I can remember about 20 years ago (good gosh I’m getting old) when my Dad took a friend and I to the movies to go see “some flick about a guy who gets sucked into a video game called TRON” as I recall him putting it. At the time, I was just as addicted to games as I am now, so I was excited to see a movie dealing with one of my favorite subjects. When I walked out of the theater that evening, I can also remember talking about how cool I thought it was that the producers managed to combine the real world with computer graphics and nifty neon lighting to represent the computer world. Well, here I am in 2003, and as you can imagine I was just as excited to play TRON 2.0 for PC today as I was to see the movie back then. I was really impressed with the fifteen minutes of 2.0 that I got to see at E3, and overall I was equally impressed with the multiple hours I just recently spent with it. What is the verdict? Read on and you’ll see …

The original story behind TRON for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie (or hasn’t seen it in a while) revolved around a game programmer named Flynn who gets pulled into a computer mainframe by a dangerous program and must activate TRON (a counter program) to shut down the evil MCP (Master Control Panel) that beamed him in and is looking to take over all computer systems and ultimately humanity. TRON 2.0 acts somewhat as a sequel, but also can stand alone as it’s own story even without seeing the original film.

TRON 2.0 takes place 20 years after the original where Dr. Alan Bradley’s son Jet (Alan was one of Flynn’s friends in the original movie played by Bruce Boxleitner) goes to his Dad’s office after hearing Dr. Bradley in distress while on the phone with him. Rather than finding Dr. Bradley or any information as to what just took place, his father’s computer MA3A (played by Cindy Morgan who played Lora in the original film … another one of Flynn’s friends) beams him into the mainframe. You play as Jet, and unravel a neat story involving a horrible virus named Thorne who is corrupting files for his own evil intentions and is threatening computer systems worldwide. To make matters worse, ICP guards led by a master program named Kernel have run a system sweep to try and locate the viral intrusion and have blamed the corruption and problems on you. You go through several missions in order to stop the corruption that threatens to corrupt the reality in the computer world, therefore threatening the reality in real life. While trying to complete your mission, you will get some interesting and sometimes disturbing information about what’s going on in the real world with Dr. Bradley’s company while you are away and all the while being attacked by programs that should probably be helping you out and meeting few allies along the way. 

The overall presentation in looks and creativity to TRON 2.0 is what impressed me the most. The game runs in an FPS format and contains RPG elements to it, but the way that they implemented the role-playing piece is what really stood out and made me say “cool”. As you complete tasks which range from things like “find Mercury” to “escape the contaminated sector” and find build nodes here and there, you will earn experience points which don’t do your standard “level 1 to level 2” format found in everything else. Instead, your version number will increase, similar to if you got upgrades from a patch file. Starting out, you are “Jet v.1.0.0”, but will grow to “v.2.3.6” and so on as you move forwards. In addition, hitting round number “milestones” (1.0.0, 2.0.0, etc.) will allow you to increase stats in areas like health, weapon effectiveness, and download rate. Wait … did I say “download rate”? Yes I did.

Another really cool feature to TRON 2.0 is in how you acquire health, energy, and new abilities called “subroutines” by downloading them. In standard RPG style games, you usually get new abilities as you level up (the wizard got a new fireball spell, the thief can sneak better). TRON instead has you finding abilities like higher jumping, armor, stealth, and power increases in the form of nodes that can be seen in parts of the various stages as colored blocks. Jet has an energy reserve in addition to his health bar, and energy is used for things like downloading these nodes, transferring energy to bits which act as door keys, or providing weapon ammo (which I will explain here in a minute). When you walk up to these nodes, you can use your action button to download these new abilities provided you have enough energy and then apply them to your character as you see fit in Jet’s abilities screen. Your character ability screen consists of a wheel which has a certain number of spaces allocated for attaching upgrades, so you can attach and remove them as they are needed throughout the game. These subroutines can also be upgraded in their versions, and moving from Alpha to Beta to Gold versions will of course do things like increase your stealth from 15 to 50% or make you jump 30% higher instead of 10%.

Now on another unique note concerning these subroutines and upgrades, the overall element to TRON 2.0 is that a virus has taken over the system. As you get hit by certain enemies like Z-Lots (characters that were once normal programs and have been corrupted by the virus and now serve Thorne), these subroutines can become infected which will effect overall performance. Some downloads that you make will also contain already corrupted files, but fear not … Jet comes complete with his own defragmenting program to clean out fragmented blocks and also an anti virus program that can be used to clean out infected areas and help them run back to normal again.

