Choose Blacklight: Retribution
Choose Blacklight: Retribution if you want a Free To Play experience. Blacklight: Retribution launched in 2012.
Blacklight: Retribution vs Marathon
Blacklight: Retribution and Marathon both land in Action on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both are Action games on Steam. Blacklight: Retribution (2012) is 14 years older than Marathon (2026). Marathon scores higher on Steam reviews (87.7% positive) than Blacklight: Retribution (40.4% positive). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Marathon
Choose Marathon if you want the Online PvP, PvP, and Adjustable Text Size side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2026) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 29,474 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Blacklight: Retribution and Marathon sit in Action on Steam and both list Multi-player, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Use the side-by-side table for the feature view, or follow the "Games like" links below to see ranked alternatives for either title.
Side-by-side comparison
 Blacklight: Retribution |  Marathon | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2012 | 2026 |
| Genres | Action, Free To Play | Action |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Unrated | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | Price unknown | 39.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 40.4% positive (89 reviews) | 87.7% positive (29,474 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer |
| Developers | Hardsuit Labs, Inc. | Bungie |
Side by side
- Both are Action games on Steam.
- Blacklight: Retribution (2012) is 14 years older than Marathon (2026).
- Marathon scores higher on Steam reviews (87.7% positive) than Blacklight: Retribution (40.4% positive).
- Marathon is Deck Unsupported on Steam Deck; Blacklight: Retribution has no Deck rating yet.
Blacklight: Retribution vs Marathon — FAQ
- Should I play Blacklight: Retribution or Marathon first?
- If you want chronology, Blacklight: Retribution (2012) came out before Marathon (2026). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Blacklight: Retribution and Marathon similar?
- They overlap on Action on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.