FPS historians now have another way to get their fix with the release of Bungie's Marathon 2: Durandal on the Apple App Store. The best part? It's completely free. That is, unless you're into spending a buck or two on a few game-changing upgrades.
In an improvement from Bungie's Marathon 1 release, which was only available for iPads, Marathon 2: Durandal is playable on any iOS gadget. It was developed in part by Daniel Blezek, the indie game maker credited with starting the Marathon iOS project that was later picked up by Bungie as an official project.
The port uses assets from the 2007 XBLA HD version, and connects to Apple's Game Center community, allowing for achievements and leaderboard integration. It is also compatible with the Joypad app, which mutates iPhones and iPod Touch into wireless iPad controllers. If those features aren't enough (you know, for a free game), the app also allows players to purchase high-res textures, a custom reticule pack, and Master Chief Mode cheats.
An update incorporating all these new tweaks and additions for Marathon 1 is also available.
Marathon 2: Durandal was originally released as a computer FPS in 1995. It picks up seventeen years after the events of the original, and sends players on a mission to investigate the ruins of Lh'owen at the behest of their ship's AI program. Considering the first two games in the trilogy have been available as freeware for some time, we wouldn't be surprised if the third and final Marathon game were to invade the App Store in the near future.
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