Tron 2.0

aka: Tron 2.0: Killer App
Moby ID: 10153
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Alan Bradley once helped a computer genius named Kevin Flynn to defeat an evil artificial intelligence with the help of a security program called Tron. Twenty years later, Bradley has reached a new high point in his career: he succeeded in digitizing a human being into the computer and stored the secret of this technique in the Ma3a program. However, the powerful Future Control Industries (fCon) has gained access to this groundbreaking invention, and digitized hackers with the intention of dominating the computer network from within. Alan Bradley is kidnapped, and his son Jet, a computer game programmer, enters the world inside the computer, searching for answers.

TRON 2.0 is based on the events of the CG rendered 1982 film TRON, and has been conceived as a sequel to it. The game is a first-person shooter with light role-playing elements. As Jet Bradley, the player must battle digital opponents using guns, rods, grenades, missiles, and the iconic TRON disc. The named of locations and opponents resemble those of programs and other computer-related terms, sometimes with a humorous intention. Using most weapons, as well as acquiring ("downloading") various kinds of items depletes the player character's energy bar. Energy and health can be replenished at special terminals or gained in small amounts by defeating enemies.

The RPG elements appear in form of special items that can be collected and leveling up the player character, allowing the player to upgrade his parameters. The protagonist's level ("version") increases when a sufficient amount of so-called "build notes" has been collected. The player is free to increase any of the protagonist's five main attributes when leveling up. In addition, various "sub-routines" belonging to three classes - combat, defense, and utility - can be found and equipped. These may grant the main character special abilities, new weapons, or combat modifications. Each sub-routine can also be upgraded.

Players can race against each other in multiplayer light cycle races, designed by Syd Mead, the film’s concept and original light cycle designer. The game has unusual visuals, representing the inside of a computer program (stylized after the movie). It includes the voice acting of many actors and actresses who were part of the original movie cast.

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Credits (Windows version)

343 People (261 developers, 82 thanks) · View all

TRON 2.0 is powered by
  • Jupiter Technology
Licensed from
  • Touchdown Entertainment Inc.
Lead game Designer
Producer
Executive Producer
Lead Artist
Art Director
QA Manager
Director of Development
Lead Level Designer
Senior Level Designer
Level Design/Game Design Direction
Level Designers
Multiplayer Disc Arena Designer
Senior Character Artist and Animator
Senior Interface and FX Artist
Lead World Artist
Senior World Artist
World Artist
Artist
Director Of Engineering
Lead Engineer
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 45 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.2 out of 5 (based on 75 ratings with 8 reviews)

A religious experience.

The Good
Let me get this off my chest: I'm a geek. A MAJOR geek. Tron was one of those childhood movies (though I was born after it came out) that left a lasting impression on me, probably second only to Terminator 2. It had all of the "right stuff": technical mumbo-jumbo that, judging by the time context, did not piss me off even a bit (well, maybe besides the "bit" having three modes...) and generally accurate to boot; absolutely astounding visuals, which I find beautiful even today; excellent music; excellent actors; excellent storyline (particularly when considering the time frame). The overall "feel" of the movie is something I have never, ever encountered afterwords: a sense of mystique and technological wizardry that can only be a labor of love. For eons I have wished for - and dreaded - a sequel; I wanted more, but I was afraid of being disappointed (Terminator 3... <sob>). And I was quite dumbfounded when the sequel came out in the form of a video game. When the game came out, I didn't know what to think; I was worried that the game would disappoint, in which case a childhood dream of mine would be crushed. I waited over two weeks (a lifetime, when it comes to things I really want...) and decided to take the risk and be done with it.

Boy, I was NOT disappointed.

