The game's conversation system is also fairly original -- it can be customized by selecting one of several "moods" that will dictate what kinds of questions Roy asks, providing conversation that drive the narrative without much player involvement. It feels like a precursor to the systems at work in games like Mass Effect. Of course, the system can also be set to allow you to choose your own avenue of questioning.There's plenty more to say about Blade Runner -- the inventory system is especially robust, and the cool photo-enhancing tech from the movie plays an important part in investigating -- but by now you've probably gotten the picture that it's something special in its genre. Unfortunately, the few action scenes don't play as well as the investigative portions, and a quick save feature (or, even better, an autosave when moving between areas) would help avoid some frustrating deaths.
The controls in Blade Runner are as simple as you'd expect for a point-and-click adventure. On the Wii, the A button would take over left-click duties, directing where Roy walks (or, with more than one press, run) on screen, while right-clicking would be done with B. Right-clicking actually causes Roy to pull out his firearm, which rarely comes into play during the game, anyway. Shortcut buttons for the inventory menu and pause menu could be slotted to – and +, but the Wii Remote's pointing ability and the A button will take care of the vast majority of the play time.
Westwood, as a developer, was responsible for some of my favorite games growing up -- namely, the Command & Conquer series and Dune 2000 -- and it makes me sad to think about the fact that they no longer exist as a thriving independent studio. Still, after being incorporated by EA, they've produced some solid titles in the Command & Conquer series. Surely the megapublisher could pull Blade Runner off the shelf, dust it off, and find a way to make a buck off it. Until that day comes...go watch Blade Runner: The Final Cut.
