Russ, I am sorry but you are absolutely wrong about this game.
Propaganda Games dropped the ball hard on this title. Aside from some pretty graphics, this game is just a little off from being fully broken.
This game has a list of faults?
-Frequently jarring sudden camera angle switches
-Bad level design
-Horrific and overbearing light cycle segments (literally hundreds of events happening in the segments at any given moment)
-Overall, poor handling of vehicles
-Poor control scheme
-Repetitive color scheme
-Poor overall plot direction (and directing of sequences)
-Poor dialog writing
-Painfully bad facial mapping
Of what little online matches I played, they were poorly done. Mixing multiple game types and features into one mode doesn't work. Having the ability to turn on your light cycle during most matches at any moment is confusing. This makes for hectic online game play, that provides no relief or enjoyment.
Possibly the two good parts of this game would be it's wonderfully mastered audio. Sound effects and music match well with the 'Tron: Legacy' soundtrack. Something not to take lightly considering Daft Punk originally created the motion picture's score. (to my knowledge only two of their songs are featured in the game)
The other good part, being the ability to level up your character in single player and online. Had the online portion of the game been better, this would have been a brilliantly utilized feature. Think Call of Duty, in which playing single player gave you more load out options online.
If you have watched one of the movies, this game might apply to you. But this is by no means a worthy game by itself. If you have no idea what Tron is, this will leave you confused and turned off by the franchise.
(Of all the games in this franchise I have played, the non-canon 'Tron 2.0' by Monolith Productions was worthy of a play through. You might consider picking it up on the PC and getting the fan made patch/add-on called 'Killer App Mod')