XBLA Wednesday- Bungie's Marathon and some board games

Bungie, the team behind Halo, had another sci fi epic for the Mac. This was Marathon and the 2nd in the trilogy, Marthon: Durandal is coming to Xbox Live this Wednesday. Sadly, the game doesn't look like the above concept art, but more like this:

The Xbox live Arcade release will offer 4 player splitscreen and cost you $10. What's real interesting about the Marathon games is that they take place in a universe associated with Master Chief. Are there Halo 3 clues or parallels in Marathon? Is that why it is being released close to Halo 3? Only time will tell.