Tron: Evolution review.

I do love my games. If this was not a general blog dedicated (mostly) to media vent, then I would be doing full-time game reviews.

I picked up Tron: Evolution just a few days ago, and I have been playing it non-stop. Despite the fact that I have about gazillion things due in...err...about a day.

Let me just tell you, this game is highly addictive. I am a huge leather and neon fan, and therefore I am a massive Tron fan - I love both the 1982 and 2010 films. Tron: Evolution is based on the latest movie: it features characters modelled after their true actors, voices and all, and an environment that is as digitally immersing as that of the movie. But, most importantly, it features the full Daft Punk official score from the film. Need I say more?

Upon settling into my couch, powering up my Xbox, starting Tron: Evolution and playing for about five minutes - the first thought I had about game was 'parkour'. Space parkour, with disks. My mind was blown!

The game was a little hard to figure out, but after much jumping around and mashing buttons together (and falling into an abyss of nothingness - death), I finally started getting the hang of it. 

You play Anon, a completely mute (his name is not Gordon, nor does he wear a HEV suit) but resilient system monitor designed by Flynn - the creator-God of this computer world. You are smooth, propelling yourself through risky chasms, leaping from wall to wall and running across vertical surfaces. Gravity is your worst enemy, so you defy it.

Basically, your mission as Anon is to run through this collapsing computer world, slicing baddies with your light disk in hopes of destroying the villain Abraxas - who purposefully introduced a virus into the system. What an asshole.

The controls, though a little difficult to understand at first, are pretty compelling once you get the touch. As Anon, you are basically an acrobat - and you control his every move. Everything has to be timed. If you're doing a dangerous wall run above a bottomless chasm, and fall to your true death, you will feel like a fool. Every move is tied in with the controls. When you master this, you will know how to achieve every jump - every roll, backflip and airflip humanly - err, robotically - possible. The fighting possibilities are endless, with dozens of combos dictating how your disk will be thrown and what it will do. When you're slicing people up with your disk, it genuinely feels like you're doing ballet. There are also levels where your race on your light cycle, and blow things to bits with your light tank.

Overall, I rate this game a hefty 8/10. Its somewhat repetitiveness is justified by the general nature of most beat-em-ups. If you like that sort of stuff, set in the visually stunning world of Tron, then you'll probably like this game. And if you've ever played either Spiderman or Prince of Persia games and loved them, then Tron: Evolution might just ring home to you.


-Dahlia