In this edition of Triple Threat, Marathon shoots itself in the foot (again), Call of Duty Zombies has a live service identity crisis, and I return to a classic of the Xbox 360 generation: LA Noire.
My Shattered Veil review is finally out. I love the map, but I sure hate editing! It took a lot of work, so I’d appreciate giving it a watch. We’re all swamped, though, so I get it.
Marathon Bungie’d It
Marathon has a lot going against it. Despite charging a premium, it doesn’t have much meat on its bones and is part of a niche, yet oversaturated, genre. But if there’s any positive consensus around Bungie’s extraction shooter, it’s its gorgeous art style.
At least, that was the case until a few days ago. After an extended investigation, Twitter user Fern (@4nt1r34l) revealed that Marathon is full of her artwork. Bungie never commissioned or made any contact with her, and has already admitted that the assets in Marathon were lifted from her original designs.
The game’s art style—“graphic realism”, as Bungie puts it—isn’t new. It frequents the Cyberpunk genre and was the bread and butter of UK graphic design studio The Designers Republic in the 1980s. You may recognise its work from PlayStation 1 classic Wipeout.
Regardless of origins, this is not a case of being overtly inspired or having one or two reference images slip through the cracks. It’s open-and-closed theft. Fern is responsible for a chunk of the game’s visual assets, which have been praised as unique and secured millions of eyes on Marathon’s reveal and alpha playtests.
This isn’t Bungie’s first time in hot water with artists. A pattern has undoubtedly emerged, and there are only so many times you can blame it on someone who “isn’t at the studio anymore” or is a “third-party contractor.” This is the… fourth time? Whatever policies Bungie has in place clearly aren’t working.
A damning wrinkle in this mess is that several Bungie developers, including Marathon art director Joseph Cross, followed Fern on Twitter well before her post exposing Marathon. It’s impossible to confirm the intentions behind a social media follow, but it undoubtedly looks shady.
I hope my compatriot gets her bag and then some! If I were Bungie leadership, I’d offer her a job immediately. Though given the circumstances, I wouldn’t blame her for telling them all where to shove it.
Bungie is in trouble. Marathon needs to be a hit, and the tough uphill battle now looks like a Sisyphean task. Over in Destiny land, things aren’t much better, either. The Year of Prophecy reveal was met with mixed reactions, and the Star Wars-themed expansion “Renegades” has left fans puzzled—and not in a good way.
I’d made peace with Destiny 2 after The Final Shape. It was the perfect place to leave things, and the new seasonal format of Episodes left a lot to be desired. The recent reveal piqued my interest, however. The metroidvania campaign sounds up my street, and I’m a mark when I can use a lightsaber in a video game.
That interest is as good as gone now. The whole Marathon ordeal has soured my excitement for anything Bungie-related. Since logging back into Destiny felt like returning to a part-time job, I was already on the fence, but these latest developments have sealed the deal.
To be honest, I don’t know where Bungie goes from here. This may be one controversy too many for most, and you can imagine Sony isn’t particularly pleased with the results of its $3.6 billion acquisition thus far. It’s painful to watch, and I don’t think my guardian is moved to help save the day this time around.
Dead Service Zombies
I try to avoid the weekly Zombies hot topics on social media. However, the “paid DLC is better than free DLC” discourse has infected everyone’s feed once again. It’s a monthly occurrence at this point!
Of course, I’d support bringing back a season pass and individually priced Zombies maps if it guaranteed higher-quality experiences and more funding going directly to the mode. But that isn’t Activision’s MO. The far more plausible scenario would be that we start paying for Zombies again, and the bundles, the battle pass, and the black cell upgrade all still exist. The quality (or lack thereof) would not change.
I hate to say it, but returning to the days of old requires an entire upheaval of Call of Duty’s business model. That won’t happen simply because a niche portion of the fanbase is unhappy, especially when most of us pay up anyway. For those in Activision’s ivory tower, it’s about turning on more income streams, not reducing the number of them.
Furthermore, people have lost their patience. Blame Fortnite or call it an inevitability; the fact of the matter is that players demand content, content, and more content. I’ve been frustrated with this since Black Ops 4. Almost overnight, it became unacceptable for Treyarch to deliver a new Zombies map and let support simmer for two or three months. Every season needs substantial new content, or the game is “dead”.
Take Treyarch’s latest Zombies teaser, for example, which seems to suggest Grief is making its first appearance since Black Ops 2 (an exciting prospect!). I’ve already seen multiple people vent in frustration that Grief’s return may mean no round-based map in Season 4. We’ve had a new map every season, ffs!
