Steam Reviews Reveal Marathon's Knife Problem While Celebrating WSTR Comeback

Steam reviewers aren't talking about the Ares railgun nerfs everyone expected them to rage about. They're talking about knives. "i love how this game has 40 different guns but the thing i die to the most is the fkn KnifeMelee that 2 taps purple shields," wrote one player with 59 hours logged. That sentiment captures what's actually frustrating the broader playerbase right now.

The 754-hour veteran who left a negative review didn't even bother with words — just "HEWOOOOO PRINCESS!!!!!!" — suggesting melee frustration has reached meme status among dedicated players. Meanwhile, the 42-hour player who compared Marathon to "sticking your ♥♥♥♥ in a meat grinder" might be referencing the same knife encounters that feel unavoidable in close-quarters extraction scenarios.

This knife frustration is flying under the radar because it's not a balance patch talking point. It's an everyday extraction reality that Steam reviewers experience but Reddit's vocal minority doesn't amplify.

The community's WSTR Combat ShotgunShotgun advocates finally got vindication with Update 1.0.6.2's tuning changes. Steam reviewers aren't explicitly celebrating the buff, but the timing suggests Bungie responded to broader frustration with the weapon's previous over-nerf.

One 22-hour player noted "Great game! Needs more from the devs" — that measured optimism reflects how the paying playerbase views Bungie's responsiveness. They want improvements, they're seeing them happen, and they're cautiously positive about the direction.

The 111-hour reviewer who called Marathon "really good game, but nothing particularly special" captures the WSTR situation perfectly — the weapon works now, it's competent, but it's not game-changing. That's exactly what shotgun mains wanted: reliability over dominance.

Two different Steam reviewers mentioned frame rate issues, and their hardware context tells the real story. The 22-hour player with a "decently good build" getting 120-190 fps depending on maps represents the mainstream experience. The 112-hour player "on a 3090" getting "40 frames a second" with "Cryo Archive basically unplayable" represents the high-end hardware users getting punished.

This performance split explains why Reddit discussions about technical issues don't match Steam review sentiment. Reddit skews toward enthusiast hardware users hitting the worst performance problems. Steam's broader playerbase is getting playable frame rates and judging the game accordingly.

The 121-hour reviewer's simple "good game you are missing out" suggests that once you find stable performance, Marathon delivers on its core promise.

The most telling positive review came from a 1-hour player describing their first three runs: "died to a plant, died to someone camping out a small building who had left out loot as bait, ran up on someone's exfil and pushed them out of the way to extract without them just in time. the rush i got is somethin[g]."

That captures Marathon's extraction loop working exactly as designed. The 23-hour solo player who noted "Everything works as intended" and praised the "risk reward" system represents how the game succeeds when players understand its systems.

The 8-hour review specifically called out playing "at your own pace" — suggesting Marathon's extraction pressure works for patient players who don't need constant action. This contrasts sharply with the vocal Reddit complaints about downtime and looting pace.