TRON: Evolution Review

Tron: Evolution is Prince of Persia but more neon. There are neon frisbees, neon bikes, neon tanks, neon suits, neon baddies, neon skyscrapers and neon laser beams. Sadly, all this glowing gas can't make up for some sloppy controls, repetitive combat and a limited multiplayer mode. Tron of Persia had potential, but it feels like a knock-off that doesn't make nearly enough of its quite brilliant licence.

Set between the first film and the events of the forthcoming sequel, Evolution tells the story of the supposed murder of computer program Tron and real life programmer Flyn (played by Jeff Bridges). Your character, Anon - a faceless, voiceless hero - joins forces with Flyn's surrogate daughter, Quorra (played by 13 from House), as you attempt to protect the system from corruption.

You might think it's a bit harsh to label this as a knock-off, but Propaganda's third-person action adventure feels like a less refined version of Ubisoft's game with added projectile attacks. Anon can run up and across walls, leap from ledge to ledge, wall jump and generally get about in a very nimble fashion. He's also a dab hand at combat, using his disc to dish out devastating attacks.

Initially Anon's attacks are limited to the basic heavy disc, but soon other variants are unlocked, including bomb and stasis versions; the former does exactly what you'd expect, while the latter slows down enemies when hit. Each disc comes with a variety of moves, carried out by using three of the face buttons and the triggers. You can perform some pretty nifty-looking moves by the time you've ranked up Anon to level 12, but never does the game feel like a great hack 'n' slash. You mash buttons and make sure you're using the right disc for the enemies facing you, but an incredibly basic counter move and the complete lack of a dodge prevent Tron from being anything more than competent.

So what of the platforming elements, then? Well, at times it's very good, with Anon able to nip about the environment, leaping over obstacles, running across walls and latching onto glowing orange orbs. But things can get annoying very quickly. It's far too easy to miss your launch point when trying to vault onto a handhold, meaning you'll likely spend a lot of time plummeting to your death time and time again. It's not that the platforming is hard, but that Anon is quite easy to walk off the top of a platform. You need a run up to successfully use a vaulting point, but unless you're careful you'll make him dash straight off the end of ledges, to his doom.