Tron 2.0 has all of the "right stuff". First and foremost, it is quite possibly the most beautiful game ever to grace my monitor. I have gasped over the latest Doom 3 trailer; almost fainted over the Half Life 2 technology demo. Tron 2.0 left me gaping like an idiot. For days I daydreamed and talked only of Tron 2.0; this is the kind of thing that only genuine geeks and gamers can understand. The damn thing haunted me; I couldn't wait for the day to end so that I could shut off the lights, put some headphones on and stay up playing the game until I couldn't keep my eyes open. The sense of being in the Tron world is simply unbelievable, simple indescribable... you have to experience it to understand. Obviously the game was designed by people after my own heart: people who understood the movie, people who lived it and wanted to keep the legacy going... and with the help of the Lithtech-derived engine, 20 years after the movie the Tron universe comes to life once again, in glorious, 32 bit colour real time. The game is gorgeous... but that is merely a word. No screenshot can convey how absolutely minimalistic, beautifully digital this game is.

Fortunately enough, that is not all. Tron 2.0 is graced with some of the best music ever to be heard in a computer game. The music is nothing short of amazing; more-over, it has restored my faith in dynamic scores. Not since X-Wing has a computer game been graced with music that seamlessly integrates with the game; never in the foreground, never quite in the background, always adjusting and changing to what is happening... always subtle, never annoying. If there was a way to just listen to the in-game music, I would have. It is incredible that the composer has managed to maintain the strange, unique musical style from the original movie, integrate modern electronic elements so seamlessly and keep everything under tight enough control to allow Direct Music to kick in. The in-game music is nothing short of amazing.

Story? Plenty of that to go around. Tron 2.0 stays faithful to the movie, and walks you through an incredibly immersive, incredibly diverse digital universe. Here again the game engine kicks in to show you amazing footage of what it would be like to stroll around a sort of internet cyber-city; to traverse the circuitry of an ancient mainframe computer (and even overclock it!), even a PDA - everywhere you go, plot elements pop up, missions are always diverse and the scenery is astounding. Oh yes, there are lightcycle arenas aplenty, and they look better than ever. Who needs a Cray Y when you have DirectX?...

Finally, the voice acting is terrific: Bruce Boxleitner plays Alan-1 again, Cindy Morgan plays Ma3a... I only wish they'd found how to keep David Warner and Jeff Bridges, but I guess you can't have it all.

The Bad
It is very rare that I find no fault with a game; Tron 2.0 is no exception to this rule. That being said, it is extremely rare that I so readily forget a game's flaws; Tron 2.0 is a definite exception to this rule.

There are some frustrating scenes in Tron 2.0; most of them involve the lightcycle arenas. The computer AI is devilishly quick on reflexes, and incredibly stupid on strategy. I'm not particularly good at lightcycles (wasn't very good playing good ole' Novatron either...), so this made for some very frustrating time trying to get through some of those scenes.

The boss levels are generally fine, but some are ridiculously annoying; plus, there was no reason for the last level to contain slight spoiler three damn bosses, one would've been enough.

Battle system has a relatively high learning curve; this is not quite a straightforward shooter.

Regardless, it took me exactly two minutes apiece to forget these shortcomings...

The Bottom Line
An incredible game in every sense. Well thought, well designed, well executed. A treat for '70s/'80s geeks. One of those rare games that one will ALWAYS remember.

Windows · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 2003

An excellent FPS with RPG-like elements and a chance to play in the Tron universe. I like it.

The Good
Well, it has to be said that I was a fan of the Tron movie back in the day. Even when I was a little kid, I loved that movie. So now that I'm a full-grown geek and there is a game coming out based on the movie premise I am all about the idea. And I am happy to say that Tron 2.0 delivers. All of the environments and character models really do look like they come from the movie. I have never played a movie-inspired game before that captured the look and feel of it's property quite like this.

That brings us to the graphics, which are knock-you-out-of-your-chair good. Sure, the computerized Tron universe lends itself to cool graphics, but the latest Lithtech 3d here comes through with incredible translucencies and vivid glowing color displays. It's a sight to behold and will keep impressing throughout the play.

The games action is pretty heavy. You'll have to de-rez (kill) a whole lot of enemies before your through. The AI fights pretty well and keeps things challenging. If anything, they can be a little too good at times.

