Tron: Catalyst preview – how the new Tron game feels to play

2025 will grace us with a double dose of Tron. While Tron: Ares will serve as the third movie in the series, Tron: Catalyst is a whole new game. I was able to take a look at it at Gamescom.

Tron: Catalyst is being developed by Bithell Games. The studio led by British game director Mike Bithell has already produced an adventure game for Disney with Tron: Identity. It’s now working on an isometric action game. In it, you play Exo, a creative program that takes on the rulers of a decaying Grid. A dangerous glitch threatens the world. At the same time, you flee from a malicious agent of the Core.

If you’re new to the Tron universe and don’t understand a thing I’m writing, don’t worry. I also find the whole thing very abstract, but that doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that you’re in a digital world called Arq Grid. Unlike in the films and some games, the world of Tron: Catalyst has had no contact with users, i.e. real people, so far.

Explore a bright, neon world on foot or with your Light Cycle. Visually, it has a minimalist yet attractive appearance. As in Tron: Identiy, the soundtrack is provided by composer Dan Le Sac. Despite the noise at Gamescom, it gave me a good grasp on the alien, futuristic sci-fi universe.

Acrobatic action and time loop mechanics

In the hands-off demo, Mike Bithell and Ben Andac played through several levels. The world consists of larger areas. Outside, you can climb onto your Light Cycle at any time. This isn’t only used for fast transport, but can also assume the GTA approach to flatten enemy programs. However, the steering seems to require some practice, as Ben regularly drifted past his target. Still, it speaks for the positively chaotic gameplay.

As soon as you get off, you can use your disc. This is where the real fun begins. Battles are hectic and require good timing for both ranged and melee attacks. Your disc bounces off walls, obstacles and enemies. If you aim well, you can eliminate several of them with one throw. Enemy projectiles, as well as your own disc, can be returned to sender if you kick them at the right moment. Here, too, things aren’t as easy as they look. Ben got hit a few times when he threw himself into the fight with too much vigour.

When everything works, fights look like neatly choreographed action scenes. During one part, Exo jumps through the window of a bar filled with enemies. Instantly, he throws his disc in the face of the first one. He then rushes behind the bar, gives the barkeeper a roundhouse kick and, at the last moment, punches a projectile back to the thrower. Well, that looked like a lot of fun.

I also got to see Exo’s time loop ability. It seems related to the glitch, adding a kind of Metroidvania component to the game. You can turn back time at certain points and revisit places – even with equipment that you only get later in the game. It wasn’t clear to me exactly how the whole thing works, but it certainly made me curious.

The plot wants to remain true to the original

Still, the core of the game is its story, as Mike Bithell explains at the play test. Exo regularly met new faces on his journey, all with quests for him to complete. However, it was difficult for me to get a real impression of the story and characters in the short time and among the noise of the trade fair. With Tron: Identity, however, the studio has already proven that it can tell exciting stories. Mike and his team also had intensive discussions with the writer of the first film. Understandably, the game is closely related to the cult film starring Jeff Bridges as a result.

What surprises me most about Tron: Catalyst is that Disney has once again given an indie studio the contract for a popular franchise. Sales figures in the millions, which Disney would certainly like to see, aren’t to be expected. «Disney wanted to do something interesting and unusual. And the franchise has always relied on indies,» Mike notes.

However, there hasn’t been much worth mentioning in the 40 years since the first movie. Most people still consider the 3D action-adventure Tron 2.0 from 2003 to be the best game version. The mention of it also makes Mike and Ben look back with dreamy eyes. «Tron 2.0 was a fantastic game. Hopefully we’ll trigger similar feelings with ours,» says Mike. After the brief presentation at Gamescom, I’m definitely looking forward to the release of Tron: Catalyst sometime in 2025 for PC and consoles.