I've played Marathon Server Slam - there are two things I wish I knew before starting

I've put around three hours into Marathon Server Slam so far and there are two things I really wish I knew before I started playing.

Bungie is hosting a Marathon Server Slam where players can check out the studio's upcoming sci-fi first-person extraction shooter.

Bungie said the Server Slam is a "slice of Marathon" with two zones. Players can take on early contracts for five factions, try out five of the six Runner shells available at launch with Rook unlocking through progression and play in a crew or as a solo runner.

And this is where the first thing I wish I knew before starting comes in - although you can, do not play normal Marathon runs without filling your crew slots.

If you're playing by yourself or even as a duo, fill all three slots, even if the other player or players do not have mics. Enemy AI, the UESC, are absolutely savage, can quickly overwhelm you and punish any mistake.

From my experience so far, squads usually stick together as long as objectives are pinged so everyone is on the same page.

Also, unlike ARC Raiders, I've not come across a single squad that gave me any mercy. Every time I've encountered a squad, they've tried to take me on. This game feels like a genuine PvPvE (player versus player versus environment) title.

So if you're on your own, you stand little chance of getting the better of a team of three taking you on and that can diminish the experience of normal runs.

Neither the AI or other players give any mercy in Marathon / Bungie

The second thing I wish I knew also ties into this - and it's to not start early runs with your strongest loadout.

As it's PvPvE with other teams not showing you any mercy, that makes the likelihood of failing a run higher than in ARC Raiders for example.

The onboarding missions are fairly straightforward and you only have to take out a handful of AI enemies that stand in your way of completing objectives. The rewards you earn early on are actually quite generous and you can quickly get decent loot.

But while you're still getting to grips with the game, as there's not the biggest amount of handholding once you're in a run, stash it all in your Vault and take advantage of the free loadouts until you get up to speed.

In my second run, I took everything with me, still finding my feet and lost it all to a squad that took us completely by surprise. It was a bitter pill to swallow and I really felt like I was back at square one.

But if you use free loadouts in this situation, instead of losing all of that precious loot really early on if you get taken out, the only thing you lose is a free loadout box - and from what I could see, these are limitless.

So with that in mind, you can build the loot in your Vault instead of losing key bits of equipment early on. It will make inevitable early defeats much easier to swallow while you're getting used to it and you still earn XP.

Of course, better loot gives you the edge but until you're completely comfortable and understand the mechanics Marathon, why risk it?

When you progress to a certain point, you can unlock the Rook too.

This is an option where the sole purpose is to loot and extract. You don't start with anything but a pre-selected loadout so if you fail, there's nothing to lose going in. To note, you can't progress objectives as a Rook.

This made me feel a lot more confident running with custom loadouts when I got to grips with the game as I knew if all else fails, I could do a run or two as a Rook to scavenge some loot and build up again that way.

But until that unlocked, after learning the hard way, I ran free loadouts just to be safe and I managed to rebuild a decent stash of loot.

Playing as a Rook is a great way to build your loot stash / Bungie

It's still early days but so far, I've really enjoyed Marathon Server Slam. This game is genuine PvPvE as everyone and everything is out to get you.

It makes the likelihood of failing runs and losing all of your loot a lot higher but running in full squads and taking advantage of unlimited free loadouts early on is the best way to progress in the first few hours to obtain a good stash of loot before putting it on the line.

The Rook option which unlocks in the early stages is a brilliant addition too which gives the opportunity to build your loot and get out of there. I've done a couple of Rook runs and they get really tense the closer to extraction you get.

I've seen a lot of hate for this game online and in comments on streams and I'd say two things - give it a go for yourself as it's free-to-play right now and day one of an open weekend. If you don't like what you see at the moment, give Bungie a chance. The game's not even out yet.

Personally, I'm really looking forward to diving back into Marathon Server Slam to progressing and seeing what's next.

Marathon Server Slam is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC now through Monday (2 March) at 6pm GMT (1pm ET / 10am PT) and the game fully releases on the same platforms on 5 March.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Marathon Server Slam open beta: Everything you need to know
• Marathon: Bungie shuts down Dr Disrespect 'partner' post in three words

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