The sleek chrome and neon visuals that define the Tron movies are undeniably eye-catching—and that’s exactly what initially drew me to Tron: Catalyst, a top-down action game set in a new virtual world apart from the ones seen in the films. But while the aesthetic made a strong first impression, it only carried the experience so far.
The game doesn’t suffer from any major malfunctions, but most aspects feel like they could’ve benefited from more development time. At the heart of Catalyst is Exo, a driven and likable courier program who finds herself entangled in a far-reaching conspiracy that threatens a complete server reset, endangering her and the other digital beings inhabiting this space.
This world, known as the Arq Grid, was created by Kevin Flynn (yes, Jeff Bridges’ character from the films) and is now the backdrop for a power struggle between the controlling Core faction and the rebellious Automata. The world itself intrigued me, but its depth often felt superficial, like a hologram that looks great until you try to reach through it. Much of the game’s energy comes from sporadic dialogue scenes, supported by voice acting that’s decent overall, though not always consistent.
The cartoon-style character art, however, felt slightly out of place—it reminded me of the kind of animated spin-offs Disney produces to follow its major live-action hits. That light, stylized look doesn’t quite align with the game’s darker, noir-inspired atmosphere of looming catastrophe. That said, I did appreciate the creativity behind the character designs—each major figure stands out with a unique and imaginative flair.
In reality, Catalyst is the epitome of a game that is only passably good, rarely spectacular.
And the plot is just okay. I don’t want to say it again, but Catalyst is the epitome of a game that is simply decent and rarely exceptional in almost every way. I was interested in the many factions and sub-factions, but they never got fleshed out enough to matter.
Even though I was fascinated by the main mystery and the imminent end of the server, I didn’t always feel compelled to solve those mysteries. Although the writing at least accomplishes its goals, it frequently makes what seem like purposeful logical jumps to keep a level’s flow intact.
The Glitch, a condition that Exo has that enables her to restore the server to a previous state, is the best illustration of this. In essence, this means that you can restart the current chapter from the beginning while keeping all of your acquired skills, shortcuts, and information intact. Although it’s a really smart idea, I believe this principle might have been used for much more.
The Glitch mechanic’s potential was far greater than its final application.
Most of the time, I just hit the reset button when instructed to do so by the quest objective or after making a huge mistake by receiving too much heat from the Core enforcers. There weren’t enough situations when I thought I could use it creatively or interestingly to unlock optional routes or obtain an edge that I wouldn’t have had if I had strictly followed the main mission.
There aren’t many chances to take advantage of the time loop storyline because you already know what will happen. Working with time travel is never easy, and Tron: Catalyst largely takes it easy. Combat is, too, and I apologize once more for repeating myself, but it’s okay. The animations are lively and quick, and the controls are incredibly responsive. Dancing back and forth through a group of cyber cops while bouncing the light disc off walls and slashing away with stylish brutality looks awesome.
However, because its attempts to keep me on my toes failed to break me out of the same basic hack-and-slash pattern, it became quite repetitive and never really got my blood pumping or my neurons firing the way a better action game might. Along the way, new mechanics are added, such as bosses that can only be injured by parrying one of their attacks or the ability to replicate an enemy’s fighting style by stealing their code. The difficulty curve is acceptable.
However, by repeatedly using dodge and melee strikes, too many encounters can still be won quickly and with no effort. A stealth feature is eventually included in Catalyst, but I didn’t use it unless I had to because I found it to be very boring, and fighting through a level the loud way seemed so risk-free that it didn’t provide a significant advantage.
Along the way, additional mechanics are introduced, and the difficulty curve is respectable.
The main issue with combat is that, on the default difficulty, it typically doesn’t feel like you need to think strategically to advance. There aren’t many either/or options because this is the full skill tree already, and if you’re as fastidious about finding secrets as I am, you can finish it well before the voyage ends.
I wasn’t dealing with stolen opponent abilities in most battles because they didn’t feel like they had much of an influence, even though they may boost your strikes like this blade module. It’s not bad, to be clear. It’s sufficiently enjoyable. But it’s never more than that. Naturally, a Tron game without light cycles would be quite strange, so Catalyst provides you with one fairly early on, which makes navigating some of its largest regions easy and fun.
However, considering how quick this device is, many outdoor areas still ended up feeling a little crowded. Additionally, the few light cycle battles or chases demonstrated how awkward it might feel in some situations. Later on, you can even operate a light jet, but this felt even less like a well-considered mechanism and more like a minigame.
However, the music was maybe the one that left me feeling the most disappointed. I now identify the Tron universe with artists like Trent Reznor and Daft Punk. I’ll admit that’s a high bar. For a project this small, I doubt any of those guys are available to compose original music. However, even when I put on my excellent headphones and pushed the volume way up, Tron: Catalyst’s quiet, subtle, and excessively safe symphonic and electronic combination never gave me the chills I was seeking.
Verdict
I don’t have any serious complaints about Tron: Catalyst. However, I also have nothing particularly admirable to say about it. It effectively completes tasks in almost every field, including writing, music, combat, and area design, and it’s referred to as a centicycle. In the upcoming years, when someone is looking for a very good example of a seven out of ten game, this might just be the game that comes to mind.
In any case, that indicates that I enjoyed it to a respectable degree. I think a Tron: Catalyst here and there is a great, restrained palate cleanser in a world of bloated, hundred-plus-hour, outrageously high-budget collectathons. Its rewind mechanism, which seemed like it could have been something exceptional, gives me the faintly unfulfilled impression that I wanted it to be a little more.
