Tron 2.0: Killer App

Tron 2.0 was released on the PC in 2003 and was an unofficial sequel to the 1982 film Tron. The game suffers from a handful of game design no-nos, though, that keep it from reaching anywhere near the cult status of the film. It is still fun, if a little bland, but the problems drag it down into the realm of the weekend rental.

Gameplay

Tron 2.0 puts you in the role of Jet Bradley who is digitized and put into a computer to search for his missing father as well as combat a viral corruption in the system. Just like the movie, the computer world is very boxy and bathed in the glow of primary colors (you know – red, green, blue). You play the game from a first-person perspective, and it plays basically like any other FPS except now you’re in a computer. Something interesting that makes the game stand out are the limited RPG elements. Your character can level up and you can then assign more points to health and energy. You can also equip subroutines that allow you to perform special things such as make less noise so you can make stealth kills. These subroutines are all governed by system memory, memory slots, and file size and it is yet another way the game really immerses you into the computer world.

There are also a number of areas that require you to engage in light cycle combat. You drive around an arena and can only turn at 90 degree angles. Your light cycle leaves a trail behind you, and the point of the game is to force your opponent to either run into the walls of the arena or a light trail. It is simple, though, and only fun for a while.

Jumping Puzzles = Death

There are a few problems, however, that are very detrimental to the Tron 2.0 experience. A big issue is that the developers apparently didn’t learn anything from Turok on the N64 and have filled the levels with jumping puzzles. And not just jumping puzzles, but jumping puzzles over bottomless pits. It flat out sucks to trek across a level only to die because of a stupid jump. It happens a lot in this game, and for every one shooting section that is fun there are a handful of lame jumping sections that will frustrate you. Jumping sections aren’t fun. Period. Another big problem with Tron 2.0 is that the game has to load way too often. Not only does it load a lot, but it load extremely slowly. It takes a good couple of minutes of loading just to get to a “Press Start” screen when you start the game. Once you get into the game the load times are 20-30 seconds, but they are infuriatingly frequent. This absolutely destroys the flow of the game and makes it so that you don’t even want to play it because the gameplay after the long load times just isn’t worth the trouble.

Multiplayer

Tron 2.0 also features online multiplayer via Xbox Live. You can participate in deathmatch, team deathmatch, and light cycle combat with up to 16 players. There is another team game called data capture where there are three points on a map and the first team to control all three wins. The most interesting mode is called override. It combines light cycle and on foot combat and it is pretty fun to be able to try to shoot players on light cycles as they speed by. It is nice that there are so many multiplayer options in Tron 2.0, but the sad part is that the gameplay just isn’t good enough to keep you interested in playing online. This is a rather bare bones first person shooter and it simply can’t keep up with games like Halo 2.

Graphics, Sound, and the Bottom Line

Graphically, Tron 2.0 looks pretty much like you would expect a Tron game to look. Everything is blocky and primary colors dominate. It has a cool retro futuristic look that works really well. The animation is also pretty solid. The graphics definitely aren’t the weak point here.

Likewise, the sound is very good and very appropriate. Some of the original actors from Tron voice characters in this game and they sound very good. The sound effects for the weapons and light cycles also fit the game really well and just sound right. The presentation in Tron 2.0 is overall very good.

If you are looking for a new FPS, then look elsewhere because Tron 2.0: Killer App can’t compete with other recent shooters. The game doesn’t do anything new or different other than putting you inside a computer, so the experience is pretty disappointing. The only way I can really recommend Tron 2.0 is if you are a huge Tron fan. For anyone else, rent it.