Your array of weapons is pretty varied, including your classic disc that featured so prominently in the movie and featuring other goodies such a weapon that are essentially a shotgun and another that is a sniper rifle, all Tron-style naturally. The animation of activating your sniper rifle is ice cold cool. You will likely rely primarily on your disc, though, and the various mods there-on.

The game also delivers deeper gameplay than most FPS's in that it has some RPG-type elements. Since you are now essentially a computer program, you are upgradable. As you continue through the game, you can upgrade your core assets such as weapons skill, energy (used to power weapons and abilities), health, etc. As well, you pick up a myriad of sub-routines, some of which use up energy, that you must choose between given your limited sub-routine space (which changed between levels depending on where you are supposed to be). Sub-routines include weapons, viral defenses, armor, increased abilties, and modifications to your disc's powers among other things. The sub-routines even come in three different levels - Alpha, Beta, and Gold - each becoming increasingly effective and taking up less space. Managing all of this is an essential part of the game and added greatly to my experience.

Another great feature of the game is the locations. You don't simply stay on one computer, but move around to a variety of different places, including a massive, crowded internet hub and a the confined space of a PDA. The locations are all very well done and lend themselves well to their themes.

One great part of the game is the light-cycle races. There is light-cycle racing at various points throughout the single-player game and there is also a separate set of races that you can run independently, with the ability to unlock new cycles. The action is fast, frantic, great-looking, and exactly what Tron fans have been wanting.

The storyline was decent enough. You play Jet Bradley, the son of Alan Bradley from the original movie. An evil corporation is attempting to take over Encom in order to gain the digitization technology for their own evil uses. It's your job to stop them. But the real treat for Tron fans will be the emails that one can collect throughout the game telling about things going on in Encom since the events of the Tron movie.

The Bad
The AI could shoot the wings off a fly at a mile off seemingly. That could be a tad frustrating.

The storyline, while decent, could have been better. There were a couple of cringe-worthy moments, such as the mother-computer entity "Ma3a", the inclusion of which was a bit more cheese than I needed. Still, very minor.

There was at least one jumping puzzle which made me want to put my head through my computer monitor. Note to all game designers: Jumping puzzles in FPS games are horrid. Leave them out.

The Bottom Line
Tron 2.0 is the best thing to come out of the Tron license since the movie itself. If you like FPS action, it's a fine example of the genre. If you like Tron, it's a great chance to explore the universe. If you are a fan of both, well, this game is gonna be sweet.

Windows · by Steelysama (82) · 2004

A solid first-person shooter!

The Good
I certainly enjoyed the movie "Tron", but I haven't seen it in years and other than a brief memory involving those disc they throw around -- and of course the lightcycles -- I don't remember anything about it and it doesn't really rank among my favorite movies list. So when I picked up Tron, I wasn't particularly interested in the Tron-ninn...ninity...of it all, but it looked interesting enough, it was getting good reviews, and hey, lightcycles, eh?

I am quite pleased I picked this up. Whether or not you're a fan of the movie, I think you'll enjoy this game. Heck, you don't even need to know what the movie is to enjoy the game. The game is not based on the movie; it's just another take on the same idea. And it works brilliantly.

The graphics are wonderful, and there's something in this game that I don't think HAS been done before -- every plot-character looks different. Not just a different texture, but they actually all look different. Different sized noses, different looking faces, etc. It jumped out at me, because most games I play, the only difference between characters is usually texture changes, and that's it. It was great seeing different characters that had an individual voice and look to them.

The graphics are superb. Not only does the Tron world look just like it should, but the 'real world' scenes also look incredible. Nothing looks like 'filler' in either sense. The Tron world is filled with primitive polygons and lines along the wall that form some sort of unnecessary design stand out at you. Your suits are filled with that glowy-blue stuff; programs speak with that odd distorted warbled computer-like voice. It's straight out of the movie, and again, the guys here did it absolutely perfect. In an extreme contrast, the real world looks just like the real world should. It's obvious there was a talented group of artists working on this game, and I was pleased to find they spent just as much time working on both worlds, even though the real world is far less significant in the game.

