| 1 FEB 2003 at 7:59pm |
Agustín CordesGuild Master
Posts : 5696
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: AR, Buenos Aires
Status : Offline | First, a suggestion: personally, I think you need to put on paper your own opinion without taking others into account - they can distort your views on the game (which are the ones that matter when you write about it). Only when the review is already written you can compare results and analize the possibility of changes. Just a thought.
I think Blade Runner was pretty lame. It wasn't even as revolutionary as it was hailed to be. Puzzles are minimal and it's so extremely open-ended that there isn't a tight storyline. I'd say it was a failure.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 8:21pm |
dimidimidimiSchattenjger
Posts : 1784
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I have my opinion already...mostly in mind and notes in paper...I always take notes while playing the several games I review.
PDF adventure magazine - The Inventory&&http://www.justadventure.com/TheInventory/TheInventory.shtm&&&&What would you give to know the truth?&&http://www.brokensaints.com
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 8:46pm |
InlandAZGuild Master
Posts : 5586
Joined: 4 MAY 2007
Status : Offline | In a word: Atmosphere...
It took awhile - and a few plays through the game, but it eventually made it's way into my top 10 list.
Not a difficult game (much like another we've all discussed) - but, good enough to keep going back to it.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 9:10pm |
RevliskciPrivate Detective
Posts : 724
Joined: 9 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | Have a look at my review in the Reviews section for my opinion.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 9:33pm |
dimidimidimiSchattenjger
Posts : 1784
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Originally Posted By InlandAZ (1 FEB 2003 8:46pm)
In a word: Atmosphere...
That's EXACTLY what I thought...all these nightclubs scenes and all these futuristic images were absolutely magnificent. Although I agree with Rael also that it had some weak points storywise...
PDF adventure magazine - The Inventory&&http://www.justadventure.com/TheInventory/TheInventory.shtm&&&&What would you give to know the truth?&&http://www.brokensaints.com
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 9:44pm |
Agustín CordesGuild Master
Posts : 5696
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: AR, Buenos Aires
Status : Offline | Well, what can I say - I like atmosphere, atmosphere is cool but it isn't an important thing in adventures. That "style-over-substance" thing works only in very rare ocasions - Blade Runner wasn't one of them IMO.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 10:28pm |
MichalNGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7058
Joined: 14 SEP 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Rael (1 FEB 2003 9:44pm)
Well, what can I say - I like atmosphere, atmosphere is cool but it isn't an important thing in adventures.
I think atmosphere is important, but atmosphere alone is certainly not enough.
I found Blade Runner to be very lacking in puzzles. I was also not at all impressed how the game "played it both ways" as to whether Ray was a replicant or not. This caused some serious plot holes.
I forgot my sig.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 10:34pm |
CarlaJourneyman
Posts : 836
Joined: 12 JAN 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By InlandAZ (1 FEB 2003 8:46pm)
In a word: Atmosphere...
Yes!!! ...that futuristic thing (well, atmosphere) made the game worth to be played...Allthough, puzzles were a bit...silly?
[b][center]Aut inveniam viam aut faciam[/b][/center]
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 10:41pm |
InlandAZGuild Master
Posts : 5586
Joined: 4 MAY 2007
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Malia G (1 FEB 2003 10:34pm)
Yes!!! ...that futuristic thing (well, atmosphere) made the game worth to be played...Although, puzzles were a bit...silly?
Yeah that's kind of why I answered in "a" word (so to speak). I do like the game, and I won't argue with and of the criticisms. I guess it's just a matter of personal taste.
Amerzone was another Atmospheric game - easy on the eyes, and light on the puzzles. Sometimes it's just nice to play some eye candy.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 10:50pm |
MichalNGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7058
Joined: 14 SEP 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Malia G (1 FEB 2003 10:34pm)
Yes!!! ...that futuristic thing (well, atmosphere) made the game worth to be played...Allthough, puzzles were a bit...silly?
More like there weren't any I do think the game captured the spirit of the movie pretty well...
So I'd say Blade Runner was fun to play but not-quite-an-adventure-game.
I forgot my sig.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 10:58pm |
NellieSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 359
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Online | The atmosphere was superb (but, as Michal said, not enough in itself to make a good game).
The story was very good up until near the end of the game when things started to come to a head. The plot had a tendency to become disjointed, contradictory, or just downright silly at this point. I don't think this was because it was open-ended, though, but because the writers didn't pay enough attention to how the endings linked up. espite the wobbly writing at the end, the outcome I got provoked an emotional response in me, which is testament to how strong the build-up story was.
