Tron 2.0

Tron 2.0 is a computer game developed by Monolith Productions. It is a sequel to the 1982 motion picture Tron. The PC version of the game was released by Buena Vista Games on August 25, 2003. (This was one of the first PC games to be released only on DVD-ROM, with no corresponding CD-ROM release.) The Mac version was released by MacPlay in July, 2004.

The game is a first person shooter, with a "Light Cycles" game as part of the plot as well as available in multiplayer mode across a network. In the game, Bruce Boxleitner reprises his role from the original movie as Alan Bradley. Cindy Morgan, who also starred in the original movie, voices the new character Ma3a. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos provides the voice of Mercury. A new Light Cycle design was contributed to the game by Syd Mead.

The idea of Tron 2.0 was originally explored as a movie concept, but it was eventually decided to make it as a game; rumors were that if the game sold well, there might be a better chance for it to be made into a movie.

A four-issue Tron 2.0 comic book series based on the game was going to be released by 88 MPH Studios, but was cancelled before the first issue was completed due to licensing issues with Disney.

Story

Two decades ago, Kevin Flynn entered the world inside the computer and got Tron's help in defeating the MCP. However, in destroying that powerful program, the ability to digitize human beings into the computer world was lost.

Now it is 2003. Flynn departed the company years ago. Alan now runs ENCOM; he married Lora shortly after the events of the movie and they had a son Jet, but an accident later took Lora's life. Alan has been putting a lot of work into the development of a new artificial intelligence named "Ma3a", which eerily has the voice and personality of his late wife.

ENCOM was recently the target of a hostile takeover by Future Control Industries (fCon), which is very interested in the ability to place humans into the computer world. Specifically, fCon intends to use skilled hackers called "DataWraiths" to infiltrate the global computer network and control banks and commerce. The problem is that digitizing humans still doesn't work properly; errors during the process corrupt and mutate people. Alan has come up with a new error-correcting subroutine to prevent this, but when he finds out about fCon's nefarious plan, he encrypts the code and hides it within Ma3a.

fCon kidnaps Alan in a futile attempt to get the code from him. Meanwhile, Thorne, the fCon security officer, digitizes himself and becomes a virus which begins to take over the computer. Ma3a safely brings Alan's son Jet - now a talented programmer in his own right, though rebellious - into the computer against his will, and recruits his help in fighting the virus. Jet gets some help from Byte, a flying polygon (which is quite a bit more conversational and opinionated than the movie's Bit).

As the plot progresses, Jet must rid the computer system of the virus and protect his father while thwarting the efforts of fCon and the DataWraiths.

Gameplay

Gameplay takes place entirely inside the computer world (though some cutscenes are shown around the ENCOM research laboratory). The goal of each level is generally to complete tasks and find keys ("permission bits") which allow access to the next level. Some conventions which don't make much sense in other first-person shooters, such as the ability to carry a half-dozen weapons or to heal instantly with a medkit, are much more appropriate to this setting.

The design of the game's levels is linear; there are no choices about how to proceed or about what to say during the interactions with other characters.

Jet's weaponry starts with the obligatory disc as seen in the movie. In time, he obtains other weapons, not surprisingly similar to the ones found in other titles: a shotgun, a submachine, a sniper rifle and grenades.

Jet's abilities are customizable. He acquires new abilities in the form of "subroutines" held in "archive bins" scattered around the levels, and he has a limited number of slots in which to "install" these subroutines onto his person. Subroutines start out as "alpha" but can be upgraded to "beta" and "gold" to take up less space while becoming more effective.