The free loadout: a unique feature of extraction shooters that allows down-on-their-luck players to get back on their feet with complimentary gear and minimal risk. Every extraction shooter has their own take on the catch-up mechanic—typically balancing the free stuff by giving you crappy guns or limited armor. Depending on your point of view, Bungie's Marathon reboot might have the most generous or restrictive free loadout of the bunch.

As detailed in a new vidoc showing off all of Marathon's runner shells (essentially hero characters), Bungie says Rook is a unique class option that functions like a free loadout. You can't bring anything in with you, but you're supplied with basic kit for free and can keep whatever you find on a raid.

That's more-or-less how the free loadout works in Arc Raiders, the most popular extraction shooter of the moment, but Bungie's implementation is different in two major ways:

1. Rook players will always enter a match late, making it harder to compete for the best loot on the map
2. Rook players can only queue solo

Depending on where you land on Arc Raiders' free loadout debate, that could be fantastic news. Some have argued for months now that free loadouts don't have enough downsides in Arc Raiders—a byproduct of even the weakest guns being plenty effective in that game—but limiting that playstyle to solo and late joins is a significant wrinkle. If the intention is to disincentivize players from constantly using free loadouts to never risk anything and still escape with the best loot, it's a good start.

That said, Marathon's Rook class also comes with a unique ability that sounds super handy: a cloak that makes enemy NPCs ignore your presence, making it easier to slip in or out of compounds unnoticed.

Similar to Escape From Tarkov's Scavs, Rooks can also be instantly identified by their appearance.

"Ultimately, Rook is a morality test," said senior designer Mike Humbolt. "You have a couple of options when you see a Rook: either you're a decent person and you drop a piece of loot and let them be on their merry way, or you're a monster and you blast them in the face."

I wonder if that scenario will actually have two outcomes in Marathon. In every extraction shooter that isn't Arc Raiders, peaceful coexistence is usually a fantasy. There's an expectation that PvP is why everyone is there, and killing only has upsides. I'll be interested to see if Bungie can, or even wants to, cultivate a "talk first, shoot second" culture in Marathon. Considering the rest of this vidoc is laser-focused on the wonders of Runner abilities in 3v3 team fights, my gut says Marathon will be a shoot-on-sight game.