An image from the video game Tron: Evolution, which precedes the upcoming film, Tron: Legacy. (Disney)

It’s an unfortunate truism that most video games tied to movies are uninspiring. In many cases, they’re developed in the same time frame as the film, but while a good movie can be produced in two years, a quality game often takes longer.

Tron: Evolution's controls are wonky and the overall experience is repetitive enough to warrant a pass from all but the most diehard Tron fans.

Out for all three consoles and the PC, Tron: Evolution is not a bad game, but like some other movie-licensed counterparts (ahem, Avatar), its controls are wonky and the overall experience is repetitive enough to warrant a pass from all but the most diehard Tron fans.

Plot-wise, Evolution takes place some time after the original 1982 film and shortly before the upcoming film, Tron: Legacy (out Dec. 17). In the first movie, two programmers teamed up to enter a virtual cyberspace to combat the Master Control Program, an ambitious piece of software with designs on improving the real world. Protagonist Kevin Flynn was scanned into the world by an experimental laser, while the other main character, Alan Bradley, was represented by his avatar, a security program known as Tron.

In Evolution, the virtual world has progressed considerably. There are now whole cities populated with people that are actually avatars of user-created programs. A schism has emerged between the original, “basic” inhabitants and a new race of isomorphic algorithms, or self-created programs known as ISOs.

Early in the game, it emerges that Klu – the ruler, or system administrator, appointed by Flynn – is stoking the fires between basics and ISOs. To complicate matters, there’s also an evil virus named Abraxus running around corrupting everything. The player takes on the role of Anon, a systems monitor working for Tron, who is now the virtual world’s top cop. Anon must defeat Klu and Abraxus and rescue a program known as Quorra (voiced by Olivia Wilde), who apparently has a major role in the Legacy film.

At its core, Tron: Evolution is a platforming game where the player must figure out how to get from one ledge to the next. A Parkour-like free-running system is used to accomplish this, so players must leap over obstacles and run along walls. If you’ve played Prince of Persia or Assassin’s Creed, it’s familiar stuff, and quite entertaining when it works.

The problem is that the button setup makes it too easy to do the wrong thing, which is compounded by the fact that you often have to act quickly. Pressing the X button before scaling a wall, for example, means Anon will jump straight up after his run. Pressing the button after he hits the wall, though, means he’ll jump directly away from it – usually into a chasm, resulting in “derezzing,” or death. This aspect of the game can be very frustrating.

In between bouts of platforming, Anon must battle a variety of enemies. In proper Tron tradition, this means everybody throwing frisbee-like discs at each other. By beating enemies, you get experience points and “megabytes” that can be spent on new upgrades, like more health or disc energy. Anon gets new weapons along the way, too, such as the stasis disc, which slows enemies down, or the bomb disc, which explodes on contact.

The villains, meanwhile, have their own specialized attacks and defenses. Some baddies are quick moving while others have shields, so Anon must perform ground slam attacks to take them out. Overall, there’s a decent variety of enemies, making the individual battles fast-paced and fun.

On a larger level, though, things quickly get repetitive: platforming, fight, platforming, fight. The designers at Vancouver’s Propaganda Games tried to liven things up by interspersing sections where the player must drive Tron’s iconic tanks and light cycles, but these sequences are entirely dull and forgettable.

On the PlayStation 3, the light cycle can be piloted by holding the Move motion controller in much the same way you’d grip motorcyle handlebars. The control is far too sensitive, though, and it actually feels more natural to navigate with the regular controller. The online multiplayer mode is also lackluster; the fights are as monotonous as in single-player. Players can also duke it out on light cycles and tanks in large arenas, but these features aren’t very enticing. The light cycles, for example, can make 90-degree turns — as in the movie — but the effects are as jarring as they would be on an actual motorcycle.

Tron: Evolution is visually intriguing – the sky is obviously the limit with what can be done when designing a virtual computer world. The game left me thinking there were many missed opportunities to flesh out this universe. The only interaction the player has with inhabitants is when he or she runs into one of the battle areas. The citizens scream because of the impending danger, then clear out the area so you can get on with the fight. It would have been nice to be able to have conversations with them, or at least buy things from them.

There is an immersive game to be made in the world of Tron, but Evolution isn’t it. Strictly as an action game, it’s passable, but the bar has been raised in recent years by titles like Assassin’s Creed. As such, the newest Tron game is more of the same as opposed to a proper evolution.

Tron: Evolution is in stores Dec. 7.

Peter Nowak is a writer based in Toronto.