So Blade Runner is back in the consciousness after a long promised "Final Cut" DVD will be finally released a week before Christmas (I'd better get mine before the holidays). So with that in mind, I'd thought I'd look back at a critically acclaimed flop that I think has stood the test of time; Blade Runner - The Game. I feel this has to be one of the best movie adaptations there's ever been. Ok, with all the recent rubbish superhero film tie-ins that may not seem difficult, but here's a game that I picked up for only 10 pounds in the corner of a Virgin Megastores a few years back with little expectations.

Frankly, I could be forgiven for not expecting much. For starters, you don't play as the gruff Rick Dekard (as immortalised by Harrison Ford); instead you get the younger and less grizzled, but still noir-ishly named Ray McCoy. Ray is a fairly rookie Blade Runner. The game also introduces some new characters, like the tough-as nails Blade Runner Crystal Steel (no the porno star) and the slobbish Lt. Guza. The gameplay consists of a point and click interface, the same as many classic adventure games like the Monkey Island series. McCoy starts off investigating a case of animal murder that eventually turns into kinda "search and destroy" mission in which he has to track a group of replicants.

So far, so standard. But Blade Runner does everything with so much panache and reverence of the film (and indeed the book. The opening animal murder crime ties in with Philip K Dick's book more than the film). The locations of the game are torn straight from Ridley Scott's film, DNA row (location of Chew's Eye Shop), Hawkers Circle, the Nightclub district, Police HQ and most impressively the Tyrell Corp. building, specifically Tyrell's amazing office, lit by the setting sun. During you journey to these locations, there are brief cut scenes of McCoy flying in his Spinner past some beautifully rendered city scenes.

That might have been enough for most fans, but add in host of returning characters like JF Sebastian, Leon, Rachael and Tyrell, some of whom are voiced by their original actors from the film. But even this isn't why Blade Runner is such a good game. It's taken the baton from the film and crafted a companion piece from it. For instance, the feeling that Deckard maybe a replicant is fully explored in the game. Depending on how you play, McCoy may or may not be a replicant. It's more up to chance, considering you can behave differently to replicants during the game (sparing them or "retiring" them) and end up with the same result. But eight different endings alone should prompt replayability and the chance to interact with the main characters again is enticing.

The naysayers amongt you will point to the lacklustre combat, or that that gameplay is simply finding objects on the screen until you're prompted to go to another area. Unlike, the film the detection does have a logical progression; fail to find certain clues and you're assignment will grind to a halt. But the atmosphere of Blade Runner is first class; as horrible as the future of LA in 2019 looks, it's so fully formed that it's hard no to want to spend time there. I found myself standing McCoy's balcony, watching Spinners fly by whilst the the melancholy synth score floated by.

I'd love to see this game reappear on Steam in time for the DVD re-release so everyone gets a chance to play it. Thankfully I've still got my 4xCD set handy.