Tron 2.0: Killer App is a game developed by Digital Eclipse and produced by Buena vista Interactive and takes place around the same timeline of Tron 2.0. The story involves Tron and Mercury "as they battle against The Corruptor, an evil computer program attempting to create the ultimate virus that will take over the computer system."[1]
This game also marks the first time Bruce Boxleitner played the role of Tron since the original film.
Storyline
You start off as Tron and progress to find out about a deadly virus spreading through the ENCOM system. The systems own protection programs (ICPS) seee you as the source and attack you. Later on in a lightcycle grid you meet a friendly program named Mercury (same as in the Pc game). You agree to go after the virus and she agrees to go after the virus communication grid (what a user is using to prevent the security system from attacking the virus). You can also start out as Mercury and progress through the game along an alternative storyline.
Gameplay
The game is an isometric with numerous mini-games and extras. You can find 'chips' throughout the story and equip them to your character to improve one of their attributes, eg. jumping ability, targeting. There are many lightcycle, tank and recogniser sections in story mode that are playable outside storymode. The arcade games 'Tron' and 'Discs of Tron' are also playable in their exact form as they as arcade machines.
Mini Games
There are several Mini-Games exclusive to this edition of Killer App:
- Firewall - A top down shooter with gameplay similar to Yar's Revenge. You can move your ship up and down as you try to shoot through an increasing number of moving walls. A creature on the other side of these moving walls launches attacks that you must dodge. Getting hit by an attack costs you one life. Occasionally, powerups and powerdowns will appear that can be collected.
- Security - A puzzle game with gameplay similar to Pipe Dream. There are different piece types that can be distributed to you at random, in a fashion similar to Tetris. You must use these pieces to connect the starting piece to the ending piece within the time limit. Like in the Firewall game, there are powerups and powerdowns that can appear. There are blue circles that increase your time, and orange circles that decrease your time. There are also large orange circles that give you an immediate game over. In addition, placing a piece over an existing piece results in a regularly sized orange piece penalty.
- TRON - A faithful emulation of the original 1982 arcade game TRON. Unfortunately, it is a bit hard to control the spinner functions due to the spinner being mapped to the L and R triggers.
- Disks of TRON - A faithful emulation of the 1983 arcade game Disks of TRON. Unfortunately, the voice from the original arcade game is absent, and the select button must be used to toggle between adjusting the height of the targeting reticule and running forwards and backwards.
Reception
Despite many fair to good reviews the game recieved, it did not sell as much as was expected.