Video Games
‘Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition’ Announced by Nightdive Studios
Nightdive Studios are once again resurrecting a blast from the past. According to a story from the Hollywood Reporter, the studio behind the upcoming System Shock remake (and several restorations of classic games) has partnered with Alcon Entertainment to bring back Westwood Studios’ 1997 point-and-click adventure game, Blade Runner!
The restored version of the game, known as Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, is being developed for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, as well as PC via Steam. It’s expected to be released later this year.
The game, based on the Ridley Scott classic film, but not a direct adaptation, follows detective Ray McCoy as he hunts down renegade replicants. Blade Runner earned critical praise upon its release, and actually won the first Adventure Game of the Year award at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science’s first DICE Awards.
Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition will feature a “polished and premium restoration” from Nightdive Studios via the company’s proprietary KEX game engine, which it has used to restore Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and System Shock. The game will feature updated character models, animations and cutscenes, as well as widescreen resolution support, keyboard and controller customization and more.
“Blade Runner is still a jaw-dropping achievement on every level, so while we’re using KEX to upgrade the graphics and respectfully elevate the gaming experience in a way you’ve never seen before, we’re still preserving Westwood’s vision and gameplay in all its glory,” says Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick. “While you can enjoy the benefits of playing the game on modern hardware, the game should look and feel not as it was, but as glorious as you remember it being.”
Video Games
Demo Now Available for First-Person Action Title ‘Vampire Hunter: Nightrise’, Coming July 14 [Trailer]
Over the Moon Games has announced that their upcoming first-person title Vampire Hunter: Nightrise will launch on Steam on July 14. You won’t have to wait until Steam Next Fest next week to get a chance to get your vampire slaying fix in, as the game’s demo is available now.
Touted as “Castlevania meets Tunic,” Nightrise puts players into a vampire’s castle with a single goal: reach him before nightfall. Of course, it’s easier said than done, since you’ll be needing to deal with the castle itself. Rotating fireplaces, moving bookshelves, watching portraits, and hidden passages are open from the start, but they only give way once the player understands how the place works. No keys, only knowledge.
Meanwhile, despite not having a whip, you’re equipped with something just as cool in a stake launcher that pins enemies to walls. You can also fire stakes through flame to ignite them, and even turn the castle’s own furniture into ammunition.
Underneath it all, the player’s faith is a major gameplay mechanic, functioning as as a literal resource that the castle constantly tempts them to trade away for power, quietly shaping how the story ends. As your conviction weakens, the castle’s influence grows stronger. You’ll have to manage faith as carefully as ammunition.
“In Nightrise, almost everything is open to you from the very beginning, if you know how to reach it,” explains Over the Moon Games’ John Warner. “There is something deeply rewarding about learning to overcome an obstacle instead of just finding a key. It creates a real sense of power and wonder. We took huge inspiration from Tunic in that respect, and from Outer Wilds.”