ZX Computing


Blade Runner

Publisher: CRL
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in ZX Computing #24

Blade Runner

When I grow up, I want to be Harrison Ford, but in the meantime I'll be happy to pass the time playing the part of Deckard (Harrison Ford in the film) in the computer game Blade Runner.

Yet another licensing deal gave birth to this game, but it's not the game of the film of the book; instead this is the game of the soundtrack of the film of the book. I imagine that the film rights were more than CRL could afford - so they get the soundtrack rights instead. Not that it seems to have much difference because the game looks just as if it were based on the film and only a few names have been changed.

You are cast in the role of a bounty hunter who sets out to eliminate a group of 24 replidroids. These are superhuman artificial beings created by genetic engineering as a form of slave labour for work on other planets. But these 24 have returned to earth to destroy the 'cyberneers' who created them, and it's up to you to stop them.

Blade Runner

Because this is the game of the soundtrack you have to sit and listen to a chunk of music before the game starts. This wouldn't be too bad on the 128 which has a decent sound chip, but on the ordinary 48K Spectrum listening to its feeble BEEP for more tan a few seconds is a bit of a waste of time (though CRL don't seem to have any plans for a 128K version with added sound).

The first part of the game shows you a plan of one sector of the city and the location of any replidroids in the sector. Other sections of the screen contain a map of the whole city, details of your earnings and messages from Police HQ.

The main problem on this first screen is deciding which replidroid to go after. The locations of the cyberneers are marked with blue symbols and you have to reach the replidroids before they get to them, but if there's more than one replidroid in a sector and they're all going after different targets then you're going to have to make some quick decisions.

Once you've located a replidroid the screen changes to a view of the city streets. Your jetcar hovers down to street level and you have to get out and chase the replidroid in a sequence which is a direct copy of one of the chase scenes from the film.

The graphics in this part of the game are very good, being similar in style to the shaded graphics in CRL's Tau-Ceti. The bounty hunter jumps out of his car, and you then have to get him to run along the crowded street in pursuit of a replidroid. The street and pedestrians scroll across the screen from right to left, and Deckard can also move across the width of the pavement in order to avoid colliding with pedestrians. I found catching a replidroid almost impossible, since they seem to run at exactly the same speed as your own character, so the only way to kill them is to get lined up precisely behind them and shoot.

There are six types of replidroid, each type deadlier than the last and harder to pursue as they run faster and dodge in and out of the crowds more.

If you bump into a pedestrian you'll both get knocked down and lose valuable time which may allow the replidroid to get away. If that happens it's back to the first screen and you'll have to track your target down again.

Like the film Blade Runner, the game is visually quite stylish and there are some nice touches such as the heavy raincoat that the bounty hunter wears and which flaps as he runs along. Perhaps I'm feeling generous toward this game as I enjoyed the film so much; on the other hand there are few games based on films or TV programs that manage to do any sort of justice to the original, and I think that Blade Runner is one of the few.