Bithell Games Unveils Ambitious Action-Adventure: Tron: Catalyst
For a small, independent studio, Bithell Games really doesn’t like to be pigeonholed. The studio began life as a one-man band and released its debut puzzler Thomas Was Alone to critical acclaim. In the 12 years since, the studio has grown and experimented, tackling genres like stealth, strategy, point-and-click adventure, and even visual novels. For its next project, it’s going even bigger, and Tron: Catalyst is an action-adventure with a scope and ambition far greater than anything the studio has done before.
Of course, it’s not the first time the studio has worked on the Tron franchise; 2023’s Tron: Identity was a fresh spin on the movie series. Tron: Catalyst is set in the same world as Identity and features an all-new story, but it’s the action-focused gameplay that piqued my interest the most when I recently sat through a 30-minute hands-off demo.
Playing as Exo, a courier who’s been swept up in a conspiracy and is now on the run, Catalyst reminded me a little of Hades. It has a similar 3D isometric viewpoint, and the action flows thick and fast. Showcasing the combat was the aim of the demo, and equipped with the infamous Identity disc, Exo fought multiple enemies at the same time. Melee attacks – slamming the disc in the face of the nearest enemy – are the foundation on which combat is built, but the disc can also be used as a ranged weapon, throwing it like a frisbee to target distant enemies. Additionally, the disc can ricochet off surfaces and even other enemies to string together combos or be thrown past a target to catch them on the rebound, pulling them closer for a finishing punch. It’s fast and satisfying, and of course, it’s all drenched in neon, so it feels very Tron.
“The goal is to hit all the Tron verbs, to enable players to do everything they would want to do in a Tron movie, and to do them in an interesting way,” explains creative director Mike Bithell. Naturally, when you think of Tron, you automatically think of its iconic Light Cycle, which is a core part of Catalyst. It is by far the fastest way to explore the city, at least at ground level, but it’s also useful in combat; side-swiping a bunch of enemies while doing a donut looks like a lot of fun.
That said, verticality is a key part of the city’s design, so often you need to explore on foot. There are high rises to climb, buildings to infiltrate, and roofs to parkour over, all flowing together seamlessly. Exo can run and vault over obstacles, and can even combo an attack if there’s an enemy on the other side of a wall. Indeed, Bithell mentions that Tron: Catalyst has a deep upgrade tree, allowing players to enhance both combat and traversal skills to improve abilities to fight and navigate the environment. “Some of the upgrades happen through story moments, plus you can also earn XP by collecting green data shards to upgrade too,” says Bithell. “There are also other layers to the upgrade tree I cannot talk about now, but the idea is to constantly give the player a constant stream of new stuff to play with.”
Even though Catalyst tells a separate story from Legacy, it’s mindful of everything that has come before and indeed is coming later.
Interestingly, the Light Cycle cannot be upgraded because the studio wanted players to use it to its full ability right from the start, rather than having to wait; however, the method of navigation does evolve over time as shortcuts are unlocked.
These are revealed as part of bigger ‘glitches’ in the game, effectively gameplay loops that players can use to their advantage. Although the exact nature of these loops isn’t clear right now, the demo reveals that they allow players to roll back time, meaning able to revisit previously explored locations with equipment collected later in the game. It’s a nod to Metroidvanias, and I’m interested to see how significant a role it plays in the final release, especially since Bithell has hinted that these loops are applied in varying ways and that some puzzles can only be solved using the glitch.
One aspect we are unlikely to see in Tron: Catalyst is boss fights, or at least not many of them. “There will be boss fights, but it’s not a massive focus for the game,” admits Bithell. “The combat is really built around fighting multiple enemies simultaneously; it’s about making each individual enemy interesting, but also how different enemies work together and how those interactions feel. There are multiple factions in the game that will influence this too.”
While we know little about the factions Bithell alludes to, one aspect is certain – Tron: Catalyst is a canon entry in the Tron universe, taking place after Legacy, but set on a different Grid, one that has been left alone for decades. “I wanted to explore the idea of what would happen if you left those programs to their own devices and what would occur if that grid starts to break apart and glitch,” explains Bithell. Though Catalyst tells a distinct story from Legacy, it is aware of everything that has preceded and what will follow, particularly with the anticipated release of the third movie, Tron: Ares, next year.