It all goes back to one of my core complaints with modern Zombies. We’re in this hybrid state of “premium live service”: one foot in and one foot out. The Zombies developers are trying their best to pour the coffee and keep the kettle boiling simultaneously, but something’s got to give.
I think many people who are for “paid DLC” are trying to articulate this, but aren’t clued up on Call of Duty development (which they don’t need to be, not everyone is as deep in the weeds as me or you reading this). It’s less about “we want to pay for Zombies maps again” and more “we want to support a Zombies mode that prioritises quality experiences”.
That’s a nice thought, but it doesn’t change the issue, sadly: Zombies is part of Call of Duty. It’s a miracle there’s any passion in the mode after years of Call of Duty’s bullshit upsetting development. And we’re all aware there is no end to said bullshit. This beautiful mode we find ourselves fans of should never have made it this far.
So, what can we do? Honestly, not a lot. Vocal, but respectful feedback is about our limit. People in Treyarch do hear us and want to do right by us, but their hands are often tied. You can’t tell me the Zombies Team wouldn’t love to do another Zombies Chronicles expansion, but it would require a thousand different pieces falling into place; a large budget, lots of time, and, most importantly, a green light from Activision.
It’s not the answer anyone is looking for, but it’s best to find your peace with it. Call of Duty is too big to “vote with our wallets”, and accepting the latest disaster is much easier when nothing surprises you.
Hone in on the parts of Zombies you still find joy in. I’ve always done this and will continue to do so. I’m not here out of obligation; I’m here because I still find Zombies to be one-in-a-million, even when Treyarch fumbles or Activision disgraces the mode.
I sleep easily knowing that no matter what is ahead, Zombies can never truly die. Even if they pull the trigger one day. The history, the legacy, still belongs to us. But we don’t need to worry about that quite yet: Treyarch still has a lot of plans for Zombies. I only wish we weren’t in this weird pocket dimension of premium live service Zombies.
Criminally Underrated
My favourite habit when falling behind on all the new releases is spontaneously replaying an old game for the umpteenth time. In true Shutter Paw style, it’s happening again.
LA Noire has always been one of my favourites. I first played it in secondary school when I didn’t know the difference between a publisher and a developer. As far as I was concerned, it was “the next game from the GTA people”. And what a game it was! The combination of GTA’s presentation and open world with the detective work of an Ace Attorney hit me hard.
The gameplay hasn’t aged perfectly through a modern lens. There must be about twelve unique faces in the game, and the facial tech makes every character look doolally, no matter how relevant they are to the case.
For the most part, protagonist Cole Phelps is still an unlikable, arrogant prick. However, he’s easier to stomach alongside each of his partners. There is some top-class banter on display. Just a few Lads solving crimes, that’s what it’s all about.
The world of LA Noire holds up exceedingly well. It’s clear that creative license was taken when recreating the seediness of 1940s Los Angeles, the Black Dahlia case, and how the justice system operates, but losing yourself in it all is easy.
I remember thinking I’d never witnessed gore feel so personal in a video game before, nor had I seen slurs thrown about so commonly. It wasn’t gratuitous; it felt real and is still just as harrowing in 2025. Degraded bodies fill your case book, each as grim as the last. The crime scenes feel heavy, as if they must be taken seriously. They always are.
Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom! Some street crimes feature zany characters, and the jank of a 2011 open-world game holds firm. I’ve ended up driving myself into some pretty incredible predicaments, and it’s almost mandatory to wind up your partner by driving off as they’re about to enter the car.
It’s a shame we’ll likely never get another game like it. Team Bondi capitulated after launch, and although Rockstar still owns the IP, it doesn’t seem interested in carrying on the series. It’s also preoccupied with a little-known game called Grand Theft Auto VI. You might have heard of it?
I am surprised more studios haven’t pounced on the opportunity to create an LA Noire-like game. For instance, if Capcom ever wanted to push the Ace Attorney series outside its visual novel boundaries, it could do worse than look to LA Noire for inspiration.
That said, exaggeration and silliness are essential parts of the series, and it may lose that if it moves away from the visual novel genre. Better to let a different studio give it a go, especially since we’re all still waiting on a traditional AA7. Any day now, Capcom.
So, it’s back to the beat I go, injuring the public with my driving and blaming Rusty for it. That’s what I call justice!