The interaction/puzzles (the things that prevent games being films) were lacking. The puzzles were mainly non-existent, except for a couple at the end which were absolutely awful. The best part of the interaction was that player choices could determine the ending (the player has power! Yeah!), but many of the choices were too obscure. There was a nice collection of things that might or might not happen in the gameworld without affecting the main plotline (I always like stuff like that), but certainly not enough to make this a compelling interactive experience.
If it had focused more on trying to be a good game/interactive story, it could have been a lot better, IMO.
[b]£1bn -[/b] Amount British government has pledged to paying off debt of poorest nations over next 10 years.&&&&[b]£5bn -[/b] Amount British government has already spent on Iraq campaign.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 11:11pm |
eGoateeSpace Cadet
Posts : 157
Joined: 4 NOV 2002
Status : Online | Great atmosphere as well for me. Too bad the gimpy gun firing parts kind of spoiled it. I realize it's supposed to have shooting, it's part action, but not very interesting shooting in gameplay. The cutscene action was much better than the game fighting.
eGoatee
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 11:21pm |
CarlaJourneyman
Posts : 836
Joined: 12 JAN 2003
Status : Online | I was not supporting Blade Runner is a good game. Ingenious puzzles are crucial for an adventure game, and Blade Runner isn't exactly full of them...I guess we all agree with that.
But, as a review reader, I like complete reviews, that tell me everything about the game, not just the negative aspects, even tough the possitive are only a few. In brief, I want to read a complete and fair review.
[b][center]Aut inveniam viam aut faciam[/b][/center]
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 11:43pm |
dimidimidimiSchattenjger
Posts : 1784
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Malia G (1 FEB 2003 11:20pm)
In brief, I want to read a complete and fair review.
I promise I'll try my best Malia
PDF adventure magazine - The Inventory&&http://www.justadventure.com/TheInventory/TheInventory.shtm&&&&What would you give to know the truth?&&http://www.brokensaints.com
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 11:45pm |
MichalNGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7058
Joined: 14 SEP 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Malia G (1 FEB 2003 11:20pm)
But, as a review reader, I like complete reviews, that tell me everything about the game, not just the negative aspects, even tough the possitive are only a few.
Certainly. If a review has nothing positive to say, that to me suggests that the reviewer hated the game (which is fine by me) and as a consequence did not even try to be fair (which is not).
In brief, I want to read a complete and fair review.
Boy, don't I wish I knew how to write one
I forgot my sig.
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| 1 FEB 2003 at 11:58pm |
Agustín CordesGuild Master
Posts : 5696
Joined: 23 OCT 2002
Location: AR, Buenos Aires
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By MichalN (1 FEB 2003 11:44pm)
Certainly. If a review has nothing positive to say, that to me suggests that the reviewer hated the game (which is fine by me) and as a consequence did not even try to be fair (which is not).
100% agreed - unless the game is really a piece of crap
Boy, don't I wish I knew how to write one
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| 2 FEB 2003 at 12:44am |
Drooling_IguanaIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 6
Joined: 23 JAN 2003
Status : Online | Well, the thing with Blade Runner is that it's a style of game that I've never seen repeated anywhere else (the closest equivalent would probably be the IF game Photopia.) Instead of using interaction to test the skill of the player as in most games (whether through puzzles, action, strategy, etc...) it instead simply uses it to further immerse the player into the story. It wasn't even really a game as such, just an interactive narrative. It was also flawed somewhat in its execution, but I still think it was a pretty good game.
Plus, it ran closer to the novel than the movie did, despite having a different main character. One scene was copied almost word-for-word from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
(P.S. No, they don't. They dream of unicorns for some reason I've never quite been able to figure out.)
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| 2 FEB 2003 at 12:46am |
ElfstoneGuild Master
Posts : 5892
Joined: 4 NOV 2002
Status : Online | I liked the multiple paths in Blade Runner and the atmosphere, but it lacks any clever puzzles and the timed events are annoying.
Although I liked that particular one when you could save the guy from the bombing.
You could enter the shop and shoot the handcuffs, run outside and the guy would possibly make it. Or he won't. I never understood how this is affected.
You could enter the shop and do nothing, just standing around and you would be blasted.
You could enter the shop and exit, leaving the guy to be blasted.
You could enter the shop and shoot the guy.
I remember replaying that scene many times to gain all the possible outcomes.
The backgrounds are very nice, but characters are extremely pixelated because of the voxel usage.
[b]playing[/b]: Destination Treasure Island (done in two sittings, but it's nice), Syberia (ho-hum), Dracula: Last Sanctuary (on hold)&&[b]reading[/b]: even more study papers&&[b]listening to[/b]: [url=http://www.last.fm/user/Brax82/]this and that[/url], plus [url=http://www.musicovery.com/]Musicovery[/url]&&[b]TV favorites[/b]: (currently) Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Journeyman (cancelled! grrr...), Heroes&& all-time) 24, Stargate SG1, X-Files, Lost, House
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| 2 FEB 2003 at 2:23am |
dombrewerGuild Master
Posts : 3103
Joined: 19 JAN 2003
Status : Offline | I'm biased in funny kind of way because BR is my all time favourite film and has been for years.....
