The Xbox 360 has had more than its fair share of shooters since its release. With online participation in Halo 2 still massive, even after several years and a console upgrade, we are now being treated to the original title's inspiration. Whether you love the Halo series or hate it, this game may have something that interests you. Known by its fans as the spiritual predecessor to Bungie's chart topping series, Marathon: Durandal is the second game in the renowned Marathon trilogy and it has just arrived on Xbox 360 courtesy of Freeverse.

Although the events of the game take place seventeen years after the original, the backstory isn't greatly important. You take control of a cybernetically-enhanced soldier on a mission to stop an alien race known as the Pfhor from learning the location of Earth, doing whatever is necessary to stop the ensuing invasion. The game starts with our super soldier being sent to the S'pht homeworld of Lh'owon by the sentient AI Durandal, in search of a means to combat the Pfhor. As the game progresses, you learn that an ancient alien race called the Jjaro have left a dormant AI on Lh'owon which may be humanity's last hope for survival. Only Thoth can find the missing eleventh clan of the S'pht and unite them with humans in a battle against the Pfhor.

There are many similarities between Marathon: Durandal and other first person shooters of its time, id Software's Doom in particular. What differs here is the ability to aim on a vertical axis in addition to the horizontal one. This opens new possibilities in gameplay terms, allowing a player to aim at enemies in unorthodox ways; up a staircase for example. Another factor that sets Marathon: Durandal apart is the story. Told almost entirely through the computer terminals which are found around the levels, you receive new objectives from Durandal by logging onto these. As well as piecing the story together, these terminals are essential to progress through the game, and often used as a teleportation point from one area to another.

This game is an interesting look back at one of Bungie's first works.

Although this basis of moving from terminal to objective and back again adds something to the story, if the information you receive isn't properly read, it can lead to a lot of aimless wandering. This is sure to put casual gamers off, who would prefer to spend time playing over reading. The game's AI lets the title down a bit as well, with most enemies just cueing up like lambs to the slaughter, or worse, seemingly not seeing you as you approach. Progression through the game doesn't really improve this aspect either. Enemy numbers simply increase to meet the demand for an increase in difficulty. Playing through the game can be still fun, and the good variety of weapons including dual shotguns and the Wave Cannon can make the gun combat pretty enjoyable. However, that enjoyment is often marred by simple problems like the lack of any manual reload button. It can be frustrating to have to waste ammo just to make sure you're prepared for the next wave of enemies.

Included in Marathon: Durandal is a full multiplayer mode, so others can join in on the fun. You can play in one to four-player split screen, system link, or on Xbox Live. Taking the game online allows you to choose between a multitude of game types, including deathmatch and king of the hill, and each mode has its own team variations. There's also a mode called kill the man with the ball, later known as oddball. Each of these allow up to eight players to compete on 13 different maps. A notable extra is online co-op play, which allows up to eight players to work their way through the campaign together.

Graphically, Marathon: Durandal is very similar to Doom. The level design is fairly simple, with textures for different walls and floors repeated throughout each level. There are also some of the first real liquid animations, with water and lava being something you can pass through or drop into, rather than just a colored patch of moving textures on the floor. The character animations are fairly simple, as you'd expect with a game from 1995. On a side note, Freeverse have imposed a 60 frame per second frame rate on this older title. There's really no need for this with the lack of complex animation, and the result is a game that moves so fast and smooth that it has actually seems to cause motion sickness to many who play it. Although the game title opens with a fairly decent soundtrack, that's about as good as it gets in the sound department. There is hardly any noticeable theme music while you play, and the environmental effects are few. Outdoors on Lh'owon you can hear the breeze, but most audible effects come from your weapons and enemies. Although this would be detrimental to most games, it actually enforces the sparse feeling of the game's setting.

With so many different multiplayer options and a long story to work through, Marathon: Durandal is quite a bargain for 800 points. There's a lot of fun to be had here, especially when playing co-op with a group of friends. As far as retro gaming goes, this is one of the better offerings on XBLA. However, in comparison with the newer titles in this genre, this serves as a reminder of how far we've come in twelve years. How much play the casual gamer will get out of Marathon: Durandal is dubious, but for fans of the original series, this is an XBLA must have.