Following the events of the original game, the Pfhor aliens have been defeated
and the A.I. known as Durandral has been freed from it’s containment. 17 years
have passed and Durandral has assembled his own army from the colonists of Tau
Ceti, including the Security Officer. Traveling across the galaxy, Durandral
finds the home world of the S’pht, a Pfhor slave race, who Durandal liberates
and who now worship Durandral as their Messiah. Durandal is searching for the
location of a legendary lost tribe of S’pht who may hold the key to his mad
quest for… well, whatever he’s madly questing for. Unfortunately, the Pfhor
dislike Durandral’s presence and begin attacking his army.

Marathon 2: Durandal is the sequel to the first Marathon. Although the
engine is similar to Doom in most respects (2.5D maps, bitmap sprites instead
of polygons, etc.), Marathon 2 distinguishes itself with such features such
as: a rudimentary inventory system, ambient sound, multiple fire modes for
each weapon, allies who aid the player, enemies belonging to different
factions which will attack each other, a more developed plot (gradually
narrated to the player at various computer terminals scattered throughout the
levels (much like System Shock’s e-mail transmissions)).

The game’s engine has gained a number of improvements over the original
Marathon. It now displays in a much larger portion of the screen, supports
maps with four times the complexity and adds support for liquids and swimming.
All liquids use oxygen when the player is submerged and some also do damage.
Many levels have mechanisms allowing areas to be flooded or drained, changing
the depth of the liquid.

The other major new feature is a bunch of new multiplayer modes. The entire
single-player portion can be played cooperatively with up to eight players and
the game adjusts weapon and monster placement accordingly. In addition to
“Every Man for Himself” mode (essentially deathmatch), it now includes “Kill
of the Hill” where the object is to occupy a designated spot on the map more
than anyone else, and “Kill the Guy with the Ball” where the object is to hold
a skull the longest, the player holding it being unable to fire weapons.

Marathon: Durandal