TRON: Evolution

Unusually for a game of this type, there are no combos to learn, and simply button-mashing your way through the small, agile groups of enemies doesn't really help either.

Combat in TRON: Evolution is a game of light tactics, managing the space around you and your stances. That ties in neatly with the fact that health and energy (both in pretty short supply) are charged up by performing parkour moves in certain lit areas.

We'd like to see this implemented in more interestingly-designed and less cramped confines than evident in the demo, but it definitely has the potential to be an interesting variation on third-person brawling, and the need to constantly evade and then re-enter the fray keeps things moving nicely.

Defeated enemies yield XP. Yes, TRON: Evolution, along with every other game released in 2010, has a levelling system. There are 20 levels' worth of it in the single-player, extended to 50 by taking part in the competitive multiplayer, which supports both on-foot and vehicular combat.

However, your character is persistent across both, and any levelling done in multiplayer can be brought back into the story mode. As well as improving your attacks, new levels will yield new toys like the explosive light disc.

On the light cycle - there will be other vehicles available, including (yes! Battlezone!) a tank. You're not restricted to the iconic 90-degree turns of the 1982, the rationale being that they've evolved as machines in the past seven years.

It's a straight and very simple action racing game, with throttle and brake and a light disc attack to use against enemy bikes the only controls.

For the most part, you're simply dodging the trails of enemy bikes, Recognizers (those menacing crosses between a Space Invader and a triumphal arch) that come down to block off routes, tank rounds and the orange pixellated holes that splash around the environment as the enemies try to de-rez it around and underneath you.

With muted sound and effects in this build of the Unreal 3-engined game, it doesn't carry the sense of speed it should, the light-bike's handling lacks any kind of feel, and the rather digital trial-and-error of dodging the hazards along the course keeps killing the momentum, rather than keeping you teetering on the brink.

It looks cinematic and dramatic enough, but it's just not involving to play. Riding a light-cycle is absolutely crucial wish-fulfilment for TRON fans, so we hope Propaganda gets the chance to develop this mode further.