I've been looking to get the original Blade Runner from GOG for a few years now; but because I purchased the original game when it was first released, I've wanted to pick it up when it was on sale rather than pay the full asking price. I seem to remember paying around £25 for the original when it was released, which, back in the mid 80's was a lot of money. Unfortunately I've not caught it on sale
I checked GOG yesterday morning, hoping to see that it was in GOG's summer sale, but it wasn't. Then I discovered that Steam had just released the enhanced version of the game; but within a few hours there were already around 40 negative reviews, most of which were saying that parts of the original game were no longer accessible, or you weren't able to walk around your apartment, but would jump from each of the interactive parts of the game, when clicking on them also, the game was only partially enhanced, for example you can see when comparing the old with the new that character models appear to be sharper, but the up scaled environments look pretty bad compared to the original.
Anyway, after seeing the enhanced edition on Steam, I decided I was going to buy the original directly from GOG, so returned to GOG later in the day only to find they appeared to have removed the original as I could only see the enhanced version. I was gutted and was kicking myself for not picking the original up while it was still in store earlier in the day.
Anyway, on visiting GOG today to pick up the latest freebie (Virtuaverse) I discovered that GOG are actually including the original copy with the enhanced version, with no increase in price; in fact the cost of the enhanced version with the original is actually cheaper than the originals asking price yesterday morning. :) Breaths a sigh of relief
You can find the GOG version of Blade Runner HERE and the Steam version (without the original included HERE. The Steam version is £0.20 more than the GOG version, which retails at £6.99
Westwood Studios, the company that brought Real-Time to strategy games with Command & Conquer, brings Real-Time to adventure games with the science fiction classic, Blade Runner.
Armed with your investigative skills and the tools of the Blade Runner trade, you'll be immersed in a world that lives and breathes around you with breakthrough lighting and visual effects. Your ability to survive will be put to the test in the richest game environment ever created.
You can see some videos of both versions HERE (complete playthrough of the original), HERE (retrospect of the original), HERE (enhanced edition) and HERE (complete playthrough of the enhanced edition).
Immerse yourself in the dark, gritty world of Los Angeles 2019, where you become both the hunter and the hunted.
A Real-Time story structure creates a unique experience every time you play. Interact with over 70 motion-captured characters, all with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and their own agendas
Excellent visuals that feel like the original m,vie, as well as atmospheric smoke, fog, fire and rain that affect your character in Real-Time
Top notch Hollywood talent from the original film including Sean Young, James Hong, Joe Turkel, Brian James and William Sanderson
Rich, ambient, multi-track audio environment creates an immersive gaming experience. Includes specially recreated cuts from the original Blade Runner soundtrack. Continually animating, full screen, high resolution cinematics and game play in millions of emulated colours
Dramatic camera movements - during gameplay - heighten the Blade Runner experience
Step into the role of a Blade Runner by utilizing the ESPER photo analysis machine, administering the Voigt-Kampff replicant detection test, flying in a police Spinner and analysing clues with your Knowledge Integration Assistant (KIA)
Breakthrough Real-Time lighting, such as directional, colour, volumetric, attenuated and animating effects
Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition is a faithful restoration of the classic adventure game
Features
1) ... Modern HD Display
2) ... Enhanced “Knowledge Integration Assistant"" (KIA) and clue user interface
3) ... Enhanced Subtitle support
4) ... Modern gamepad support
5) ... SMAA Anti Aliasing
6) ... Anisotropic texture filtering
7) ... Reconstruction and upressing of original Westwood VQA Videos
You can get 9732 Blade Runner, for free; it's a virtual tour inside Deckards apartment, where you can stand on the balcony with your drink overlooking the streets from the 97th floor, start up the Esper machine or play the piano. < You can watch it 2D or in Virtual reality with a VR headset.
If you're a fan of Blade Runner, then you'll love this short freebie. You can pick it up directly from the creators web site HERE
