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Blade Runner 2022
Blade Runner is a 1997 point-and-click adventure video game developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive for Microsoft Windows, released in November 1997. Though not a direct adaptation of the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner, the game functions as a "sidequel," presenting an original narrative that runs alongside the events of the movie, occasionally overlapping with its storyline.
The game takes place in 2019 Los Angeles and follows Ray McCoy, an elite detective assigned to track down a dangerous group of replicants—bioengineered androids built to resemble humans. Several characters from the film appear within the game, with some original actors returning to provide voices. However, Rick Deckard, the main character from the movie, does not speak in the game. He is referenced multiple times, appears visually on several occasions, and his actions from the film are discussed. Additional similarities include recreated key locations, scenes and dialogue closely mimicking the original film, as well as excerpts from its musical score.
Advertised as a "real-time 3D adventure game," Blade Runner was notable for being among the first in the genre to use both 3D character rendering and real-time progression in the game world—contrary to typical games that waited for player input. While many contemporary titles relied on polygon-based renderers that took advantage of 3D hardware acceleration, Westwood chose to implement their own software-based approach using voxel technology.
The game garnered generally favorable reviews and achieved commercial success, selling over one million copies globally. It earned the Interactive Achievement Award for "PC Adventure Game of the Year" and was nominated for "Best Adventure Game" by PC Gamer. Virgin Interactive expressed interest in having Westwood create a sequel, but concerns over production costs led to the idea being abandoned due to potential financial risk. For years afterward, legal complications surrounding intellectual property hindered its availability on digital platforms until it was finally made available on GOG.com in December 2019. Nightdive Studios and Alcon Entertainment later released an Enhanced Edition for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on June 23, 2022.
Crew
- Designer
- David Leary, Jim Walls
- Programmer
- Louis Castle
- Artist
- Louis Castle, Aaron Powell
- Writer
- David Yorkin, David Leary
- Producer
- Donny Blank
- Music
- Frank Klepacki
Details
- Developer
- LucasArts, Westwood Studios
- Publisher
- Nightdive Studios (remaster), Virgin Interactive
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Modes
- Single-player
- Engine
- KEX Engine (remaster)
- Series
- Blade Runner
