Tron 2.0

Light Cycling its way onto a PC soon - this unique vision from Disney and Monolith.

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The original movie of Tron, starring a youthful Jeff Bridges, first graced the silver screen some twenty years ago. It was light-years ahead of its time visually, and developed a cult following of fans enthused by this original neon-electric vision.

These fans have, however, had to wait until the present day for everyday computers to have advanced to the extent where a game can be created to fully do the original justice. But the theme is not one of recreation in Tron 2.0, this is a game based on the sequel of the same name.

The unique stylising is the same of course, with Monolith and Disney having hired original Tron designer Syd Mead as a creative consultant on the aesthetics. But the technologically-influenced settings of the game have moved on the twenty years since the original movie. Thusly, much of the electronic innards have been made more sophisticated, more detailed and more curvaceous than was even possible in 1982.

So the famous look has remained, thankfully, as have the discs and Light Cycles, too, but more on them later. The story itself also echoes back to the Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner plot, with original Tron creator Alan Bradley (Tron was the security program that destroyed the evil ‘Master Control Program’ in the film) kidnapped by tyrannical fCon corporation, in order to use Bradley’s limitless technology to hold the world to ransom, in true devilish style. The technology allows matter, such as people, to be digitised and enter the ‘digital plain’. As you can see, the premise is an ideal one for a computer game.

Bradley’s son, the amusingly titled ‘Jet’ soon learns something is amiss, and with a ‘hi-ho’ he digitises himself and sets off in search of his father, and to end the threat posed by fCon. Thus begins the players journey, as the laid-back wise-cracking ace-gamer Jet, into the world of Tron 2.0.

As fCon plan to use the power of the digitising technology to infiltrate and usurp government and military computer systems, they’ve cunningly digitised specially trained humans into the digital plane to do their dirty work, these nasties are called Data Wraiths, and it’s a pretty safe bet you’ll be encountering a few in your travels.

As you explore and face adversity, the player will move beyond the boundaries of the Tron film, exploring PDA architecture, lab servers, firewalls, PCs, internet hubs, and databases – all using the internet, an unknown in the movie. New characters will also be encountered on the adventure, some of whom will offer assistance, like the delightful ‘Mercury’, and security programs called ICPs. We’re promised a great deal of attention is being paid to the stylising and colours employed in creating these characters and locations, with Tron’s aesthetic coherence an overall goal.