Blade Runner (1997) I've said this before, in reference to The Thing, that movie-based games that successfully evoke the atmosphere of the original are worth playing, and Blade Runner does this in spades. The music is there, the gritty post-WW3 environments, even iconic locations and characters from the 1982 movie are there. As adventure games go, Blade Runner is dead simple. You collect clues by pixel-hunting and talking to characters, but there's no combining them, no abstruse puzzle-solving. Once you collect enough items, and follow the straightforward hints on what to do next, new areas open up and the story progresses. You do get to use the Esper and Voight-Kampf machines, though, which are delightful and put you right in the movie. But the great thing about this game is that the moral ambiguity, the uncertainty in the humanity of those you meet -- and even your own -- that is at the heart of the film, is the centerpiece of the gameplay. I went in blind, and only very slowly became aware of this aspect, but what assumptions you make about characters and how you treat them will change how the game progresses. I blundered my way through, and got the braindead-obvious 'super-Blade-Runner' ending, but there are several major ending variations, and those inclined to role-playing will have a blast exploring them. The length is short, so this is a reasonable thing to do.
