TRON is an odd multimedia series – starting with the Disney film TRON in 1982, it has been intermittently in and out of the cultural zeitgeist since, with TRON: Legacy being released in 2010 and this game being followed up by only the third film in its 43-year history, TRON: Ares. Amidst that, there has been a range of theme park attractions, an animated series in 2012 and a short film, but also, perhaps unsurprisingly given the series’ subject matter, there has been a long history of videogame adaptations. Indeed, TRON feels well-placed to be a multimedia but also distinctly videogame series, and TRON: Catalyst proves there is real potential in this world still to be mined (as much as I am loath to say that about a property owned by Disney). It is just yet to be fully realised – in other media, but also in TRON: Catalyst itself.

TRON: Catalyst is an isometric action-adventure game set in the series of the same name, years after the events of TRON: Legacy. It is published by Big Fan Games and Devolver Digital, and developed by Bithell Games, the studio behind titles like John Wick Hex, Thomas was Alone and the last TRON game, TRON: Identity. It follows the program Exo on the run from a totalitarian government called Core after a package she was delivering exploded while in transit, granting her ‘glitch’ abilities that, among other things, allow her to loop time on the Grid (TRON’s term for its cyberspace world). It is played from a top-down perspective, and combines real-time combat, semi-open level environments and a narrative that seeks to expand upon TRON’s world.

Let’s start with perhaps TRON’s most recognisable feature – its visuals. TRON: Legacy, despite its many (many) flaws, is a remarkably stunning film – a gorgeous, slick testament to the power of digital aesthetics – and TRON: Catalyst does a strong job replicating its look here. Blue and orange neon pulse through the environment like electricity through a grid (hah). There is a real coherency to its visual design generally – it all feels very ‘TRON’ in an appropriate way. The downside, however, is that TRON: Catalyst does struggle with the fact that these visuals and environments are far more interesting to look at than move through. This does mean that, as coherent a presentation as it has, its explorable environment inherently can’t help but feel both a bit opaque and repetitive. Catalyst’s levels do help break up the monotony slightly – going from the inner city to a floating fortress to glitch-ridden wastelands – but a sheer kaleidoscope of variety this ain’t.

The way TRON: Catalyst’s environments work, without spoiling too much, is basically a series of semi-open levels that the player can loop through and explore at will – think Dishonored’s multi-path open environments but cyber rather than steampunk. Exploring these spaces isn’t the most enthralling activity – there is the visual homogeneity already mentioned, but they also offer little in the way of incentives besides finding more in-game currency to buy upgrades, and I encountered more than enough of that through the main quest to unlock everything. It is these environments that Catalyst brings in some of TRON’s most iconic vehicles, the light cycle in particular, but outside of some clunky intermittent vehicular combat, they offer little more than a slightly more fun way of getting from A to B faster.

Somewhat surprising for a TRON game (though not so much for a Bithell game), but I found Catalyst’s story to perhaps be its biggest strength. While the setup isn’t too fresh – it’s basically Infamous with extra neon – it goes in some interesting and appreciated directions, and the writing and performances were strong enough to keep me engaged till the end. While it doesn’t delve into the details as much as I would have liked, there is a real textual richness at the margins of TRON: Catalyst that a Disney blockbuster screenplay could only dream of.

The combat also barely changes across TRON: Catalyst’s 9-12 hour runtime (depending on how many of the small handful of side missions you do). This is perhaps best personified by its limited upgrade system. Some of these can be quite fun, such as the disc jumping between targets after being thrown, or being able to parry your disc as it returns to send it bouncing off again. However, there are so few actual upgrades that I had purchased them all with almost half the entire game still left to go. This meant that, for much of my playthrough, combat felt very similar and rarely required me to change up my approach. I was left with the sensation that there were ambitions for more – more ‘TRON’-like mechanics, more upgrades and more abilities – that were scrapped during development, but that’s just speculation. It was still functional and entertaining enough that its repetitiveness only briefly got to the point of outstaying its welcome; I just can’t shake the feeling that there was a real missed opportunity to make a far more distinct, interesting and varied combat system than what the final game offers.