Blade Runner

I own a cd version back from the 90s and played through it many times over the decades and every time it was awesome. And still is but that is because I love the world built by Ridley Scott. Game-play wise it is subpar. There are no real adventure game mechanics, just talk to everyone, click on everything, repeat until you can proceed. And sometimes if you are stuck long enough the game will just let you pass. After 2 hours of walking around suddenly an NPC will offer a new conversion option or clicking on an item for 111th time will make something happen. And after 20 years I still do not know if I am missing something, or this is how the game was intended to play. The interactivity is a good design. The game plays out based on your actions which leads to a number of different outcomes. Although you will not see the difference until the very end.

I first enjoyed this relic as part of some CD-ROM collection set when it was still a semi-new-ish title, even if not cutting-edge at the time. I cut my sci-fi-eye-teeth on the original film, so the chance to play through the story I loved so much was irresistible. At first, however, I was woefully disappointed. The “non-linear” promise is all but a lie, not that I can say more without spoilers. The usefulness of certain game mechanics still eludes me even now as they seemed to change nothing at all when employed in-game. A few events and many, many lines are ripped directly from the film script, and not always in the most logical manner. Some often-repeated visuals and audio components grew a little tiresome after a while. So why did I end up playing it over and over again? Six times in a row, no less, and I’m usually the kind to shelve a game for months after one or maybe two. Because, for everything I didn’t like about the game, it charmed the pants off of me. Say what you want about the graphics, they actually fit nicely for the kind of game this really is, life isn’t all about HD. The setting is cyber noir- a used future both clinging to and haunted by its own past, and the original graphics actually add to the charm of it. The real core of the gameplay, the detective work and the moral choices, actually feel like you’re investigating a crime instead of playing click-on-everything-to-win like many other adventure titles before and since. The voice acting is remarkable for its day, even if it falters once in a while, and rather than questioning whether McCoy is a replicant or not, I found myself instead questioning whether or not I felt more for the replicants than for the humans in the story, regardless of McCoy’s humanity. And one of the three endings is one of my all-time favorite game endings ever, no bull. I can’t give this game five stars. I wish I could. I’d give four and a half, or even four and three quarters. Just play it and see for yourself.

I just bought this game sinec I'm a huge fan of the Blade Runner franchise and though I have yet to get the original "Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?", I managed to get this one. While it can be a bit confusing at times to know what to do next, the dialogue and the worldbuilding bring life to this game. The graphics may be dated but they're still nice and made with love. I even like the references to the orignal 1982 film that the game is set parallel to. Before you get Cyberpunk 2077, get this game.

Never thought this day would come, after years and years writing on several forums, including GOG, asking, demanding, praying for a chance to play it on modern computers. Long are the days of some play with "not so legal" copies with several workarounds and tech-wiz settings, only to hear again THAT music, and living in THAT world. I was fortunate enough to "live" that film at the cinema at a very young age... you know, you can't bring a toddler at the movies and let him see a true MASTERPIECE like that! One can grow passionate on Science Fiction and good movies, so it is very rare to find movies of that magnitude. Damn you Ford and damn you Scott! Or should I say damn you Westwood Studios for bringing to the PC world such a masterpiece of movie trasposition? I want to personally thank both GOG and Westwood Studios Inc. for doing such a Christmas miracle, the miracle of bringing back to our society such a masterpiece of gaming, to be known to old and new generations of gamers! What are you waiting for? Go buy this game, or "all these things will be lost like tears in rain"...

GOG just made the christmas list for hundreds of thousands of people. For Blade Runner fans this is a joy to experience. The graphics are faithfull to the source material, the sound although not official is 99% spot on, the gameplay is a bit lackluster but varied enough to keep you engaged. Its not new to almost everyone, its a BladeRunner Story with some twists, voxels and point & click style. Instabuy.