You can say that you've PLAYED a Marathon after playing this, but not run one

WATCH OUT, GOT A TRIPLE THREAT COMIN’ RIGHT AT YOU. Today we’ve got the Marathon trilogy, full of aliens, cyborgs, and sentient computers, OH BOY HERE WE GO. Developed by Bungie from 1994 through 1996, the Marathon games were first person shooters and were among the first to have a story beyond “You must fight the demons”. Considered at the time of their release to be some of the best stuff out there, and to show the greater potential of Macintosh computers for games, the Marathon series received plenty of positive reviews, and looking back some people see these games as the predecessors of the Halo series.

"Bungie made games before Halo?" Yes. Shut up.

Gameplay wise aside from the basic FPS styling of the time, the levels had actual objectives rather than being about getting from point A to point B. The levels are also more than a series of hallways with the inclusion of teleporters, computer terminals (that give both information about the level objectives, plot stuff, AND interesting fluff bits that flesh out the game universe) , the traditional “This floor is acid/lava, don’t stand on it” areas, which were expanded in the latter two games in the series which included swimming, and vacuum environments where you need to watch your oxygen. What’s better is that the games have five difficulty settings, which add or remove enemies from the levels, make them stronger or more dangerous, and on the highest difficulty “Total Carnage” you are given unlimited ammunition, because you WILL need it.

Massive understatement

Bungie has officially released the Marathon files to the public for free because you really cant get it anywhere anymore, and its really hard to find. So if you like classic shooters, or feel the need to dive into old classics, or maybe you’re a fan of Halo and wanted to see the older stuff that Bungie’s done, then the Marathon games might be for you. And with the games you'll be able to dive into any mods made from the series, and that

Even in the future we still use sawed off shotguns

Snag the Marathon games and the original manuals and all that neat stuff over here