Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"A far better sequel than most films even deserve. The only bad news would be if Tron 3.0 isn't in the works."

---from the review

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Sidebar :

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The little details. I try as much as I can to keep reviews simple, though sometimes I tend to ramble when a game is really, really good. Here are some elements of the game worth mentioning, that I couldn't find a place for in the actual review:

---First and foremost, we have voices from the original cast, including Bruce Boxleitner ("Tron/Alan Bradley" in the original film) and Cindy Morgan (Lora/Yori in the film, now "Ma3a").

---The newest character, Mercury, is voiced by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. Cooooool.

---as with all thinking-man FPS games these days; there are NPC's who are innocent programs/people, and killing them results in an immediate game over. After all, you're here to protect the system, not help destroy it, so be careful!

---during missions, various programming code snippets appear on screen, showing you the type of commands being types into computers in the real world ("Search (Jet): not found", etc.). Cute touch.

---Lets of humor from the game designers! When confronted with a seemingly impossible jumping puzzle (keep your quick save finger at the ready!), the code that appears on screen includes comments like "Jumping.Puzzles.Fun: (true)." Ha!

---names of characters you meet are additional in-jokes; my favorite one being "TIA".

---...oh, just buy the game, already!!

The cutscenes are based on the game engine...but how cool would "live action video" have been? This is nitpicking --ergo, the reason this comment is in the sidebar-- and yet consider: It would've been even cooler if all the "real world" cutscenes were live action. I realize such video doesn't come cheap these days --just ask the folks behind Enter the Matrix-- though how cool would the effect have been, to see the real world representation followed by the video game world of Tron?

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Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted!

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Tron 2.0

Click picture to order this game (PC/windows version)

A Techtite Review

Tron 2.0 is a fine example of how some games are starting to meet or even exceed the quality of most Hollywood movies. You don't even have to be a Tron fan, to agree with this. Much like the recently-released Star Trek Elite Force 2, even an agnostic gamer will love this game. Of course, it helps that this is the only "sequel" ever made, to one of the biggest cult hits in sci-fi history. If that doesn't entice you, read on...

The thing that makes the best sequels so cool --film, game, or otherwise-- is to take the original story's premise and expand on it. Without giving too much away, there are story elements of the first film that, if they really existed, could be truly deadly in the wrong hands. Such is the premise of this sequel. There are several evil forces at work here, including a deadly computer virus, a hostile buyout from a rival software company, and the mysterious kidnapping of Tron's original programmer, Alan Bradley (the same character from the film, who's still voiced by Bruce Boxleitner!). When Alan's son Jet comes to find his missing dad, his father's A.I. savvy super-computer, Ma3a, determines that the best way for Jet to help them both, is from within the computer itself. So, much like Flynn in the original movie, "zap" goes the laboratory laser, and into cyberspace Jet goes...

Jet's problems --and yours--- are threefold. One, the virus has infected various programs ("people," in this place), and they attack you just like any other program. Second are the security programs, which see you as a threat because they cannot find any record of a program named "Jet," making you the most likely candidate for bringing in a virus...and therefore, the biggest candidate for deletion. Third: Jet's dad was kidnapped for a reason, which threatens the livelihood of Ma3a, and the real world as well. As you can tell, this is going to be one whale of an action-adventure story.

Even better: This is not just another cliché First-Person Shooter. For one thing there's no such thing as bullets in cyberspace; only energy. Bigger weapons of course need more energy, though the point is that with a full energy pack you can use any weapon; no random searching for 10 different ammo types for 10 different guns. Weapons are not found lying around, either, though are "downloaded" at various data terminals you hack into in this place. Best of all, your standard weapon (no energy needed for use) is the classic Tron disc, which can be used both for defense and offense, and even has unlimited range. If anyone wanted a unique FPS environment, this is it.

