TRON: Evolution

Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Apparently enough people continue to buy movie tie in games that developers continue to make them. They aren't all bad, but when the purpose of making a game is to help promote a movie instead of to make a fun game, then it expectations are never very high. Enter TRON: Evolution.

The game fills in the gap between the original film and the sequel as the System Monitor protagonist attempts to thwart Clu's rise to power. The story is interesting for fans of the movie and also explain what happened to Flynn after the original film ends.

TRON: Evolution is a third person action game that involves a lot of running and jumping from wall to wall or from one platform to the next. The action usually boils down to basic button smashing hack and slash. The exception are the two vehicles. The light cycle is lots of fun when you get to use one, but those portions of the game are a little restrictive and are just get away scenario. Previous iterations of TRON games had deliberate light cycle races and duels that were more intense than what TRON: Evolution has to offer. The light tank is another disappointment. It's slow, cumbersome and overpowered against foot soldiers. Staged arena tank battles would suit the vehicle much better.

This is where the multiplayer portion of TRON: Evolution steps up to the plate. The larger maps have light cycles and are a blast. The high speed vehicular combat is intense and loads of fun. Even without the light cycles, multiplayer offers the most fun from this game.

The graphics in the game do look good, but there is not much room to error with the monochromatic TRON sets as inspiration. The blue does get tiring, but that's another restriction from the fact that this game is trying to imitate and promote a motion picture. A game that is without these boundaries would be free to add more color and vary the theme more between levels. That being said, the game does look good and suits the film well.

Overall, TRON: Evolution is a decent movie tie in game. It will provide good entertainment for fans of the TRON film, but anyone who is just looking for a good gaming experience has an abundance of better titles to choice from.