The Blade Runner computer game is getting restored for a new enhanced version

I loved the 1997 Blade Runner point and click adventure game by the now-defunct Westwood Studios. It ran alongside Ridley Scott’s film with you playing another Blade Runner tracking down another group of replicants.

Sadly, it stopped working for me as computers improved and then the original code was lost when the company relocated from Las Vegas to Los Angeles so an enhanced edition seemed the stuff of dreams.

However, dreams do come true as Nightdive Studios, who brought us restored versions of System Shock and Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, has partnered with production company Alcon Entertainment to restore the orignal game for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, as well as a PC version through online storefront Steam.

“It’s true that the original Blade Runner source code was lost,” says Larry Kuperman, head of business development at Nightdive. “We painstakingly reverse-engineered the code, importing it into our own KEX engine, a powerful tool that allows us to do console ports of classic titles, even in the face of quite challenging situations.”

According to THR, Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition will feature a “polished and premium restoration” from Nightdive Studios via the company’s proprietary KEX game engine. The game will feature updated character models, animations and cutscenes, as well as widescreen resolution support, keyboard and controller customization and more. The original foreign language translations (which include German, French, Italian and Chinese) of the original game have also been sourced for the Enhanced Edition.

“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.”

The game is due out later this year.