Part of me was dreading the arrival of Marathon's fourth map, Cryo Archive. The promise of an endgame zone that resembled the puzzle box raids Bungie is known for sounded amazing, but I wasn't sold on the fun of getting shotgunned in the back by a kitted-up Assassin while just trying to sort out a locked door. Maybe Marathon would benefit from a purely PvE zone to balance out its ruthlessness?
I should've had a little more faith in Bungie. Cryo Archive is an astounding labyrinth across a haunted planet-sized spaceship that plays nothing like the other three maps in Marathon, nor like any other competitive map in shooters period. It bridges the gap between PvE and PvP brilliantly, and makes me wonder why this is the first game of its type to have this much fun with map design.
