Tron: Evolution To Help Explain Tron: Legacy, Vice Versa

Back in the early 1980s, I embarked on a summer campaign to get my name changed to Tron Gerstmann. My parents, tyrants that they are, wouldn't hear of it and I stand before you stuck with my given name, Jefferson Lamarr Computer Space Gerstmann. Ultimately, that's not even an important tidbit of information about my suburban upbringing, but it might tell you a bit about the impact that the movie Tron made on my seven-year-old ass. I played the socially awkward and shy video game fiend role to the hilt, so much so that even back then, living inside a machine sounded a lot more exciting than going to school.

So I guess you could say that I'm somewhat interested in seeing how this next batch of Tron-related releases turn out. The film, Tron: Legacy, sounds like it's coming along reasonably well. The game, Tron: Evolution, also looks promising. At a glance, it actually looks pretty awesome. But after playing an early version of it, it feels like it's still in need of some work.

Two sequences were shown off to press at a Disney-run event last week. The first is the standard on-foot stuff you'd expect it to have, if you've been following its development. Part of the game is very movement-oriented, and the game uses the R1 button (the PS3 version was on display) as a sort of catch-all acrobatics button that you can use to run along or up walls or to vault off of specific objects for a longer jump. The combat is based on your ability to toss discs at the bad guys--most of whom are infected with something called the Abraxas virus--and generally beat the crap out of them with a light/heavy attack combo style. You can also employ the use of alternate discs, such as a heavy disc that does more damage or a bomb disc that explodes on contact.

The second sequence was an example of how light cycles will be implemented into the game. Unlike the hard-cornering bikes of the original Tron universe, these new bikes allow for a more analog experience, and the result is a fairly standard steering model. In this portion of the game, the road you're riding on is deteriorating, things are crashing down around you to create new obstacles, and enemy light cycles are attempting to box you in. Careful steering and the occasional disc toss to keep those enemy cycles in check seem key to getting through this section, though the steering felt a little too touchy. Representatives on-hand to discuss the game were quick to note that the light cycles are still in-need of some further attention, so it seems likely that the steering will be easier to handle in the game's final release.

Though we don't know too much about the specific happenings in Tron: Evolution's story, it sounds like it will again be a battle between factions, with the corrupted virus grabbing members for its faction by force while everyone else fights it out for control of Tron City. Oh, yeah. Tron is a city now, as well as a dude. And by dude I guess I mean "program." The story will attempt to bridge the gap between the cyberspace world of 1982 and the more analog-looking cyberworld of 2010, and it sounds like the developers are working very tightly with the filmmakers to give the game some important details that will make more sense after you see the movie, and vice versa. That sounds intriguing, but then I said the same thing back when Enter the Matrix was released, too. As something of a Tron fan, I'm hoping that the developers and the filmmakers actually pull this off.

But it's still too early to tell if either the game or the movie are going to be any good. After playing Tron: Evolution, it definitely seems like it has promise, but we'll have to wait until it's released later this year to see if Disney and Propaganda can cash in on that promise and deliver an exciting final product.