Line #57 VideoGame/TronEvolution


1	[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tron_Evolution_5920.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:256:The game has changed.]]
3
4	->''"Greetings, programs!"''
5
6	''TRON: Evolution'', the requisite [[LicensedGame video game tie-in]]/{{prequel}} to ''Film/TronLegacy'', fills in some of the backstory that is only vaguely alluded to in the film itself. You play as a newly-written program known only as the [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep System Monitor]], designed by Kevin Flynn to help quell the unrest between the newly-arrived [=ISOs=] and Grid-native Basics. The arrival of virus [[BigBad Abraxas]] on a supposedly-closed system doesn't help matters, and soon the Monitor is pressed into service to [[SaveTheWorld defend the Grid]] from threats both internal and external, with Quorra watching from a distance.
7	----
8	!!''TRON: Evolution'' provides examples of the following tropes:
9
10	* HundredPercentCompletion: The TRON Files and Abraxas Shards scattered throughout the game.
11	* AdvancingWallOfDoom: From a virus, no less, which [[EventObscuringCamera comes directly towards the screen]].
12	* ActuallyIAmHim: [[spoiler:Abraxas]] shows up shortly after [[spoiler:the former leader of the [=ISOs=]]] is supposedly derezzed. No points for guessing his true identity. It goes even further if you connect the dots between the Xbox 360/Playstation 3 version and the Wii counterpart, ''Battle Grids''. The customizable protagonist of ''Battle Grids'' ends the game by [[spoiler: becoming the first ISO to win the title of champion of the Grid Games]]; information provided by collectibles in ''Evolution'' establish that [[spoiler:Jalen, the ISO who becomes Abraxas, was the first ISO champion of the Games]].
13	* AllThereInTheManual: Anon's name was only said in prerelease information. Otherwise he is simply known as "a security monitor program".
14	** Outside of the brief Reveal mid-game, the only way to learn Abraxas's full backstory is by collecting the Tron File and Abraxas Shard extras scattered throughout the game. The Abraxas Shards are of particular significance, as they contain [[spoiler:Jalen's voice diary entries from the millicycles leading up to his transformation.]]
15	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Everyone infected with the Abraxas Virus and [[spoiler:Abraxas himself]].
16	* BigBad: You'd think that would be Abraxas, the source of the virus infecting Tron City, [[spoiler:but he himself was reprogrammed into a virus by Clu, using Abraxas as a distraction for Flynn, Quorra and Anon, while Clu takes over the Grid and exterminates the [=ISOs=]]].
17	* BottomlessPits: The Grid is filled with them.
18	* TheCameo: Despite his name ''[[SecondaryCharacterTitle being]]'' [[SecondaryCharacterTitle the title]], Tron himself only appears briefly in the opening scenes. They did get Creator/BruceBoxleitner, though.
19	* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Just like the films, blue is good (or at least neutral), while red is bad and dark yellow/orange is independent. Exclusive to the game is bright yellow representing infected programs. Although [=ISOs=] end up being both green and white during the game, green is reserved for residents of Bostrum, while all other [=ISOs=] are white.
20	* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Arjia City
21	* CuttingOffTheBranches: Supplementary materials confirm that the customizable player character of ''TRON: Evolution: Battle Grids'' was [[spoiler:Jalen, the leader of [=ISOs=] and eventually the [[TheHeavy main antagonist]] and FinalBoss Abraxas.]]
22	* DeadlyDisc: The only weapon is the identity disc, though it has multiple variants and can be used in melee and long range.
23	* DeadlyEuphemism: If a program dies, they "derez". This is used pretty much interchangeably with "die" throughout the series. For the most part, the game uses derez in its dialog with a few exceptions, most notably Quorra never using it.
24	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: They'll even refill your health while they're at it. Sometimes suicide is the most effective way to give yourself a fighting chance against the next wave of enemies.
25	* DoomedByCanon: ''Evolution'' is a prequel to ''Legacy''. [[spoiler:Anon, Gibson, Abraxas, Jalen, and Radia]] are all nowhere to be found in the film.
26	* EleventhHourSuperpower: [[spoiler:Kevin Flynn super-upgrades Anon prior to the seventh and final chapter, turning his circuitry white and making him powerful enough to try a one-program assault on the Rectifier.]]
27	* EliteMooks: Black Guards. Given how the early game only gives them one at a time, to open up specific areas, they could even count as MiniBoss material.
28	* FaceMonsterTurn: [[spoiler:Gibson, not to mention [[TheVirus Jalen]].]]
29	* FalseFlagOperation: Revealed to be the true purpose behind [[spoiler:Abraxas's rampage: Clu twists the ISO Jalen into a virus and sets him on the Grid, and then uses this to imply to the Grid's Basic population that ''all'' [=ISO=]s have the potential to evolve into menacing, dangerous viruses, thus gaining himself popular support for [[FinalSolution eliminating them entirely.]]]]
30	* FauxActionGirl: While a genuine ActionGirl in the film, Quorra does surprisingly little in the prequel other than stand around and/or [[DistressedDamsel get captured.]]
31	* FightingFromTheInside: [[spoiler:Gibson]] is able to resist the Abraxas Virus enough that the majority of his BossBanter is him pleading for deresolution.
32	* FinalBoss: Abraxas.
33	* FragileSpeedster: Scout type Sentries, who can use LeParkour and run around the battlefield, but can be derezzed in two CounterAttack moves.
