My complete playthrough of Blade Runner. Published in 1997, developed by Westwood Studios. One of my favourite games; a game way ahead of it's time! If you want a Blade Runner-esque video game, what better option is there than Blade Runner the video game? This cult classic 1997 adventure game was a technical marvel at the time, using both 3D rendering while actually reading the player’s actions in real time, as opposed to most other games in the 90s, which belatedly responded to what you.
Classic ‘Blade Runner’ Video Game to Be Restored For Consoles, Steam (Exclusive) Nightdive Studios, known for restoring classic video games such as System Shock and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, has. Jan 06, 2020 Blade Runner was a giant software-rendered video game back then and has impressed many video game critics with numerous awards for its amazing gameplay quality and the environment that matches the universe seen from the movie thanks to Syd Mead who worked for the film, as well as an excellent storyline that fits in with the workings between. Blade Runner is a Westwood Studios game based on the 1982 film of the same name. Released in 1997, the game was advertised as 'the first real-time adventure game'. The story features Blade Runner Ray McCoy hunting replicants in Los Angeles, California in the year 2019. It is generally agreed that the game's graphics and sound (music composed by Frank Klepacki) succeeded in adapting the cult.
Blade Runner is Westwood Studios' attempt to recreate the science fiction film noir classic on the small screen.The story isn't that of the film's, but a 'concurrent' tale concerning a different Runner; McCoy, and his hunt for a gang of killer replicants. The twist here being that there isn't one set solution to the game. Each time you start playing, the computer randomly picks which of the characters are going to be 'skin jobs' and which are just honest-joe, plain vanilla human beings. In total there are thirteen different endings to the game. Which I think is some kind of record. Quick, call Norris McWhirter.
Wake up, time to review
Before we go anywhere, let me acknowledge one particular fact straight away. Yes, the lighting is excellent. Absolutely excellent. No finer lighting have I ever seen in an adventure game. If there were such a thing as an awards ceremony for Best Lighting In A Computer Game Adaptation, Blade Runner would certainly be the front-runner in a very small list of nominees (I won't say it would win because these things are always so political that you just can't tell).
With that out of the way I should also say that the graphics on the whole are also first-rate. I say on the whole, because despite the scenery and FMV being beyond reproach (as a matter of fact, the FMV is some of the finest I've ever seen in an adventure), the actual game characters are somewhat less than pleasing. Very blocky, especially close-up. The reason given for this is that the sprites need to be scalable as they walk around the locations. They need to be able to get larger as they come fore and smaller as they go aft. All well and good and a very noble thought, trouble is, it doesn't make them look all that good. Technological advancement is a wondrous thing for sure, but that doesn't mean it always works. The Sinclair C5 anyone?
Apart from this one area, Blade Runner is quite an atmospheric marvel. All of the film's essential ingredients are there - the flying cars, the oppressive rain, the neon-drenched locales, etc. However, despite this, I would draw attention to the music. I'm not convinced it's been used as well as it could. Certainly there are a lot of the familiar Vangelis tracks in there, but they don't occur with enough frequency or in the right places to really help induce that classic Blade Bunner feel. Consequently the atmosphereloses some of the dramatic punch it needs to keep you hooked. In reality this means the difference between enjoying the almost poetic mood of the film and the sanitised feel of a Blade Runner TV series. The elements are there but the 'magic' is missing.
'If I want atmosphere, I'll rent the movie...'
But the game. What's that like? Well once again the player is annoyingly limited to just the one form of input. Ever since someone in the Office Of Fair Adventuring Design issued the decree that player interfaces should be as simplistic as possible, adventure games have never recovered. Part of the sheer enjoyment of the old LucasArts and textinput games was that the player could try all sorts of different actions to get a result. He really felt as though he was working things out for himself. These days all you can do is click on something and the game works it all out for you. The only challenge comes in being patient enough to click on all the hotspots available. There isn't even a look/Examine option - a staple ingredient for all adventure games since the beginning of time.
In its defence, Blade Runner does provide some challenge in the area of working out what's going on in the story. The ESPER photo-enhancement machine is a nice touch and is a good way of hiding clues for the player to discover (and I'm not going to criticise it for being unrealistic. The film was too, so Westwood are just being faithful). The clue database is also a helpful feature and let's the designers hide clues in plain sight, as it were.
The reviewer's cut
So do I like it or not? Yes, I'd say that on the whole, I do. The story is strong and intelligent enough to compensate for the problems I have with the technical side of the game and while I'd argue that the challenge could have been a lot higher, it's by no means an easy game and the urge to keep playing is there. The multiple ending factor also helps.
The Blade Runner licence certainly has the potential to be something very special indeed and there are times during the game when you feel that Westwood are getting close. But at times they seem to fall back into the traditional limitations of modern adventure games rather than trying to break new barriers. Having said that, I still like the game enough to want to play it to completion, which is why I'm highly recommending it. The option to work on several cases at a time is a nice touch and makes Blade Runnerless linear than other games of this type and the scenery graphics are stunning in places.
Blade Runner Video Game Remake
If you're looking for an interactive Blade Runner story, here it is. It's not quite a classic but there's enough here to keep even hardened adventurers happy for a couple of weeks.