TRON: Catalyst Review

Kai Taylor
Jul 8
5 min read

Cover image for review of TRON: Catalyst on PC, featuring the game's cover art, identity disc and Exo

Genre: Action/Adventure

Developer: Bithell Games

Publisher: Big Fun Games & Devolver Digital

Release Date: June 17th 2025

Available On: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC

Reviewed On: PC (ASUS ROG Ally Z1E)

An indie game set in the TRON universe is a very appealing concept. Not to mention, an indie TRON game with fast-paced Hades-inspired combat sounds like a match made in heaven. TRON: Catalyst certainly reaches for all of this, and while it is effective, it does stumble in a number of areas. The story is entertaining, the voice acting is decent, the visuals are fantastic, and the atmosphere does capture the same sci-fi, neon-lit aesthetic of the films. Unfortunately, TRON: Catalyst struggles in its lacklustre combat. The game is very easy, and the bosses are uninspired. TRON: Catalyst can be a fun game in parts, but its flaws stop it from being a worthy addition to the franchise itself.

ESCAPE PLAN

TRON: Catalyst is a sequel to 2023's TRON: Identity. Identity was a visual novel with puzzles. I haven't played TRON: Identity, but I was still able to follow the narrative with Catalyst. You play as Exo, a program in the Arq Grid who has a glitch in her system. This glitch keeps her stuck in a time loop. After escaping from Core's stronghold, your task is to escape from the city and make your way to the Outlands, a region away from Core's political grasp. Along the way, you will engage with different factions and characters from the TRON universe. Some of these characters are familiar; Query was the protagonist of TRON: Identity, and there are references to Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges' character in the films). The story itself is quite short; the game took me just over seven hours to complete, but it has a good narrative, and the way everything unfolded was interesting. The ending does feel incomplete, however, and I imagine Bithell Games is planning a sequel, given the way it concludes.

Exo, the main protagonist of Bithell Games' TRON: Catalyst

Bithell Game have captured the same aesthetic of the TRON universe and transferred it wonderfully into the medium of video games. The game features a top-down perspective, similar to those found in games like Bastion and Hades. The perspective allows you to take in the fantastic visuals, especially when riding on a light cycle. When you equip the light cycle and drive through the city streets, the camera zooms back, and you can immerse yourself in the world of the game. It makes you realise how vast this world is, how insignificant you are, and you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Not to mention, the game performs like an absolute dream on the ROG Ally. I was playing the game at 1080p with a consistent 120 frames per second, and I didn't notice a single frame drop. Bithell Games has done a fantastic job with TRON: Catalyst's presentation, especially for an indie studio.

Riding the Light Cycle in TRON: Catalyst

TRON: Catalyst's soundtrack also complements the aesthetic. The music is composed by Dan Le Sac, the same composer as TRON: Identity. There's a futuristic, almost mechanical sound to the instruments used. The soundtrack is at its best during combat encounters because it feels daunting and threatening. Outside of combat, the soundtrack is not as memorable. Traversing through the streets and going through the Null Refinery and Outlands was very quiet, even with a pair of headphones on. The game feels silent whenever you are casually travelling from one location to another. It's a shame because TRON: Catalyst's soundtrack is effective during combat, but it fails to enhance the atmosphere during exploration.

DISCS OF FURY

Equipped with an Identity Disc, Exo must fight a variety of enemies, including Core soldiers and resistance fighters. Basic attacks involve you using the disc for melee attacks. You can do three quick attacks one after the other, or you can hold down the attack button to do a slower but more powerful attack. You can also parry oncoming attacks whenever an enemy's weapon shines just before their attack. Exo can also dodge and throw her disc to evade attacks and inflict damage from a distance. There is also a helpful lock-on camera feature that allows you to switch between enemies using the right analog stick. On paper, the combat feels very much like Hades, and in many ways it is. But once you have an understanding of the different moves, TRON: Catalyst becomes one of the easiest action-adventure games I have ever played.

Fighting Core Soldiers in TRON: Catalyst

After a couple of hours of playing TRON: Catalyst, I realised that Exo's melee attacks are not the best way to fight a regular enemy. If you get good at parrying, you can kill every single enemy in one hit, even stronger enemies. Constant parrying breaks the combat in two, and you can even get an upgrade later in the game that gives you a bigger window of opportunity to parry. The parrying in TRON: Catalyst is already quite generous, but the upgrade made the game even easier. During my playthrough, I only died a single time, and that was due to the combat on the light cycle. In certain areas, you fight enemies on the light cycle, and you have to hold down a button to draw a line. If the enemy goes through the line, you kill them in one hit. These sections are fun and a good way to break up the monotony of the game's combat, but there are only a few of these encounters in the game.

LITTLE TO NO EXPLORATION

Aside from the main quest, there are a number of side objectives to complete in TRON: Catalyst. These side objectives are straightforward and do not yield significant rewards aside from the achievement itself. However, while they do not significantly contribute to the main story, they greatly enhance the game's atmosphere. You get to learn more about Core's grip on the city and how Automata, a group of resistance fighters, are trying to fight back. Although the side objectives are brief, I enjoyed my time with them and learned more about the lore of the TRON universe. I encourage you to play through the side objectives, but please note that you won't gain any upgrades or additional weapons, aside from achievements and XP.

When you are not fighting enemies in TRON: Catalyst, you are free to travel around and enter buildings. All around the map are crates that contain XP that you can use to buy upgrades from the game's menu. Sadly, there are only twelve upgrades in the game. The situation is worse when you realise that you gain XP every time you finish a combat encounter. Furthermore, you can get additional XP if you challenge during a combat encounter. These challenges appear at the top right corner of a screen 90% of the time when entering a combat scenario. Some challenges involve beating the enemies within a particular time limit, and other challenges task you with killing enemies with only melee attacks. I do like the challenges because they encourage me to stay away from just parrying every enemy's attacks. The problem, though, is that due to the low number of upgrades, I unlocked all twelve upgrades within three hours of my playthrough. The lack of any challenge is the biggest problem in TRON: Catalyst. The enhancements themselves were serviceable, but they only made the game easier to finish.