So, what about weapons? Well, Jet will of course has to defend himself against the ICP’s that are familiar from the movie, but will also have a host of new bad guys to tangle with in the form of Seekers, Data Hogs, and Data Wraiths just to name a couple. You have four different types of weapon “primitives” in the TRON 2.0 game, which are your standard base types. These are your Disk Primitive (Frisbee style weapon found in the original movie used to attack and block some attacks), Rod Primitive (functions off of electrical style energy and creates shotgun and sniper type weapons), Ball Primitive (grenade like weapons), and Mesh Primitives (blasters, missile type weapons). Once you have obtained these primitives, you can begin using downloaded subroutines that you find in order to make bigger and better weapons. For example, the Rod Primitive is also the rod that is used for your light cycle but snapping it in half will allow it to function as a tazer that drains energy from enemies that you sneak up on and attack with it. When you download a subroutine called “Suffusion”, this allows the rod to actually form a shotgun – like weapon using the energy that it has stored inside of it. Most of these subroutine upgrades will also utilize Jet’s energy reserve to act as ammunition, which eliminates the need to stop in the middle of a battle and reload your weapon. You simply need to keep an eye on your energy reserve and download core dumps (balls of energy dropped from de-rezzed opponents) or find an energy packet to replenish your reserve as you need it. The Disc Primitive is actually your base weapon and will not need energy storage to function.

If you’re not in the mood to play an FPS, TRON 2.0 also has included a whole separate Light Cycle circuit (designed by Syd Mead from the original film) that you can play in addition to the story driven game. The light cycles are high-speed bikes that produce a trail of light behind them, and competitors hop into arenas and battle it out in “last man standing” fashion until only one rider remains. Crashing into one of these light trails, be it one of your opponent’s or your own will cause your cycle to go “kaboom” (quick explanation there for those of you who haven’t seen the original film yet). Circuit races are broken down into a certain number of heats that you race in, and you have a set number of lives to do this in. As you move through the circuit, you start out as a blue cycle but can unlock different colors like red, yellow, and purple as you win and progress. In addition, they now have “super cycles” that you can use in certain arenas that are bigger and faster than the originals.

Light Cycle control is actually pretty simple, especially considering that they only turn on 45-degree angles versus big sweeping turns and whatnot. Also, light cycles move at a standard rate of speed at all times, but you can use your forward button to make it go faster or your back button to slow it down a little bit. There are also green or red panels in some arenas that will alter speed as well, and the developers actually added in some nifty powerups that you can grab like a shield or turbo boosts to help you get around your competition and help get victory … but the AI knows this and will grab and utilize powerups as well.

OK, as far as the overall presentation of the game and all of the nifty things you can do, you can probably tell that I was really impressed. There were a couple of areas that I felt could have been done a little better though, and since we just talked about Light Cycles I’ll start there. The Cycles were a ball to play with, and the arenas that they designed were pretty nifty and creative overall. My biggest issue is in the AI of the other drivers, even when setting the difficulty down to normal. Humans by nature can have some great reaction times, but they never seem to be as good as computer AI. While I tended to fumble trying to angle my Cycle right next to the light trail of an opponent or next to a wall, the AI of course can snap off almost 100% accurate turns and maneuvers without much of a problem. The camera can also be switched from a third to 1^st person view, which is neat, but it never seems to give you enough of the playing field to make accurate judgment calls even though you can adjust and move it to an extent. I often found myself rocketing full speed into a wall, obstacle, or Cycle trail simply because I couldn’t see it when I turned.

Another issue that I had with the game from an AI perspective is in the opponents, particularly ICP’s. These characters can be rezzed in from stations found throughout levels and often like to attack in groups of two … one kneeling in front of the other one. While they always tend to be 99.9% accurate in arcing their disks to hit you, even around walls and such, they always seem to sidestep my disk or projectiles if at a distance. Oh sure, I could move in a little closer to help eliminate that problem, but if they have buddies in the general vicinity (which they often do), this could also cause you to get drilled by three to five disks before you even have a chance to get a toss in. In addition, throwing the disk of course leaves you defenseless to sit there and take a bludgeoning like a champion, so I found myself replaying some levels more than once, twice, or three times trying to figure out the most effective way to not only rid myself of enemies but stay alive in the process.

Lastly, I was really disappointed with the multiplayer part of the game, which was one thing that I was looking forward to the most. With all of the download possibilities, permissions, and different subroutines, this could have made for some great team deathmatch or capture the flag kind of team games. Instead, multiplayer matches take place in disc arenas with players squaring off with one another lobbing discs back and forth for the highest score. While this was a neat idea, it also got old after the first few times since it was one weapon and the same thing over and over again. Light Cycles can also be played multiplayer, but it is supported through LAN play only. Not a bad thing if you have some LAN buddies to play with, but if you happen to be stationary and play online only, these two things hurt the replay value of the game. The story is great, but as we all know single player games can get old after one or two times through them. On a positive note though, the light cycle arenas help to make up for that to an extent. 

Graphically, TRON 2.0 is nothing short of spectacular in my opinion. Everything in the computer world is represented in the same fashion as the movie, by using simple block – like 3-D structures and grid patters and detailing them with impressive and amazingly colorful neon or flat colored kinds of effects. Some areas will be made of some flatter kind of dull colors, but then you will suddenly go to a new area and be assaulted with a whole spectrum which looks extremely good. They even included the squared clouds floating by overhead in some areas, and enemies will burst into 1s and 0s as they get de-rezzed. One of the most impressive graphics features to me though was in the weapon subroutines, since rather than pulling them out of a backpack or a holster like we see in most FPS titles that are out, they actually kind of build and form in your hand like the computer was designing and creating them for you on the fly. The characters that you will interact with (good and bad) are also well animated and add to the overall feel of the game.

