Last Updated on Jun 17, 2025 @ 17:18:58 PM.
Bithell Games has partnered with Big Fan Games to give us our first proper TRON experience in years, with TRON: Catalyst. When they revealed their new label, Big Fan Games promised to focus on developers bringing licensed games to life, and it’s fair to say they’ve hit the ground running with TRON: Catalyst. An IP older than PlayStation, Xbox, and the modern Nintendo console experience, the IP that’s based around sentient computer programs hasn’t had a great run in video games, ironically. So, how does TRON: Catalyst fare?
An open world, top-down action adventure game, TRON: Catalyst throws players in the deep end straight away. The opening moments of TRON: Catalyst throw Exo, a courier program, into a whirlwind of a story, taking on Core (the bad guys), and dealing with a glitch that sends her back in loops (programmatic loops) whenever she is derezzed. It affords us a unique mechanic within the looping lore of TRON, but with the bare bones narrative at the beginning, it can also be confusing.
Without fully explaining the lore of TRON, the game relies on players to have more than a basic understanding of the world at large. Who is Core? Who is Automata? What’s the deal with them replacing Flynn in place of God? Well, to lovers of the IP, this’ll be obvious, but to those newcomers that the game surely needs, it can be a lot to understand.
If you’ve seen Doctor Strange (2016), you’ll understand the basic premise here. Just as he forces a time loop on Dormammu, Exo is forced into this glitch that’ll allow her to redo the same steps again and again, until she gets the right outcome. This means if you die, if you say the wrong thing, if you miss something or someone, you can simply restart the loop again, and pop back up at the start of it, ready to go again. And this mechanic is used in some genuinely impressive ways. Learning new skills that’ll allow you into places you couldn’t get into for previous loops, having conversations and finding answers that’ll inform you to make different conversational choices, and so on. This is where TRON: Catalyst’s biggest strengths lie.
Unfortunately, as good as the time-looping mechanic is, the combat of TRON: Catalyst is relegated to being little more than button-bashing madness. With a total of twelve skills to purchase during your journey, separated into three groups of parrying, light discs, and code stealing, it isn’t as in-depth as you’d hope. The decision to wait until the final quarter of the game to introduce ranged items like grenades and decoys was also a baffling one. I will say, though, as thin as the combat is, I never got bored of seeing my (underpowered) Light Disc bouncing between multiple enemies in front of me.
Thankfully, for every second the combat is unfulfilling, the world of TRON: Catalyst is enticing and frankly gorgeous to look at. Between the beauty of the Vertical Slice, the dreariness of the Refinery, and the bleak, end-of-the-world nature of the Outlands, it is a beautiful sight for the eyes. Add to that the ability to jump on a Light Cycle and ride around the city at a moment’s notice, and you’ll really feel like you’re in TRON. Bithell Games absolutely nailed the look and style of the TRON IP here. If nothing else, that is a definite win for the developer.
Narratively, TRON: Catalyst doesn’t do much that other media in a dystopian future, and it’s not the most nuanced of takes. While some of the characters are interesting, for example, Oracle, the all-seeing aide of Exo, or Vega, the loveable rogue always too happy to help, some fall flat, just like the main story. I found myself struggling to care about Exo’s plight to save the Grid, and was bored of conversations before they’d even finished.
The main villain, Conn, becomes an annoying footnote time and again as he chases you around the Grid, desperate to take you in to prove his worth to his higher-ups. It’s not until the last hour of the game and some final meetings with him that he really begins to be not only less irritating, but also an interesting antagonist. A tighter script would have benefited the overall game, characters, and main story, that’s for sure.
TRON: Catalyst
The Arq Grid stands on the brink of collapse. With your Identity Disc and Light Cycle, fight to escape by wielding the power of the Glitch loop. Electrifying action and a rich story combine in a new adventure set within Disney’s iconic TRON universe.
Summary
TRON: Catalyst is a shorter experience from a AA developer well-versed with the TRON IP, and while the world is incredibly well represented, the thin combat system, 2D characters, and paint-by-numbers story won’t light a fire under any fans to get involved.
HOURS PLAYED: 13
PLAYED ON: PS5
- The world of TRON has been brilliantly recreated in a top-down fashion.
- Exploring the world reveals some deep-cut Easter Eggs that die-hard fans will appreciate.
- Riding a Light Cycle NEVER gets old.
- The story feels lacking, with 2D characters with non-existent realistic motivations.
- Combat grows stale quickly. It doesn't take much thinking about and devolves into button-bashing your way through waves of uniform enemies.
TRON: Catalyst is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.
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Luke Addison is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Thumb Wars. Having previously been a part of multiple outlets over the years, including building an entire gaming team from nothing to something, he thought it best to forge his own path and answer only to himself. As likely to be found playing the latest game as he is in the kitchen relaxing (by cooking), he always brings the same bold and brash attitude to everything he does, with a heavy leaning on sarcasm and dry wit!
