[FLASHBACK] Available again at last! – Blade Runner (1997)

Courtesy of Good Old Games , I finally had the opportunity to check out the production I heard so much about.

 

 

Beginner cop

Unlike Rick Deckard, the protagonist of Westwood’s game is a fresh cop named Ray McCoy. Having a coat, a faithful weapon and a small apartment, the law enforcement officer is not yet as experienced as the film’s protagonist. His first case is to investigate the murder of an animal from an exotic store, which in this world (where they are extremely rare) can be compared to the murder of a human being. The investigation leads him to a group of replicants, i.e. synthetic people, in appearance almost indistinguishable from ordinary representatives of the homo sapiens species. Their presence in this world is illegal, and McCoy as Blade Runner has a duty to track them down and eliminate them. Sounds familiar?

 

Same universe

The action of Blade Runner is not a carbon copy of the events known from the film. It tells its own story – in the same world and at the same time as Deckard’s story. One of its biggest advantages is the ability to move around well-known locations, and each board is almost dripping with the atmosphere of the original. The ever-falling rain, flashing neon lights and crowded streets allow you to feel the adventure properly. The Westwood studio has managed to fully reflect Ridley Scott’s pessimistic vision of the future. In the game we can hear some actors from the movie, which for me as a fan is a very nice addition. Unfortunately, we will not hear the original music of Vangelis here, but the composer Frank Klepacki managed to capture its spirit.

More like a standard point’n’click

Blade Runner seems to be a typical representative of point’n’click games, but we can find some non-standard solutions in it. After each start, the game decides which characters are replicants and which are people, including our hero. Depending on the choices made and the events that may take place without Ray’s participation, we will get one of the thirteen possible endings. Let me remind you that the game was released in 1997, which at that time was an extremely ambitious undertaking. Such a non-linear approach to storytelling did not happen very often back then. During the investigation, McCoy uses the ESPER system to search for clues in the photos and a Voight-Kampff machine to determine if the interrogation is a replicant.

It was worth waiting!

Blade Runner okazał się tytułem bardzo ambitnym, który pozwolił mi się przenieść do świata znanego z filmowego oryginału. Dla fanów pierwowzoru jest to pozycja obowiązkowa. Chociaż nie była ona najlepszą przygodówką w jaką grałem, mało która gra tego gatunku może jej dorównać, jeśli chodzi o klimat.