34	* GlassCannon: Light Tanks, if against a Bomb Disc. One hit can derez Anon, but a single bomb can also derez the tank.
35	* GladiatorGames: The Game Grid.
36	* GrapplingHookPistol: The Mag Disc acts like one of these, pulling Anon toward the magnet hook he aims at.
37	* TheHeavy: [[spoiler: Abraxas's actual role, considering CLU 2 is the BigBad.]]
38	* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler: Anon dies saving Quorra when the damaged Recognizer crashes in the ending.]]
39	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Gibson]] to save Anon and [[spoiler:Anon]] to save Quorra.
40	* HeroOfAnotherStory: Anon. In ''Film/TronLegacy'', Quorra briefly mentions a "sympathetic program" helping her to escape the Purge before she was found by Flynn; it seems likely that she meant Anon.
41	* HoldYourHippogriffs:
42	-->'''Gibson:''' Son of a ''glitch'' that hurts!
43	* InkSuitActor: For Tron and Quorra, definitely. Averted with Gibson, who doesn't look much like Creator/JensenAckles, and with Flynn and CLU because they're being voiced by Creator/FredTatasciore rather than Creator/JeffBridges.
44	* JustifiedExtraLives: Since you are playing as a computer program you are simply restored from backup whenever you die.
45	* LateArrivalSpoiler: [[spoiler:The game spoils in the tutorial that Quorra is an ISO.]]
46	* LeParkour: The Monitor's preferred method of travel. Heck, you have to use LeParkour to restore your health and energy by running along Energy Tranfer Circuits along walls and structures. Vaulting towards an enemy and attacking also increases damage. The Scout sentry type is also capable of this.
47	* LifeDrain: The Corruption Disc allows you to regain health from non-boss enemies.
48	* LikeCannotCutLike: Averted. Unlike the films, one disc CAN destroy another if charged up. It's even a minor plot point.
49	* LightningBruiser: Black Guards, the EliteMooks who can use the same LeParkour as Anon, but also have a very high health limit and powerful attacks.
50	* MightyGlacier: Shield type Sentries, who can throw very powerful strikes, but are very slow.
51	* MercyKill: Anon has to perform one on [[spoiler:Gibson]] right after [[spoiler:Gibson [[HeroicSacrifice knocks him out of Abraxas's reach]]]].
52	* MookChivalry: When Abraxas first attacks, several guards run at him in a single-file line and are individually swatted into oblivion. Which is odd, because they were shoulder-to-shoulder when they started running, and don't even draw their discs to deal with the obviously dangerous program.
53	* NewGamePlus: All your upgrades and disc types carry over from one playthrough to the next. You can even take your upgraded Monitor into online multiplayer.
54	* NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom: That said, there's not much to see aside from the straight paths.
55	* PrecisionGuidedBoomerang: The idenity disc will fly straight at whatever the Monitors attack before either flying straight back.
56	* ReformulatedGame: ''Battle Grids'' has all of the same gameplay mechanics of Evolution but limit it to a party-style selection of minigames, with a simplistic story to tie together the single player mode. [[spoiler:Turns out its one plot twist is important to the main game.]]
57	* RousingSpeech: CLU gives one while you're busy [[GladiatorGames fighting for your life in the Game Grid.]] He also gives one in the introduction.
58	* RPGElements: The Monitor acquires ExperiencePoints and upgrades, gaining [[CharacterLevel Version Numbers]] as the game progresses.
59	* SkilledButNaive:
60	** Characteristic of the [=ISOs=] and the undoing of [[spoiler:Jalen, architect of Arjia City, co-leader of the [=ISOs=], first [=ISO=] Champion of the Games, and prospective co-Administrator of the entire Grid...until he naively hands his disc over to Clu for an "upgrade", that is.]]
61	** Averted, interestingly, with Gibson, who is ''much'' more jaded, street-smart, and snarky than the average [=ISO=]. His fellow Bostrumites are implied to be similar in temperament.
62	* [[StealthSequel Stealth Prequel]]: ''Battle Grids'' looks like a standard ReformulatedGame given the typical treatment of Wii titles for licensed games of the time period. [[spoiler:It actually turns out it covers events just prior to Clu creating Abraxas. You play the first Iso to compete in and win the Games, which the Abraxas Shards reveal is [[CuttingOffTheBranches Jalen]].]]
63	* StoryBreadcrumbs: Abraxas Shards and Tron Files provide tidbits of information that reveal more of the plot than simply playing through the game will provide.
64	* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Each time a new enemy type appears, the game tells you what disc or attack they are weak against, as well as what their defensive measures are.
65	* TankGoodness: The Light Tank shows up as a vehicle, both as an enemy unit and as a usable vehicle in different parts of the game.
66	* TronLines: TropeNamer is the original source material, after all.
67	* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Light Cycles in a ''TRON'' game were to be expected. [[RacingMinigame How they were implemented was not]] (though players can battle with Light Cycles to their hearts' content in multiplayer).
68	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Gibson has one for getting The Monitor out of the Game Grid.
69	* TheVirus: Abraxas.
70	* ZombieApocalypse: This is what a computer virus does in the ''Tron'' universe. Infected Programs turn from their normal coloring to a SicklyGreenGlow, and their functions are overwritten by the desire to hunt, infect, or destroy healthy Programs. The only thing you can do for the poor scripts is [[MercyKill put them out of their misery]]
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72	'''End Of Line.'''

Context VideoGame / TronEvolution