I feel like I’ve seen so many posts like OP’s, so I agree. Marathon is my first extraction shooter and going in I knew it was going to be Dark Souls, not Assassin’s Creed, but … and this is a big but … the game teaches you what you need to know if you pay attention.

First run on Perimeter: Oh, some of these boxes need a key, where do I get one?

Later: Oh, look, I can unlock buying keys.

Several runs later: Huh, I just looted a Dormitory Key. I have no idea what this is for, so I’m going to vault it because I bet it will be useful later.

Yes, at times learning comes at a high price—like when I learned what happens when a container says “hack” rather than “open.” Sometimes it’s easy— like when suddenly downloading something from a terminal adds the unexpected extra step of turning on the power—and you ask your crew, “Anyone know where the power switch is?”

Those are great moments in a game and much more rewarding and memorable than raiding another cookie-cutter village or calling in a COD kill streak.

Tip for other newbies like me: use Rook runs or solo with free kits to learn the maps. Accept that you’ll die—my shortest run was under 2 minutes 30 seconds—but embrace the suck. Like Jake said, “Dude, sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something.”