The sound in TRON 2.0 was also great, using actual music tracks from Wendy Carlos who designed the original music for the movie so you still get that same futuristic, sometimes haunting music style that you hear in the film which really set the tone during my entire playing experience. The voiceovers were done very well, and included the voice talents of Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan, and even Rebecca Romjin Stamos who loaned her voice talents out as a character named Mercury that you meet along the way. The weapon effects and sounds were done very well, and de-rezzing enemies will even have the same digitized sound that they had when they got killed in the movie.

Overall, TRON 2.0 isn’t perfect, but then again … what is? The presentation of the game and great storyline kept me drawn in for hours at a time, and I would highly recommend that fans of the original movie go and buy this game. You won’t be sorry. Run and gun FPS fans who look for more of a Quake III or UT2K3 style probably won’t find TRON 2.0 to be as fast paced or exciting as what they are looking for, but the creativity and unique style of it still deserves to be checked out prior to making a decision not to get it. Overall, TRON 2.0 is definitely one of the most unique and creative games that I’ve seen in a long time, and could prove to be a great addition to your PC gaming library.

Oh … one last thing. If you’re going to pick up the game, I would suggest looking at picking up the TRON 2.0 Hint book as well from Brady Games. It provides some good walkthroughs to help you if you happen to get stuck, and provides some great details on weapons, enemies, and subroutines to help you in knowing what you are going up against or what all of your new – found powers can do to help you get through the game. It also contains some really helpful tips too like “throw the disc at the standing enemy and hit him in the face, then hold the attack button and angle down at the last minute to bounce it off the head of the one kneeling in front of him for a double rez” which I wouldn’t have thought about … but it definitely helped in some of those tight spots.  

Gameplay: 8.7
Easy controls, and the ability to go in and play through the light cycle circuit as a game totally separate from the story driven FPS part was great and will help to increase replay value overall for many people. The enemies, weapons, leveling up system, downloading and just overall presentation of the game were spectacular in my opinion. There are some AI issues that were a little annoying in human error vs. no computer error in weapon targeting, and some camera issues with the light cycles which caused some wrecks, but won’t overall these things probably won’t make you walk away and stop playing the game due to all of the other positive elements to be found.

Graphics: 9.4
The graphics in TRON 2.0 were also nothing short of great to me, and while it retains the look of the original film, the changes to the world size and areas that you will visit make it look like you have stepped into the same vision from the movie only 20 years later. Character animations were fluid and looked nice, and little things like water-like energy pool effects and the creative method of many weapon subroutines building themselves in your hands instead of being pulled out of nowhere were great. The FMV cutscenes also looked top quality, and were used to help move the story along and weren’t overdone.

Sound: 9.3
The music was composed by Wendy Carlos who also did the tracks from the movie, so you can expect to hear the same kind of style (with a little more modern flare) that can be heard on the video or DVD of the original film which set the tone great. The voice acting was really well done, and the talents of Bruce Boxleitner and Cindy Morgan from the original movie were used along with Rebecca Romjin Stamos playing the part of the program Mercury … one of the baddest Light Cycle riders in the mainframe.

Difficulty: Medium
There are parts where do overs will probably have to be done, but every “seemingly impossible” scenario that I ran up against was overcome by using maybe some more thought or patience (or my handy Brady Games guide). There are three different difficulty levels to choose from and select during any time on the game, and you will receive an initial tutorial and helpful hints that are kept handy for you to view as you play so you can always go back and check them out if you forget or get stuck.

Concept: 9.4
Everything about this game just sets it aside from other FPS or RPG kind of games that are out there. The usage of downloading, subroutines, and the whole overall look and feel of the 2.0 world were done extremely well and I can definitely say that they impressed me with what they did here. The story was also done very well, and will keep you entertained.

Multiplayer: 7.9
Light Cycles are obviously the main choice here for replay value, but the Cycle function is supported by LAN only. The other multiplayer option available was disk arenas, but these tend to get old after a few plays. I felt that there was much more potential for some great opportunities for team deathmatch or CTF with the creativity and weapons of the TRON world.

Overall: 8.6
Even with a couple of issues, TRON 2.0 definitely provided a very addicting and entertaining experience for me. I would highly recommend that fans of the big screen movie check this title out, and FPS fans should give it a shot even if it’s not as fast paced as a lot of things that they are used to playing. While the story mode won’t have you playing it over and over for years to come, the light cycles definitely added to the replay value and longevity. I always thought that the Deadly Disks and Maze a Thon games for Intellivision way back in the 80’s were good (and I still have them, by the way), and it’s nice to see that the movie that I was so fond of was once again done in a fun, creative, and unique way. My thanks to Buena Vista on this one.