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Blade Runner influence in videogames

PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:55 pm
by diesaturn
Alot of video games over the years have been influenced by Blade Runner (of course there's the BR PC game first & foremost). I remember owning both versions of Shadowrun for Sega Genesis & SNES back in the day because they reminded me so much of Blade Runner. I once owned a Sega CD system in the early 90's and I immediately bought Snatcher & Rise of The Dragon, which are 2 games that are heavily inspired by BR. Also, later on a game that I found captured the Blade Runner feel for me & that was a game called Omikron. I own Omikron for the PC as well as the version for Sega Dreamcast.
The city in Omikron reminded me so much of Blade Runner...

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Here's more info if you're not familiar with these games (I assume most BR fans are already familiar with Snatcher).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_of_the_Dragon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snatcher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omikron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowrun

Here's a review of Snatcher that has a few good pics:
http://www.armchairempire.com/classic_g ... atcher.htm

and here's short article on some BR in gaming references...
http://junkerhq.net/MiscScans/SpeedKing/info/


Anybody else remember any videogames that remind you alot of BR?

PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:47 pm
by Gene Ettix
There's probably people here saying to themselves, "Oh no! Don't get Gene & endzem started on the Omikron thing." #-o

HERE is an old thread you will enjoy :)

In the 90's, I always used "Boz" as my avatar on the old BZ Forum. Still used it here for a while,too. Had some really nice ones...
This is one of the weaker ones:


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*note* No sweat but, this should most likely be in the game forum.

PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 6:16 pm
by ridleynoir
I worked on Vicarious Visions first video game ever called Synnergist. It was very intentionally Blade Runner themed.

this is some of my work from 1993-94 for them..
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 6:37 pm
by diesaturn
Gene Ettix wrote:There's probably people here saying to themselves, "Oh no! Don't get Gene & endzem started on the Omikron thing." #-o

HERE is an old thread you will enjoy :)

In the 90's, I always used "Boz" as my avatar on the old BZ Forum. Still used it here for a while,too. Had some really nice ones...
This is one of the weaker ones:


Image

*note* No sweat but, this should most likely be in the game forum.





Cool! Thanks for that link, I'm happy to see that I'm not the only person in the world who owns that game (for a while there, I thought I was).

I almost put this thread in the BR game section, but it seemed like that was designated for the specific BR game from Westwood.


I worked on Vicarious Visions first video game ever called Synnergist. It was very intentionally Blade Runner themed.


Awesome! I've never played that, but I'd love to check it out if I can track it down. That is very interesting ,ridley.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:44 am
by Kaneda
Perfect Dark has a lot of visual similarities to Blade Runner.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 7:40 am
by BR796164
The elements of post-modern design of Blade Runner has became so common in cyberpunk subgenre that we can be no longer absolutely certain which were influenced directly by BR and which have been influenced by other movies/games which were consequentially influenced by Blade Runner. :P

But there is of course outright plagiarism (sometimes pretended to be "hommages")

The most curious reference to Blade Runner design I found in a cult RPG for PCs "Fallout" from 1997. Do you remember how Deckard's blaster looks like, yes? Now look at ".223 PISTOL" from Fallout :

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Looks damn familiar? Of course. It's the most powerful unique handgun in the game (not counting retro-futuristic energy weapons) and you can get it as a reward for accomplishing a small cleanup quest. Description of the .223 pistol says nothing more just that it's a hunting rifle cut down to a pistol, and that's why it uses obsolete .223 rounds. Too bad that Fallout 2 had too many real-life weapons included and this pistol became quite common there.

PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 10:19 am
by diesaturn
Does anybody remember "Flashback"?

It was available on Sega Genesis, Sega CD, SNES and PC. I think the plot involved aliens if I remember correctly, but it still had alot of BR-esque elements.

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:46 pm
by Phantom
Image Image

others here: http://eracyberpunk.altervista.org/foro ... .php?t=432

made 10 years ago by italian designer Trecision, now expired. [/img]

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:13 am
by BR796164
diesaturn wrote:"Flashback"?


Oh yes, that's classic, I played it only briefly but I think it stays one of the most appealing oldies, still.

Phantom, those pics are cool!

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 5:55 am
by Centauro
I only played the demo of Omikron, and I liked it a lot, loved the atmosphere and that creepy holovision. Absolutely BR influenced. Too bad the full game didn't fall from the sky for me like Deus Ex did. :(

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:16 am
by Gene Ettix
BR796164 wrote:The most curious reference to Blade Runner design I found in a cult RPG for PCs "Fallout" from 1997. Do you remember how Deckard's blaster looks like, yes? Now look at ".223 PISTOL" from Fallout :

Image


Used to play FALLOUT 1 & 2 alot. Got it about the same time as BR. Good `50's style music, too. *duck & cover. Or kiss your a$s goodbye* :lol:
Hey Ridleynoir, Nice old-school work. Wish I had known about that one. Didn't even own a PC at that time, though :mrgreen:

PostPosted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:46 am
by Gene Ettix
Hey... Kipple moved this thread to the game forum for us.
He's the Good man 8)

PostPosted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:41 am
by diesaturn
I saw this game for the PC today in a local Big Lots store:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/metalhea ... ages;img;2

It's called Metalheart: Replicant's Rampage.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 6:36 am
by Phantom

PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2007 9:13 am
by BR796164
I was a WO2097 maniac. For a long time it was a "fastest racing game ever" and I owned all tracks except for those two of Phantom class, the speed was just insane.

But then I think it only remotely reminds Blade Runner design, it's just too "clean".