After launching to a mostly negative reception this past Thursday, Nightdive Studios has updated its port of Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition to include the classic ScummVM version on Steam for all owners on Valve’s platform.
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I Want More Life, Father!
After teasing its Enhanced Edition port for the last few years, indie publisher Nightdive Studios finally released Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition on Steam, GOG, and consoles this past week. Sadly, the reception to the game was marred with controversy not only for the quality of the port but the curious decision to remove the classic ScummVM version from GOG.com as an individual item. While users were able to play that original version, it left Steam owners with no option but to suffer through an inferior port of the game. Thankfully, the option to play the ScummVM port has been added to Steam as of last night.
A post from Nightdive’s Daniel G. on the Steam community forums reads, “The original Blade Runner, titled Blade Runner Classic, is now available to play with the Enhanced Edition. The free update will be downloaded automatically and when you start Blade Runner through Steam, you’ll be given a choice of launching the Enhanced Edition, or the Classic version.” What’s more, users will also have the choice to play the classic version with restored content, giving players a slightly different experience when revisiting the title.
Proud of Yourself, Little Man?
Users on Steam may now have a solid reason to buy Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, but it begs the question: what went wrong? Nightdive’s pedigree has been mostly flawless for close to a decade now, so the shoddy state of this port comes as a complete shock. Was there simply not enough time to iron out any kinks that this old game had? With the original source code having been lost for more than 20 years, maybe this port was the best we could have expected.
At any rate, Nightdive has promised to continue to update and fix its new release. “We are looking at all your feedback for the game, and we’re still working on our first official patch for the game which will be coming as soon as we can,” Daniel G. writes. Making the ScummVM version more readily available is a good start.