Voice-overs are well done, and the dialogue sounds just like it's coming from a movie, with the dramatic parts being overlaid by a great soundtrack. As well as the voices being great, the character animation is also some of the best I've seen. Quite obviously done with motion-capture technology, it's on par with, say, No One Lives Forever 2 (if you've played that).

The game features an "RPG" system very similar to Deus Ex's. As you do certain tasks, or pick up upgrades, your 'version number' increases, with every 1 version you gain, you gain a level and can upgrade some of your five stats, which include health, energy, weapon efficiency, transfer rate and processor. Each one plays an important part in the game. Along with these stats, you also pick up 'subroutines', which are upgrades and weapons that (provided you have room and you're not needing a defrag ;) ) you can use to aid you in the game. These can become infected by corruption if a corrupted program gets a lucky shot in, forcing you to either abandon your subroutine or anti-virus it. Nothing adds more to a game than these little RPG elements. It's one of the reasons Deus Ex was such a thrill to play, and it does just as well in Tron 2.0.

The game is still a first-person shooter, even with bits of drama, the occasional jumping-puzzle (don't run away! There's not that many and they're not hard at all) and dialogue and cutscenes, the game's main focus is combat, whether it's disc-dueling with an ICP or battling it out in a lightcycle battle. While you have your selection of a number of weapons (each that looks awesome in its Tron-nessence...ense....) your disc will probably by the most used, as it requires no energy to throw and you can block other discs thrown at you.

If this were called by any other name, I would say the level design was pure crap. But in this case, level design is spot-on. Most areas are very basic to look at from a level design point of view (although in-game it looks spectacular, with odd computer-stuff running around off in the distance), but it is as you would expect from Tron. And the bonus is, because of basic level design, the game runs flawlessly on my almost-outdated computer on high detail. The best part, however, is the areas infected by corruption. Those basic design soon become torn to bits with green corruption tearing apart the levels and oozing across the area.

And the levels themselves are great. One level requires you to escape the deadly reformat! Another level you travel back into a very old, old computer and help overclock it! Some levels require you to pass through evil corrupted sectors of computers, and you even get to visit the Internet! And who wouldn't want to spend some time off at the "Progress Bar"?

The story is also great, and told well through cutscenes and dialogue. The ending is appropriate, with a "big bad boss" who was quite a fright, really.

The Bad
Two things that happened in the game made me curious. First, there's a part where you engage in a lightcycle battle -- but there was no reason to! You weren't being forced into it, you weren't using it as a means of escape...you just...decided to go do it. For no reason. Now, it was certainly fun, but it seemed oddly out of place when in one scene you're heading somewhere, and the next you find yourself in a lightcycle, and then the next scene you're where you thought you were going to be after the first one!

The second odd thing was a certain character, Mercury. Be warned: the rest of this paragraph is a spoiler. This chick helps you out early in the game, but due to a format in the server, she loses her memory. The next time you see her, she is back to being nothing more than a program, with a boring yes-or-no attitude and complete loss of her memory. However, at the very end, she greets you again, only she has her memory back. There's never an explanation for this, and it seemed really out of place, as she had no real reason to be there.

More work should have been spent on the final boss level. The boss himself was cool, but it was way too easy to get him stuck so that you could hurt him but he couldn't hurt you. I mean, it wasn't only easy to do, it was almost inevitable.

One thing I didn't like was that, in lightcycle combat, most battles were won by simply trapping the opponent in his own trail. A good tactic, to be sure, but it would make the opponent run circles within his own trail until he had no more room to make a circle. Since the opponents are so damned good at getting just close enough to the edge, it can take up to ten minutes to wait for him to get himself killed, if you trap him at a great enough distance. Meanwhile, you can't progress until the computer has killed himself, so there's not much for you to do except drive around and hope you don't screw up by running into your own trail.

The Bottom Line
A solid game, all around. I highly suggest picking this game up. This is one of the few hyped of first person shooters that I've really enjoyed, as it's one of the few that actually lives up to the hype. Fan of the movie or not -- it's a great game.

