Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, the new remaster of the iconic 1997 video game, is apparently quite bad. Blade Runner is one of the most respected properties out there, largely in part due to how it created such an immersive and spectacular world long before the days of completely CG worlds. Even with the film’s sequel, Blade Runner 2049, director Denis Villeneuve opted to create as many practical sets and miniatures as possible while still blending it all in with CG to enhance the aesthetic of the film. Despite how these films have been praised for how they transport viewers to a new world, the series hasn’t had many video games with the exception of the 1997 point-and-click adventure game, Blade Runner. It’s not an adaptation of the film, but is set within that world and tells an original story to compliment the universe. It’s a bit of a cult classic like the original film, partially because it became difficult to play due to it being only on PC in the 90s. The game was re-released on GoG in 2019, allowing players the chance to essentially play the game as originally intended via a faithful fan remake, but now a remaster of the game is here.
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This new remaster titled Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition gives console players the opportunity to play the game for the first time. The only problem is that the game looks worse than the original, somehow. As reported by RockPaperShotgun, Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition is filled with weird visual choices such as abnormally bright and ugly character models that look like they’ve been jammed or photoshopped into the original scenery of the game. The game also looks blurry and toned down or removed visual effects like smoke and rain, as the remastering process has stripped the game of a lot of its visual style. Unlike some remasters, this isn’t one where players can just toggle a switch and play the game with its original visuals either. If you’re on console, this is the version you’re stuck with unless it gets fixed. You can see a screenshot courtesy of RockPaperShotgun that highlights some of the remaster’s ugliness below. We highly recommend reading RockPaperShotgun’s original report for more examples.
Ultimately, Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition strips the game of a lot of its style and aesthetic, even remaking the main menu into an extremely barebones screen. Given the look and feel of Blade Runner is so important, this will likely be jarring to many fans of the game and stick out as a sore thumb for newcomers. There is a new Blade Runner game reportedly in the works, but it will likely be a while before we see anything from it.
Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition is out now on console and PC. What do you think of the changes to the point-and-click game? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
