The Marathon game is confirmed, boasts an incredibly sleek design, has an official launch date set, and will be conducting a closed alpha test this month.

Almost two years after it was first revealed, Bungie have released a first-look at the upcoming Marathon reboot’s gameplay. And you know what? Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s looking really good! And it’s out September 23rd! Much like the reveal trailer it’s incredibly stylish, there’s this clean, almost Mirror’s Edge like quality to its world, but we’ve had hints of that already. The big thing is the gameplay, which looks like more of that chunky, Bungie, first-person shooting goodness.

In terms of how matches work, you can form teams of up to three people as you head out to collect loot. Dying normally means losing any loot you’ve collected, but if you manage to get out successfully you can hang on to it for future runs. Matches can have up to 18 players, though it sounds like there won’t necessarily be that many all the time, as you can even go solo if you like.

At launch there’ll be six runners to choose from, but Marathon won’t just be about the gameplay, as there’ll be seasonal storytelling events too. Also, no idea why, but all of these details were delivered to us from Final Fantasy 16’s own Ben Starr. Can’t complain though, great voice!

The thing you’ll probably most be interested in, though, is that the game is getting a closed alpha. This kicks off April 23rd and runs until May 4th, but there’s a catch: it’s for North America only. Perhaps a bit annoying for the rest of us, but I’ve never known gamers to be anything but a patient bunch. You’ll have to join the game’s official Discord to sign-up.

I’m really not much of a shooter person, they’ve never clicked with me honestly, but boy howdy does Marathon’s sci-fi world look like it might change things for me. One concern I do have is that Bungie are obviously known for vaulting a large portion of Destiny 2‘s story – so much so it had to use fan made videos in a court case to show off the game’s story – that I can’t help but wonder how they’ll handle Marathon. I guess we’ll find out in due time!

In the meantime, you can watch a highlight reel of a bunch of YouTubers and Twitch streamers playing the game to get more of a feel of moment to moment gameplay. Just watch out for that Geoff Keighley jumpscare.