Hands-On With TRON: Evolution - The Xbox LIVE Community Team talks Games...and stuff - Site Home

If you’re old enough to remember “when the MCP was just a chess program,” you’re probably excited about Disney’s upccooming release of TRON: Legacy, the movie sequel to the now retro-cool 80’s sci-fi flick that’s coming this holiday season. And if you’re a TRON fan, then walking by this in the PAX hallways is certain to grab your attention:

TRON: Evolution, set for release December 7, is actually a prequel to TRON: Evolution. Developed by Disney’s Vancouver-based Propaganda Games studio, this third-person action game features on-foot combat and, of course, lightcycle battles! I spent some time playing both modes, and I was seriously impressed with this movie-based game.

Wisely, Disney avoids trying to directly adapt the upcoming movie’s story directly in the game, which is an approach that rarely makes for great gameplay. However, that’s not to say that this prequel is completely peripheral to the movie. The movie was filmed in Vancouver, and the developers worked closely and directly with the filmmakers to make the game tie tightly into the film. Not only was there much sharing of assets, but there are scenes in the movie that are flashbacks to sequences you’ll play in the game.

The first-person mode includes martial arts-style combat, trying to take down bad guys as they throw discs at you in one sequence I tried. When exploring the world of TRON, your character makes use of parkour-style movement to get around the world, jumping and wall-running to bridge gaps and avoid traps. These sequences had an almost Mirror’s Edge or Prince of Persia feel.

And of course, there’s the lightcycles, You’ll use these as transportation, and in combat as well. Lightcycle travel is super-fast, and avoiding the trails of enemy cycles while you try to take them down is seriously challenging.