Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition

Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition is a remastered version of the 1997 cult adventure game, developed by the Westwood Studios. The new game was developed by Nightdive Studios specializing in refreshing classic hits, known for such projects as System Shock: Enhanced Edition, Turok Remastered or even Blood: Fresh Supply, and was created in cooperation with Alcon Entertainment.

Plot

Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition takes place in an alternative, cyberpunk version of Los Angeles from 2019, parallel to the events presented in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner movie. The main hero of the game is detective Ray McCoy, whose task is to find a group of replicants (androids) suspected of killing animals. Things are complicated by the fact that they behave and look almost exactly like people; besides, their identity is randomly drawn every time. The plot of the game has a non-linear structure, and may end in one of thirteen ways, determined both by the outcome of the draw and by our choices.

Mechanics

In Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition action is presented from various "film" shots. There are more than one hundred locations waiting to be visited in the game, among which we will find both completely new places prepared especially for game needs and sceneries known from the movie. When we walk through them, we not only gather evidence in the form of various objects, but we also talk to NPCs, trying to get as much information as possible from them. A detective is equipped with futuristic gadgets, such as a computer called ESPER or Knowledge Integration Assistant (KIA), which are used to analyze images and evidence. Although from time to time McCoy has to use the gun, the fight is only secondary.

Technical aspects

Due to the fact that the source code of the original Blade Runner went missing during the move of the Westwood Studios team from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, the Nightdive Studios, working on Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, had to do reverse engineering. The game works on KEX technology, thanks to which the authors could prepare conversions for new platforms and thoroughly refresh the graphics. Among the changes introduced in the graphics, the most important are refreshed character models, animations and film interludes. In addition, it has been adapted to panoramic displays. During the game we listening to the original, atmospheric soundtrack composed by Frank Klepacki.