So obviously the game was a must buy, and the immersion in the world of the movie was pretty cool, and the snippets of the Vangelis score raised the whole thing , but all in all I felt disappointed, probably because of the non-linear aspect. Of course, I played it through to complete it in each different way, as only one of the endings actually made me feel I'd done the right thing. If I'd only played it through once and got to the least satisfactory ending (i.e. feeling like a traitor and worthless human being) i would have really hated the game. I found that degree of freedom in the game a destructive thing.
So, serious lover of the film, appreciated the effort to recreate the atmosphere, and thought the final effort mainly successful, with reservations. In other words, it;s in my top 10 films, it ain't in my top ten AGs.
[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
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| 2 FEB 2003 at 12:25pm |
RavensbreedSpace Cadet
Posts : 156
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Stylish game, but in the end it felt like an empty experience.
I thought it was clever the way the movie was kind of happening in the back ground of the game. Every so often something from the movie would pop into the game, like enlarging the background of a photo and seeing Deckard (Ford's character in the movie) showing the snakescale to the guy, or your character having a brief conversation with one of the replicants from the movie. Nice little touches like that were kind of fun to someone who's a fan of the film (like me).
But in the end the game tried to do too much, but couldn't do one thing really well. Too much non-linearity.
Some people are like a slinky. They might not be good for anything, but its fun to watch them tumble down stairs. &&
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| 2 FEB 2003 at 6:37pm |
Mr_2_uIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 20
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Online | I thought the game was okay but I enjoyed "NightLong A Union City Conspiracy" was much better
Adventure games Forever
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| 2 FEB 2003 at 7:05pm |
GayleSchattenjger
Posts : 2544
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Status : Online | Well, I guess I will finally contribute to this topic.
The game was okay, and just okay. I don't know what I expected. The movie was good and I think that since I had read the story (called Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. D____,-board will erase his last name- who died just before the movie came out) and had seen the movie, that the feeling wasn't there for me
once I got into the game.
This, of course, links to another subject a while back about reading the book/story before seeing the movie or playing the game. My opinion of the game would probably had been completely different otherwise.
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| 2 FEB 2003 at 7:25pm |
HelenGuild Master
Posts : 3436
Joined: 12 OCT 2002
Location: US
Status : Offline | I thought the atmosphere was brilliant, but as others
have said, weak in alot of other areas, but I still enjoyed it and at a bargain price I would say its worth a play.
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| 2 FEB 2003 at 11:42pm |
| Deleted User | I also consider Blade Runner to be one of the best movies ever made. The athmosphere is absolutely brilliant, and has never been successfully reproduced in any other movie. The beautiful footage, the amazing direction by Ridley Scott, the outstanding actors, the wonderful score by Vangelis... This athmosphere has inspired sci-fi creators ever since its release. Look at Coruscant in Star Wars. Look at New York in The Fifth Element. Look at Stark in The Longest Journey!
But the movie also had a philosophical depth that makes it incredibly rewarding to watch. This is a good example of what Science Fiction really is about. It's not about showing off a lot of cool technological ideas. It's about putting it in context and ask questions about ourselves through these scenarios.
That EA managed to pull off an adventure game that managed to capture a bit of that feeling really impressed me. It really captured that wonderful feeling that the movie had. The graphics is great for its day and the voice acting is solid. You get to meet lots of characters you recognize from the movie, and the fact that EA actually got most of the original actors to do the voices was very cool!
But as you say, the open-ended game design made it trip on its own feet a bit. At times it was cool that you didn't necessarily get the same response from an NPC if you restored and replayed a section, but I feel a little awkward when I know I may take bad paths through the game and not get to see stuff that's in there. I've heard that there are twelve possible endings to the game. I only played it through once, and the ending I got was totally confusing. I also realized later that I had never met one of my favorite characters from the movie, Leon, during my gameplay, even though I knew he was supposed to be in there somewhere. A bit disappointing. And as you've already mentioned there were few puzzles that challenged you in the right way. Quite a bit of arcade sequences in there too... But doing the Voight Kampff tests and scanning the photos was very cool. The creators of the game really had an eye for the details in the movie.
So, final conclusion, the game was a great pastime for a Blade Runner junkie like me, but it didn't reach masterpiece heights like the movie, becaused even if it managed to capture the athmosphere of the movie, there wasn't as much beneath it.
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