Two weeks back a few of us thought that the Community Game Night was going to be on Tuesday. It ended up getting pushed until Wednesday, but that day wasn't going to work out for most of us, so we decided to go ahead with playing Marathon that evening.

There haven't really been any write-ups for the Community Nights, what with Bungie Pro being gone and (to my knowledge) no one with a capture card around recording anything for the other nights. Luckily, CrazedOne joined up after a few games into the night and recorded plenty of footage from his fresh perspective (he had never played Marathon before) for this write-up. Thanks a ton, Crazed! :D

So let's get started! Behold, the group of DBO/HBO champions! Champions who entered the arenas of Marathon to partake in glorious battle on the evening of 8/6/2013:

Gametype: Deathmatch
Weapons: Flamthrowers
Map: Giant Flaming Pit of Lava
Tone of the Game: Crispy

All the screaming, all the fried chickens everywhere. What was so special about that hallway? Well, that's where one could obtain the overshield! Crazed had no idea how to work it, but that didn't stop him from holding it down for a while. As you can imagine, the rest of the game played out in similar fashion, give or take people having an overshield.

Sure, frying everyone and everything around you is fun, but sometimes you just have to throw down old style, you know? Oh, you don't know? Well let me show you!

Gametype: Deathmatch
Weapons: Fisticuffs
Map: House of Pain
Tone of the Game: Tenderized

The knock down, drag out, no holds barred match of the century. We didn't need a cage to keep us in! Sure, cowards could have run, but do you really think that they would have escaped? Not a chance!

See what I mean? People were getting the organs pounded out of them. Still don't believe me?

There you have it! No cage was needed. No refs needed. No sportsmanship needed. The fighting was so legendary that everyone just lined up to beat each other to a pulp.

Somehow, after running each other through the meat grinders known as our fists, we managed to piece ourselves back together for a trip back to our childhoods for a fun and friendly game of Tag.

Gametype: Tag
Weapons: Rockets
Map: Everyone's Mortal But Me
Tone of the Game: Confusing and Explode-y

Ridiculous, right? Nothing says "tag, you're it!" like a rocket to the face. This map is also the poster child for a day and age where dynamic spawn points just weren't a thing. You had to be on your toes the moment you spawned, or you and your toes would be splattered all over the walls.

For the longest time, no one could figure out what determined who was in first place. To give you an idea of what's going on, here's this explanation provided by Unreal:

Tag is a gametype where the first person to die becomes "it" and then has to kill someone else or be killed in order to stop their personal timer from counting up. Players automatically become "it" if they commit suicide. Whoever was "it" the least amount of time during the game wins.

Thanks Unreal! Coincidentally, Unreal was also the winner of the game and did a really great job of killing everyone all the time, so no wonder he's got the description down.

So how might one go about winning this game? Camping up top actually worked out pretty well for people. Not a bad strategy, right? Unreal employed it all game long to ensure his victory. Just be sure not to blow yourself up on a wall!

This was by far the longest game we played. Afterward, we felt it was time for some more traditional gameplay.

Gametype: Deathmatch
Weapons: Default
Map: Thunderdome (You might know this map as Foundation in Halo 2)
Tone of the Game: Frantic

Action, action, and more action. Having the most kills wouldn't win the game. Every death knocked a point off of your score. For example, by the end of the game I had the most kills out of everyone in the game. I ended up in second to last place. Moral? Don't die! Not as easy at it sounds, that's for sure.

By this point we were nearing the end of our evening. Only one game remained.

Gametype: Deathmatch
Weapons: Default
Map: OK, Honeybunny
Tone of the Game: Confined

The game was very close quarters. Some of us went on some pretty awesome runs, especially with the flamethrower, but no one truly pulled away. To say the least, the game was over way too quickly what with all the killing and dying in such a close space.

And with that the night came to an end. I'd really like to thank everyone who came out to play that evening! I haven't gotten to play Marathon with that many people in years, and I had a blast! I can't wait for next time. :)