get into, but the immediately hostile nature of basically every encounter with another real person can quickly grow stale and frustrating. Compared to Arc Raiders, which has that 'will they or won't they' tension of trying to convince other teams to work alongside you, it's rather one-note. But not any more.

The Marathon patch notes for Bungie's mid-season update have arrived, and the big news is the introduction of a system it's calling 'CARRI' - that's the "CyberAcme Runner Reinforcement Initiative." This is all about working with your fellow player. It "rewards solo Runners and coordinated crews for completing contract objectives and exfiling together, with rewards tuned to help newer and mid-progression players while still offering benefits to the Cryo Archive veterans that walk among us."

The new system revolves around CyberAcme Commendations, which are spent in the CARRI Armory for rewards including a rotating weapon selection, salvage crates, and faction reputation packs. The easiest way to get these Commendations is by playing in a crew, either premade or filled, and helping your teammates to complete contract objectives. However, there are also some specific options for players running solo, and a bonus if you're willing to play nicely with other squads.

If you're on a solo run, you'll earn Commendations by completing any individual contract objective, and both solo Runners and Rooks will earn Commendations upon a successful solo exfil. The best bit, however, is that you'll earn extra Commendations if you're a solo or Rook that extracts with others, regardless of whether they're playing as a Rook, regular Runner, or a full crew. There's also a trinket you can find that rewards Commendations if you manage to successfully bring it home.

Finally having a reason to not shoot other players on sight is a big deal, and while it's up to the community to make the change, there's at least some incentive to do so. To help further encourage friendly competition, Bungie has added a 'toggle to open' setting for proximity chat to quickly speak to other players, and there's a new end-of-run option called 'Stay Together' that encourages you to form a crew with any Runners you just extracted alongside.

Of course, some people will shoot first and ask questions later. But that doesn't have to be the end of it. There's a new consumable called the 'Mercy Kit,' and all Rooks will carry one with them by default. These cannot be used on yourself or your allies, but they can revive a downed Runner who isn't on your team. If you believe that the person you just put down is willing to let bygones be bygones, help them back to their feet before they collapse for good. There are also Depleted Self-Revive kits exclusively for solo play, which cannot be extracted.

The remainder of the Marathon 1.0.6 patch notes include a few other welcome balance changes and updates. There are eleven more Deluxe Unique weapons from Showcase encounters in Perimeter and Dire Marsh, and a range of new mods and implants. The Perimeter beginner map has been adjusted to a solos-only offering that remains available until you hit season level 12, with a reduced risk of encountering other Runners. It also has five new contracts to complete.

Railguns can now hold their charge indefinitely, instead of auto-firing after a maximum duration is reached. When there are fewer than ten seconds left and the final exfil is running, the timer for any other exfils will be reduced to match the remaining session time. This should ensure that you don't miss out on an extraction when you think you've got it in the bag. "Tie goes to the Runner, after all," Bungie remarks.

The Marathon mid-season update is live now. I'm already eager to watch how players react to this new world where co-operation feels like a viable strategy rather than a fool's errand. Oh, and the Biotoxic Disinjector has been nerfed again, with more ammo use, reduced grenade damage, and the introduction of potential self-damage from the splash. "Stay safe out there," the developer concludes.