PAX Production Interview – Tron Evolution
Disney always has a huge presence at conventions like this and PAX was no different. They brought out the light cycle, the Tron letter booth and let gamers from all over have a go at the newest Tron video game. I found Matthew Solie at the event and asked if he could tell our audience what they can expect from Tron Evolution:
The next day I got to put my hands on the title and found my ups and downs. It’s a tough game, but it looks like one I could enjoy getting good at. Here’s the gameplay trailer for Tron Evolution along with an excerpt from Day 2 with my reactions to playing it:
“I died a lot. The game is set in the Tron universe between the two movies, so it has the ability to answer some questions that the new movie doesn’t actually have the time to answer. This concept by itself I love. I still died a lot.
This isn’t to say it’s a bad thing. It’s clearly a game that takes some getting used to and getting good at. The combat is flashy, but in a way that it confused me as to what I was doing wrong or right. The health meter doesn’t give you much notice before you’re going to die either, which made a few of my deaths a complete surprise to me. Overall though, the combat looks like something that, once you get good at, you can really play around with and have fun chaining together very Tron-centric combos.
The Prince of Persia-esque platforming works as to be expected. I just feel drenched in Tron style the entire time I’m playing it, I almost can’t see it as anything else. It’s a action adventure platformer that is very passionately and distinctly Tron. If you like Tron, you don’t need me to tell you that this is up your alley. What I can tell you is that the controls take some practice, but the point of this title isn’t to hold your hand, it’s to challenge you and make you good at the game.
The light cycle is a perfect example of this. I kept trying to race through the sequence, with buildings collapsing all around me, without releasing the gas trigger. This is a bad idea. I died a lot. They’re still tweaking the controls a bit too, but I learned that I needed to really pace myself at turns, but still be focused on keeping ahead of the destruction that was happening around me. I would have been more thrilled with the sequence had I been better at the game upon playing it, but I was still able to enjoy it, then respawn and re-enjoy it. I’m interested to see how all the new Tron products are going to be received, both movie and game.”
I’m interested to see how the game gets received when it’s released, though I have a prediction: pretty damn well.
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