Marathon Infinity

The story in the single-player version of Marathon Infinity, titled “Blood Tides of Lh’owon”, is often considered to be confusing. For example, it begins as if large parts, if not all, of the events in Marathon 2 had not happened. Theories differ on exactly what happens in this game, but the consensus is that the player somehow jumps between alternative realities, seeking to prevent a chaotic entity, the W’rkncacnter, from being released from Lh'owon's dying sun. These jumps are apparently caused either by Jjaro technology or by the W’rkncacnter’s chaotic nature. For example, the player begins the game as Durandal's ally, only to be transported to a reality where Durandal did not capture the player after the events of Marathon. As such, he is controlled by the Pfhor-tortured AI Tycho.

After multiple instances of these "jumps", the player (seemingly the only being who realizes he is being transported between possible realities) activates the ancient Jjaro station, preventing the chaotic entity's release. The ending screen of Infinity leaves the story's resolution open-ended, taking place billions of years after the events of Marathon Infinity.

Despite the player’s being teleported to a Jjaro station by Durandal and left with a grim message in the beginning of Infinity, both Durandal and Earth did survive in the original timeline as can be seen at the end of Marathon 2.

Multiplayer modes

Editing tools

One of the most dramatic improvements in the game was the inclusion of Bungie's own level-creating software, Forge, and their physics and in-game graphics editor, Anvil. Forge and Anvil allowed a new generation of players to create their own levels and scenarios using the same tools as the Bungie developers themselves. Another improvement was the ability to include separate monster, weapons, and physics definitions for each level, a feature heavily used by Double Aught, who designed the Marathon Infinity levels.

See Marathon total conversions for some examples of games created using Forge and Anvil.

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• In going from Marathon 2 to Marathon Infinity, Bungie was given a joke award by MacFormat magazine for "largest version number increase".
• The open source game engine based on the source code for Marathon 2 is called Aleph One, the next "number" after ∞.
• In Red vs. Blue, a machinima based on the Halo series Bungie created after the Marathon trilogy, the character Church sets off a ten-megaton bomb that sends his allies forward in time to a reality represented by Halo's sequel, Halo 2. At the same time, he is blown backwards in time represented by Marathon Infinity.

External links

Video games Portal

• Official website at Bungie Studios, containing screenshots of all three Marathon games
• Offical discussion forum
• Free download of the game, as released by Bungie in 2005
• Marathon: Aleph One, a Windows/Mac OS X/Linux port of the game engine (the site also includes an AO-formatted copy of the game itself)
• Compilation of the game's in-game story text (each page is a single level)
• Marathon Infinity: Overview at Traxus Project, a Marathon universe wiki
• Marathon Infinity Spoiler Guide, a walkthrough of the game
• Marathon Infinity at MobyGames