Windows · by kbmb (415) · 2003

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Trivia

Beta testers

The at-home beta testers are not credited anywhere in the game due to legal reasons.

Buena Vista Interactive

Buena Vista Interactive is a division of Disney that was founded specifically for Tron 2.0. Because of its T rating, Disney didn't want to release it under the kid friendly Disney Interactive, so they created a new label. Perhaps because of its association with Disney, Tron 2.0 is amazingly low on the amount of violence it contains. Throughout the course of the entire game, only one human being actually dies, and your character neither causes that death nor is he responsible for it.

Coin-op cameo

The old coin-op cabinet of TRON makes an appearance during the game's intro. Your character is just finishing playing it in the employee lounge when the game starts.

Marathon

Some of the programmers of TRON 2.0 are apparently fans of Bungie's Marathon series, as there are a couple of Marathon references in the game. Firstly, one of the corrupted Z-lots in the "Thorne's Partition Perimeter" level is named Durandal.exe if you examine him with your profiler. Durandal was a demented A.I. who was a major character in the Marathon series. Also, in the level "Thorne's Internal Partition", one of the messages Thorne sends you is "Frog blast the vent core!", which is what the assimilated civilians in the original Marathon would yell out before they tried to kill you.

Movie

TRON 2.0 was announced along with a movie version of it. The script went into its third draft before it was cancelled, though the game survived. With the release of TRON: Legacy and its game counterpart TRON: Evolution, Tron 2.0 is now no longer canon in the main movie series timeline; both titles explicitly contradict the events of this game.

Reindeer Flotilla

In the movie TRON, the character Kevin Flynn created tanks for his games, and used the password "Reindeer Flotilla" to access them. In the game you run across some of these tanks, but the developers of the game apparently did not read the screen from the film carefully, as the password used to access them in the game is "Reindeer Tortilla". Additionally, the default multiplayer server password is "reindeerflotilla".

Scuzzy wares

The ICP units will sometimes utter the phrase "scuzzy wares" while they are hunting for your character. This is taken directly from the original movie; Flynn says the same thing out of frustration early in the film. The phrase is probably a combination of the the computer terms SCSI and warez, and makes no sense when used together, although to a casual listener it sounds a legitimate replacement for a cuss word or an insult.

Visual effects

The game was developed with the Lithtech engine. Monolith designers collaborated with nVidia to produce the glowing effect. While the game works with all DirectX 9 compliant cards, The owners of nVidia FX-class cards are able to see the TRON glow from the original movie. Also, the futurist Syd Mead was brought on as a consultant to re-design the famous light cycles. He designed the original light cycles as well. Syd has worked on Blade Runner, Aliens, and numerous other films.

Awards

  • Computer Games Magazine
    • March 2004 - #4 Game of the Year in the “Best of 2003” Awards
  • Computer Gaming World
    • March 2004 (Issue #236) – Best Use of License of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2003 – #9 PC Game of the Year
    • 2003 - Best Original Storyline of the Year (PC)

Information also contributed by Alan Chan, Mickey Gabel, Zack Green, PCGamer77, psychofish, WildKard, Trixter, Scott Monster Corn Popper and Jeremy Johnson.

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Related Sites +

  • TRON 2.0 Unofficial FAQ
    TRON 2.0 Unofficial FAQ v1.0: A guide to the TRON 2.0 game from Monolith Productions and Buena Vista Games (Disney), providing background story, hints and tips, troubleshooting advice, walkthroughs, and more.
  • Tron 2.0
    Official website
  • Upgrade to New Adventures
    An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Tron 2.0, with commentary being provided by Designer Syd Mead (April, 2004).
  • Visual Walkthroughs - Tron 2.0
    A nice walkthrough of the game shown visually with screenshots.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by The Ring Hawk.

Xbox added by Shoddyan. Macintosh added by Scaryfun.

Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Longwalker, Corn Popper, Shoddyan, tronfaq, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger.

Game added August 27, 2003. Last modified September 24, 2023.