Tron 2.0 even makes the standard "search for key X to open door Y" puzzle far more interesting. See: there are no "keys" in Tron; only security codes. There are 8 such security codes, one or more of which are used to secure any protected area. If a door is locked by security codes 2, 3, and 6, you must obtain all three in order to open that door. Sometimes, these codes can be obtained from databanks lying about. Other times, you must defeat a nearby security program/person to get it. This is an inspired way to enhance the typical key-searching puzzle of FPS games. I liked it.

Adding to the uniqueness of this FPS is an RPG-savvy inventory system. Jet has become a program of sorts, so he can enhance his "program" with various upgrade modules. Finding enough "build" points upgrades his version number, allowing you to increase stats, like the health meter or even reducing the energy it takes to use a weapon. Collecting items is also unique in that while you carry all items you find "in memory," you can only use so many of them, at once. Inventory slots can be filled by any number of alternate modules: offense, defense, and even enhanced skills, like "super-jump."  Trouble is: you can't use all skills at once; only the ones you've placed in the appropriate slots for each mission, with the number of slots always limited. However; you can call up inventory at any time and change your choices, so it's not like you're restricted to your choices throughout a whole level. You can beef up defense for one battle, offense for another, and keep skills like the super-jump for the adventure-puzzle areas. Admittedly, this inventory system takes some getting used to though in the end, it makes this game more intellectually stimulating than just "shoot all bad guys...repeat, until GAME OVER."

Game level design wisely salutes the original world of Tron, yet expands on it at the same time. After all, with all the technological advances to computers, wouldn't the world of Tron be similarly more enhanced? Exactly. The game missions begin within Alan Bradley's computer, which I suppose would indeed look very much like it did in the film, and therefore often does. But then the action moves to locales like "the internet," a PDA, and a firewall, and that's where the level designers start to go all-out. It deserves mentioning that some companies are using pictures from this game to promote their latest graphics cards and high-end PCs. Anyone who has played the game can see why.

People who wonder if this game is worth getting as just a sequel to the film: yes, it is. Once again, in a day and age where Hollywood fumbles the ball, the game world scores another touchdown. This summer has been filled with really good games versus films not as good as they could have been, and it's becoming more and more apparent that a good story does not need to be told in any one format. Good stories are simply good stories. Between Syberia, The Longest Journey and now even action-adventures like Tron 2.0, it's more obvious than ever that some of the best such stories are now in games. Truly.

Not that this is some mere fanboy talking. There are gripes, sure; just nothing that detracts from the fun elsewhere. For one: while a multiplayer option offers a "discs of tron" battle with any online opponent, it lacks a "bot" mode, for single-player use. Conversely, a built-in light cycle game is single player only (?). As for the game itself (single player); any FPS game --no matter how hard it tries-- is bound to fall prey to the genre's inherent flaws. There are weapons that don't seem to do enough damage, versus enemies that seem impossible to defeat if you don't know the best strategy to defeat them. However, none of these gripes detract from the fun of the game. At least, it didn't for me.

There also is a bit of a paradox with the character of Mercury, shown here. Hasn't the concept of Tron been (up to now) that the facial representation and "personality" of a program is based on the programmer that gave it life? It's implied that Alan programmed Mercury, and given that this is a very "feminine" program --voiced by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos-- this is a bit of a paradox. It makes no sense that Alan would program a Tron-like female with the voice of Rebecca Romijn-Stamos. No, on second thought, that makes perfect sense, though let's put it this way: I was expecting a finale that included Jet meeting whoever inspired "Mercury" in the real world. How cool would an ending like that have been? Rather poignantly, this isn't to be, because she is apparently a complete figment of imagination. This is one of many minor story faux pas that leads inevitably to a finale that is a bit too "all in a day's work" for its own good. It's a happy ending, yes, yet not as grandiose as the game preceding it would make you expect.

However, these are very minor grievances for what is otherwise a strong competitor for a slew of Game of the Year honors. You can even forgive this game for an ending that leaves the door open for a sequel. If such a sequel will be as high quality as this game, count me in.

---Techtite