Area 52 Escape vs Classic Marathon Infinity
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Area 52 Escape
Experience a retro first-person shooter inspired by classic FPS games. Battle aliens with a variety of weapons and power-ups in a humorous, fast-paced adventure. Explore new levels and content through free updates.
- Retro first-person shooter gameplay
- Fast-paced action
- Multiple alien enemies
- Arsenal of weapons
- Unique power-ups
- Chapter-based levels with secret areas
- Free updates with new content
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Retro first person shooter! This app is based on the original Wolf3D code by the godfather of FPS John Carmack (id). If you long for a game that brings that retro feel, this is it. Originally published in 2009 which was derived from the game that started the FPS genre Wolfentein 3D. This was based on a pet project to bring it to the iphone. Our team had lovingly created all new art, animations, levels, weapons, sounds while painstakingly keeping with the original style and capabilities. If you're looking for a game that brings the classic retro feel, this is it! Backstory: Area 52 is a humorous first person shooter (FPS) in a classic retro graphic style and feel that runs FAST and SMOOTH. You are a janitor at a super secret government research facility and something has gone very wrong! Aliens are running rampant throughout the facility - can you stop them before it's too late? Make BJ proud and kick some alien butt! Start off with just your Mop and save the world! Area 52 Game features: -Fast paced first person action! -Intuitive and fluid controls so you can focus on the FUN! -Multiple alien enemies each with their own personalities! -An arsenal of weapons to find including your trusty janitor mop! -Unique experimental and alien artifact power-ups! Chapter 1 - A ten (10) level adventure into Area 52! - 8 Challenging primary levels to kick alien butt! - 1 Super Secret Level to seek out for the ultimate rewards! - 1 Big Boss Level to put you to the test with an Alien Boss! - More bosses, weapons, and aliens released in free updates - Future chapters will include new levels and other additional content Join the GameMonger community at www.GameMonger.com - Discuss and contribute ideas to future updates - Enter contests to win a place in our games and gaming history! Check out more games at www.GameMonger.com
Classic Marathon Infinity
Experience the epic conclusion to a classic sci-fi shooter trilogy. Engage in single-player campaigns with exploration, puzzles, and combat, or test your skills in intense multiplayer battles. Features enhanced graphics and sound.
- Single-player campaign with story and missions
- Multiplayer cross-play support
- Enhanced HD graphics
- 3D positional sound
- New weapon: KKV-7 SMG
- 25 main levels and 5 hidden levels
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Rage hard.. Marathon Infinity® is the climactic conclusion to Bungie's groundbreaking Marathon® Trilogy. Learn the the truth about the events of Classic Marathon® and Marathon: Durandal® first hand in "Blood Tides of Lh’owon", the single player portion of Infinity. ENHANCEMENTS • High frame rate support • Updated HD Sprite set • 3D positional sound with HRTF • Texture parallax mapping • Multiplayer cross-play with Linux, Mac, PC, and Steam • Fan soundtrack by Talashar FEATURES • 25 levels divided into four chapters • 5 hidden levels • missions include exploration, puzzles and extermination • "Carnage is as easy as point and shoot." ~Marathon Manual • introducing a new weapon: KKV-7 10mm SMG Flechette submachine gun ===== to.be.a.vidmaster ==== What does it mean to be a Vidmaster? It is being balanced in the calm center of a whirling and untouchable tornado of destruction, while showers of grenades patter harmlessly around you and bullets crawl toward you in slow-mo. It is when your brain develops a new bundle of nerves whose only function is to re-route impulses directly from your eyes to your finger muscles, so that you can twist and snap off a rocket long before you’re conscious of the yellow blip in your motion detector. It is when the difference between a roomful of alien warriors and a carpet of them is a matter of seconds. The word "vid" entered the Marathon lexicon during development of the first game, to distinguish the excellent players (particularly in net games) from the fodder. The Oath of the Vidmaster was inscribed into the skip-levels dialog (Command-Option-Begin New Game), to remind players of the highest level of excellence they could aspire to: "I pledge to punch all switches, to never shoot where I could use grenades, to admit the existence of no level except Total Carnage, to never use Caps Lock as my 'run' key, and to never, ever, leave a single Bob alive." To do these things is to invite maximum peril, and requires one to play the game as hard and unrelentingly as possible, at the highest level of skill; to play as a Vidmaster. These three games, the Marathon® saga, are the best training and testing ground for Vidmasters. You can play against aliens alone or in a networked group through more than 80 levels. But the true challenge is surviving in one of the 50 included netgame arenas against other people. It is in such trials by fire that mighty Vidmasters are forged. Rage hard.. ===== BUNGIE™, MARATHON® and the Bungie and Marathon logos are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Bungie, Inc., used with permission.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Classic Marathon Infinity at 4.4 against Area 52 Escape's 3.9. Classic Marathon Infinity also leads on ratings volume (160 vs 30). Area 52 Escape's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Area 52 Escape sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Classic Marathon Infinity sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Classic Marathon Infinity holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Classic Marathon Infinity has 160 ratings behind it against 30, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Area 52 Escape's written reviews are positive against 74% of Classic Marathon Infinity's.
Area 52 Escape ships an update monthly, Classic Marathon Infinity every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Area 52 Escape | Classic Marathon Infinity |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (30 ratings) | 4.4 (160 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 74.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 30 | 160 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 32 MB | 1.0 GB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 17+ |
| Developer | GameMonger LLC | Dome-C Studio LLC |
Customer experience
Area 52 Escape
Classic Marathon Infinity
Bugs and requests
Area 52 Escape
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Classic Marathon Infinity
Reported bugs
15 issues- Game crashes on iOS 8 and later versions
- Crashes when loading specific levels (Level 1, Despair)
- Cannot progress past end screen
- Stuck in 'Rage' chapter loop
- Level 0 to 1 transition crashes
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- Black screen except HUD visible
- Cannot open doors
- Texture rendering issues on Level 3
- Sky texture rotated 90 degrees
- Game Center broken
- App Store purchase features not accessible
- Screen zoomed in and distorted on iPad Mini
- Menu covering half screen on iPhone 4s
- Levels advancing out of sequence
- Achievements bugged (level progression)
Requested features
16 requests- Controller support (Backbone, MFi controllers)
- Multiplayer/network gameplay
- Custom map support and community maps
- Map builder tool
- Inverted aim option
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- Adjustable sensitivity settings
- Field of view customization
- Auto-center view toggle
- Run/swim toggle option
- Rearrangeable on-screen controls
- Bluetooth keyboard support
- Bootable from Backbone app
- Texture filtering options
- Scenario packs (Marathon Evil, Rubicon, Tempus Irae)
- Pathways Into Darkness port
- Desktop/CPU version
In-app purchases
Area 52 Escape
- RemoveAds$1.99
Classic Marathon Infinity
- Master Chief Mode$0.99
- Enhanced Reticules$0.99
- Just a tip$0.99
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- HD Mode$1.99
- Not the smallest tip$1.99
- A good tip$2.99
- A pretty good tip$4.99
- An excellent tip$7.99
- The best possible tip$12.99
- Better than the best tip$20.99
Questions
Is Area 52 Escape free?
Is Classic Marathon Infinity free?
Which has better reviews, Area 52 Escape or Classic Marathon Infinity?
Do Area 52 Escape or Classic Marathon Infinity have ads?
Which is updated more often, Area 52 Escape or Classic Marathon Infinity?
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