Tron Evolution
Overview -
Bridging the gap between the first TRON film and its big-budget sequel, TRON: Evolution takes the form of a third-person action game. Its action picks up a while after the events of the 1982 classic film that started it all, slotting in not too long before its sequel picks up. Chronicled within its several hour-long runtime is a war between the Grid’s original inhabitants and a newly formed race known as Isomorphic Organisms (ISOs.) Flynn, a program created in the image of the digital reality’s creator, has gone rogue, infecting civilians with the help of an ISO turned virus named Abraxus.
Video Review
Licensed games are generally known for being rushed products with mediocre visuals. TRON: Evolution bucks that trend a bit, giving gamers a decent-looking world to fight through. Digital design influences are hard to miss, as the Grid itself takes on the films’ iconic black and neon blue look. It looks incredibly futuristic, and pretty good overall. Though, the game’s visual design does not feature the type of fidelity and polish found in some other games in this genre. The enemies themselves tend to look quite bland after a while, and so do the main character models at times.
Don’t purchase TRON: Evolution for its visual prowess, because you’ll probably be disappointed. That’s not to say the game looks bad by any means, but it’s not a visual spectacle either. If you’re going to go out and hunt down a copy of this third-person action affair, then do so because you’re interested in its subject matter. It looks pretty good, but not great, with repetitive environmental design.
Audio Review
Being that this game takes place in a digitally crafted world (a video game, in fact,) you can expect a lot of digital sound effects. When you take out an enemy, it’s referred to as de-rezzing it, meaning that you’re effectively eliminating its resolution from the game world. As a result, everything you’ll hear while playing TRON: Evolution will have a futuristic effect to it. Some of the voice acting is exempt from this rule, but the gameplay is not.
Like its core gameplay action, the game’s effects track tends to become repetitive after a bit. You’ll eventually start to hear the same sounds over and over again, which is quite standard for this type of game. Though, that’s not to say it’s a great design choice by any means. To be frank, the audio found within needs work with mediocre music and effects. Its only standout comes in the form of its stars’ voice acting.
TRON: Evolution is a bit of a mixed bag overall, but it comes away with a positive grade in my books. Reason being is that it does a pretty good job of progressing the licensed game sub-genre forward, with some noticeable quality and decent polish. Its campaign is mediocre at best when compared to other games like it, but the title’s fully-fledged multiplayer component is better than most. Fans of the films will enjoy themselves, despite the aforementioned issues.
