Bungie Pays Homage to Original Marathon in Cryo Archive Challenges

The end-game zone for Marathon, Cryo Archive, is set to unlock later this month and new challenges for the zone have started to appear in the in-game Codex. With one even being a callback to the original Marathon series.

There is a title called Dedication Syndrome which is set to reward players a profile background for anyone who completes all the CyberAcme Cryo Archive limited contracts in a single weekend, which is a reference to artwork from the original game with a Cyborg holding a grisly trophy in his hands. Nice to see Bungie tipping their hats to the series’ roots.

Another reference is found in the Cryologist tab in the titles section, Colony Ship For Sale, Cheap requires players to find a hidden cache, and those who played the original games, might recall the absurd amount of hidden terminals that players could find.

The final one is a small easter egg that has been scattered throughout Marathon and Bungie’s other previous titles. Players like myself who grew up on Halo, will remember Bungie’s affinity for the number 7, and that continues in Marathon with Drop 7 a challenge requiring players to eliminate seven hostile runners in a single run of Cryo Archive. Just in Marathon alone, the original assault rifle had seven grenades, The Power of Seven made the Marathon 2 theme song, and as a Halo 3 player 7 on the 7th was an iconic playlist.

Of course, Bungie was not done. If a player collects all the AI subroutines which allow you access to the Cryo Vault, and escapes the planet with all of them, you can access Archive 07 because, of course, it's that one.

Have you checked out Marathon yet, do you appreciate Bungie’s nods to their old games in the upcoming end-game zone? Let us know in the comments and make sure you join the GamerzTheory Discord.