Tron: Catalyst captures the look and vibe of the 2010 movie with a top-down action roguelite spin

Mike Bithell’s more action-centric take on Disney’s Tron universe is shaping up to be a snack-sized adventure worth lighting up the Grid for.

On paper, the world of Tron seems like a ripe candidate for the video game adaptation treatment. The neon-drenched look, pulsating techno soundtrack, and a litany of oppressed characters looking to break free of their own societal system. Tron: Catalyst, the upcoming isometric actioner from Bithell Games, has all these elements and more, setting itself up nicely to be an interesting slice of a franchise that seems intent on making a thing.

Luckily, despite technically being a sequel to the studio’s previous visual novel set in the same Grid, Tron: Catalyst works well as a standalone tale and has nothing to do with the upcoming movie, Tron: Ares – I’d say for the better. After playing the first two chapters, I was delighted to see this emphasis on narrative and cool characters still here, only now with action and a cool roguelite narrative backbone at the forefront.

Tron: Catalyst kicks off with a bang, literally, as a job goes wrong for program courier Exo that leads her into the clutches of one of the Arq Grid’s shadowy factions. This sets off a series of events that require her to become combat-ready, wipe her identity disc, and try to escape the city by playing off all its various factions against one another.

Admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve watched the original 1982 movie, or indeed its shinier 2010 sequel that Catalyst takes cues from, at least aesthetically. Bithell Games hasn’t assumed players will have seen these either, fortunately, instead looking to craft a competent top-down actioner that pulls from the Disney universe’s most recognisable iconography but weaves a tale most people should be able to get on board with.

If I were brushing with the broadest of strokes, I’d categorise Tron: Catalyst as a futuristic old-school style GTA with just a splash of Hades thrown in, but that really does a disservice to the other inventive ideas it’s trying to embed. Some of which were quickly made evident in my short, hour-or-so long demo. After getting caught up to speed with playing as Exo and her awkward situation, it wasn’t long before exploring the Arq Grid felt natural. This is a neon-soaked cityscape that is constantly raining and full of atmosphere, which Bithell Games has wisely chosen to harness from a far-off perspective to both manage production scope (one imagines) yet also does well to show off the true grandeur of this unique world.

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World of light

Progressing through the Grid and surviving its forces means getting to grips with a standard hack-and-slash combat system. Exo has a standard melee attack, dodge, and a pretty superfluous parry ability. Taking down enemy programs is made a tad more exciting, though, thanks to her throwable identity disc, which can pack a punch when aimed correctly.

I particularly enjoyed how you don’t even need to throw the disc at the target to deal decent damage, as throwing it against a nearby wall can often see it bounce off and then further hit around surrounding enemy groups. The catch is that, much like the case with enemies, leaving yourself free of the disc for too long makes Exo vulnerable to extra damage, so it doesn’t always pay well to spam ranged hits.

As perfectly enjoyable as it was, I came away from my Tron: Catalyst preview hoping that combat opens up further. Mention of new upgrades such as the ability to call back your identity discs and the introduction of certain bulkier enemies certainly suggests as much. For now, however, far more exciting is how the story progresses, since Exo is one of the few programs able to make use of what’s called the Glitch, which essentially allows her to reset events back to the start of the chapter or ‘loop’ as Catalyst calls it, utilising any previously unlocked traversal shortcut or any gained knowledge to her advantage.

Rather than act as a simple reset, the Glitch is built into the fabric of Tron: Catalyst’s narrative, with Exo herself aware of any time she’s looped back to the beginning of the chapter. An example of how this roguelite system could be exploited came early in my demo, when Exo missed her appointment with a program in the Grid games’ viewing stand due to her being busy elsewhere.

Not to worry, though, because rather than stay as a missed opportunity, holding down the thumb stick allowed me to reset the cycle, catching up with said meeting after being able to get there quicker due to a newly accessible route I’d unlocked the last time around. It’s a cool way to approach a narrative, and I’m excited to see it built upon.

Tron: Catalyst is the type of licensed video game clearly attempting to punch above its weight, and mostly doing a good job of it. The more action-oriented approach is totally new for developer Bithell Games compared to its past titles, while the concept of a narrative roguelite mixed in with a hack-and-slasher seems new for Tron. So far, however, from what I played, Tron: Catalyst has a lot of potential to be a solid video game adaptation of what is undoubtedly a great-looking and sounding universe, one that could appeal to newbies and veteran franchise fans alike.

Tron: Catalyst is set to release on June 17, 2025, on , , , and