Tron Run/r Game Review & Giveaway

A Back on February 16, a new Tron game was released via the Steam platform that I had no idea was coming until about a month ahead of time. Apparently it started off as an Early Release which means Steam users got to purchase an in-progress version at a discount.

Now that it's officially launched, the basic version is $20. While most sane people (myself included) would balk at paying $20 for an endless runner, I'm all in when it comes to Tron. That's why I splurged and coughed up the not sane $40 for the Ultimate Edition. This includes the base game, season pass DLC, soundtrack, and a giftable copy of the base game.

So, let's boot into the Grid and break it down.

Game Play

There are three game modes: Disc, Cycle, and Stream. At the start of each game, you can choose an avatar which includes Tron: Legacy style generic male/female or classic characters like Tron, Yori, or Sark (no Flynn?!?). You can also choose their color. None of it makes any difference in the game, but it's nice to have the options.

Then it's on the power-up screen where you use bits to purchase weapon enhancements or programs to increase your game performance. If you've played an endless runner before, you'll recognize most of these. However, these power-ups only last for your next run, so make sure you're grabbing those bits!

Game Modes

Disc mode is a series of levels where you have to make it to the finish. The first few levels teach you the basic moves you'll need to survive. While playing a runner on a mobile device is pretty intuitive and straight forward, playing with a controller is a whole new world requiring the use of multiple buttons. You'll have to jump, slide, throw your disc, quick dash, wall run, rail grind, and glide while avoiding data walls, grid bugs, and probably some other hazards I haven't encountered yet.

We're off to see the Wizard!

 Cycle mode is another series of levels where you have to race to the finish. You're not just battling against AI lightcycles, but the clock too. There are gates you can, no, have to pass through to extend your time if you want to see the end. You get bonus points for executing tricks after hitting a ramp and you can whack other riders with your disc to get them out of your way.

In these two modes, it's all about racking up combos to increase your score. Each level has three stars that can be earned based on your score. I've heard rumor that earning all the stars in a batch of levels will unlock content. I know I'll never see it myself! I'm still trying to master the basic controls, never mind pulling off combos.

The last mode is Stream, which combines Disc and Cycle mode into an endless test to see how long you can survive. It's kind of nice to have the game switch from running to cycles to break it up.

Game Worlds

As you can see from the screens, the Disc run world is a gorgeous electric 80s neon nightmare, if I can use gorgeous and nightmare at the same time. It's definitely more a child of what was seen in Tron Uprising than either of the movie worlds.

The Disc world and Cycle world are about as different as could be, unfortunately. Where the Disc runs are full of color, the Cycle tracks are bland. I guess I'd say the Disc world is like being in the big city and the Cycle tracks are driving country roads.

Soundtrack

The included (if you can call paying $40 to get it "included") soundtrack is made up of four songs being remixed a few times to give you a total of eight tracks. I'd definitely call this more of a game soundtrack than a movie score. I imagine it's the type of music the teenagers that inhabit the Tron universe listen to.

End of Line

Overall, I like the game, even if I'm finding the controls for the running parts a bit challenging. Like a runner, it's a game I"ll pick up when I have a short amount of time to play something. There seem to be some things that still need to be ironed out. For example, when playing Stream mode and letting the game randomly select the music, there is a noticeable wait time. Maybe it's the game setting up your randomized course, I don't know.

We know there's DLC coming. When the game officially launched, they accidentally released some of the DLC content and pulled it back. This included avatars from Tron Uprising and the ability to customize your color and style of lightcycle.

Giveaway

Time will tell if I'll ever feel like the whole package is worth what I paid for it, but if you'd like to try the game without paying for it, I do have a giftable copy to give away!

*** You MUST have a Steam account in order for me to send the game to you. ***
(It's free to create an account and download the client)
** This is a PC version of the game. **

 To enter, use the Rafflecopter widget below.
Winner to be drawn on March14th.


a Rafflecopter giveaway