Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition from Nightdive Studios came out last week after a long period of delay. However, its release didn’t go as smoothly as planned. The Enhanced Edition has several issues that hardcore fans are not happy about, so much so that the Steam reviews are sitting at ‘mostly negative.’ Now, though, the classic version of Blade Runner will be available alongside the Enhanced Edition.
Blade Runner‘s original 1997 release is often regarded to be a classic. But sometime after its release, Westwood Studios lost the source code for the game. This made any potential re-releases for the title a very costly endeavor, as most of the assets would have to be remade from scratch. With that said, a re-release did eventually make its way to GOG in 2019. That version is no longer available, though.
Blade Runner‘s not so enhanced edition
That then brings us to now with Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, which has since replaced the original version on GOG’s marketplace. Nightdive Studios managed to reverse engineer the original title and update the character models and several other graphical features. The fans of the original title have been quick to criticize this new version.
The updates to the game have unfortunately made some aspects of it far worse. This mostly pertains to the visuals, as characters now stick out awkwardly from the background. Many of the environments also look noticeably worse when compared to their original counterpart. In a title where the atmosphere is arguably the most important part, that’s a big problem. All of these complaints contributed to Nightdive Studios’ decision to make the original version available again.
The classic version of Blade Runner will now be available alongside the Enhanced Edition. For players who want an experience that’s much closer to the original, that’s the best you’ve got at the moment. After restarting Steam, you’ll now have the choice to play either the Enhanced Edition or Classic version upon opening the game. Nightdive Studios is working on a patch for the game that should hopefully iron out a lot of the issues that plague Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition.
