Replaced Review

Since the announcement back at the final E3 in 2021, Replaced has constantly been on media outlets' most anticipated lists year after year. Nearly five years later, and 2026 has seen numerous solid indie games release in similar genres. But none that share Replaced's unique pixelated look and slick action.

Replaced is a 2.5D action platformer developed by Sad Cat Studios. Set in an alternate 1980s America that's been forever change by nuclear disaster - a dystopian, retrofuturist world. You play as a scientist called Warren, who after a lab malfunction is merged with his powerful artificial intelligence, Reach. Only to find themselves shot at and chased out of their home in Phoenix City by the police.

Unable to comprehend why they're being hunted, Warren and Reach find themselves outside Phoenix City's walls. But nothing matches Reach's data banks as they uncover a dystopian wasteland populated by gangs, murderers and good people - all victims of Phoenix Corporation's disposal network. Everyone has been illegally subjected to a transplant of some kind and thrown away to die. And in the wasteland, Reach slowly uncovers a sinister conspiracy about Phoenix Corporation, and that maybe, everything it was programmed to understand isn't true. It's a true cyberpunk thriller that merges conversations, exploration, platforming and fluid action.

The prologue does a good job of setting up the wider world, but the opening cutscene does make the absence of voice acting noticeable as it's mostly a few minutes of static images and text. But as soon as things kick into gear in chapter one, the pacing improves tremendously.

There's an attention to detail in Replaced's world building and character work. The developers establish a richly imagined alternate America by instilling thought provoking themes throughout. Although, it's the characterisation of Reach that is the heart of the story. The AI is an extremely curious computer program that talks in an unnatural cadence as it senses the world around with a child like naivety. And it isn't long before Reach questions why its programming data contradicts the grim reality outside of the city walls. A brilliant point of view to allow players to experience everything alongside the game's protagonist.

Sad Cat Studios creates an alternate America that mirrors real world issues and touches on themes such as  humanity's relationship with AI, the cost of war, government self-interest and more. But it's the collectibles Reach can find and scan with a handheld device called Wingman 2, that were my favourite pieces of storytelling. Brought up on a display with a text description. Impactful stories that intersect with conversations you've had or going to experience. This converges as you arrive at The Station: a central hub and safe haven for disposals displaced from Phoenix City.

The Matriarch of the community welcomes Reach to stay safe away from the murderous gangs in the wasteland. Reach quickly learns the toll his creator's at the Phoenix Corporation has taken on the people. Then, he meets an impulsive young man, Tempest, who wants to help with their common goals that will get Reach and Warren back inside the walls.

You can explore The Station and complete side quests. Mostly variations of fetch quests with a few extras thrown in, like a small puzzle where you must parse information to figure out a safe code. Each side missions results in additional lore, and whilst I am not the biggest fan of fetch quests, the strong character development makes up for it. You meet a stubborn man who wants to spy on their enemy, and even a young girl who simply wants a friend to play arcade games with. As well as being able to play all of the girl’s arcade games, you receive rewards for completing quests: a life upgrade or an extra med-stim to heal Reach during combat.

However, Replaced is predominantly about Reach and Warren's main quest, which includes ever-evolving platforming, stealth and combat systems. Firstly, the combat system is what sets Replaced apart from other 2.5D platformers. You start with a trusty baton to perform simple attacks at enemies that can approach from both sides. Reach can also dodge attacks branded with red exclamation marks such as gunshots, or counter an enemy up close when a yellow exclamation mark appears over an enemy’s head.

But as you get further, new enemy types and weapons are introduced. Important ones such as a pickaxe used to breakdown a hulking enemy's armour, and your trusty handgun that charges with kinetic energy as you land hits. This rewards aggression and punishes defensive actions by reducing the charge. With a full charge you can fire a gun blast and do some real damage. Reach can also summon a shield to deflect bullets with the handgun, if times when a shooter's laser pointer appears. But even this eventually allows you to use the Overdrive ability, to fire continuous shots for a short amount of time.

The developers help balance these encounters by including three difficulty options, which reduce enemy strength and increase the amount of med-stims you can use during battle - a very friendly option when med-stims replenish after battle anyway.

There are a few more moves that unlock later in the game, too. But this combination of moves makes for a successful spin on the celebrated Batman Arkham and original Assassin's Creed combat systems in a 2.5D plane.

Eventually, you bring all of your learned skills together to tango with the bosses. Quite standard multiphase encounters that force you to think on your feet by rapidly switching between dodging, breaking down armour, countering attacks and hiding behind walls to avoid homing missiles.

Many of these weapons also serve a dual purpose during Replaced's platforming gameplay. The game starts off simple by teaching you to run and jump through a forest with far too many fallen trees. But gradually, each chapter adds another layer, until Reach is using the pickaxe to hook into cracked walls and the handgun to jump and shoot into an air-conditioning vent to perform a fancy double jump.

Sometimes light puzzle solving is needed to progress through platforming sections. Reach is tasked to decipher a password for a computer, move crates into the right position, hack cleaning robots to use as cover during a stealth section where surveillance bots shoot you on sight. Combine all this with the basic climbing, swinging from poles and more, and Replaced begins to show its depth.

By the later chapters, environmental puzzles vary from rotating blocks, to a repeated one where Reach gains the ability to hack security nodes. This requires you to complete a timed mini game, where you find the correct pattern to place in the empty squares of a grid.

Although the gameplay mechanics surprised me, it was the distinct 2.5D pixel art style within a 3D plane that originally stood out in the announcement trailer - skilfully directed with phenomenal cinematography. Sad Cat Studios uses a 2.5D perspective to showcase its detailed, pixelated character models, but smartly layers scenes so that Reach is able to walk up and down stairs to cleverly play with depth of field - a mastery of camera work and directing that effortlessly manipulates angles during cutscenes. Purposeful rotations and dutch angles to intensify combat encounters when the moment matters.

But it's the cinematography that makes the game visually shine. Shadows and lights painstakingly paint every scene, evoking suspense when Reach holds a flare to ward off approaching enemies from every direction. Overlaid with moody film grain, fog and reflections. The lighting is more realistic than I would've expected from a pixelated art style, but it excels in emphasising the depth of field to keep a player's eyes on the important parts of a level.

However, it's the animations that stitch everything together. Reach moves with a weighty purpose, unsure in his every move, but fighting hard to survive. Warren's pixelated hair unfurls and flops down his face, AAA level animation makes combat feel visceral, clambering up to barely reachable platforms creates a sense of life and death stakes and heart-pounding propulsion. 

Every mission has an atmospheric 80s synthwave score; tonal setters that can go from being a bassy accoutrement in gritty battles, to a chilled track whilst exploring the relative peace of The Station - cinematic score that would work across TV and film.

Whereas, sound effects make boss battles feel punchy and visceral, where on wrong move can cost your life. Every enemy's charging gun and repeated noises serve the dual purpose of being an audio cue to read combat outside of visual cues - all the tools to anticipate your next move. Allowing you to dive underneath a gunshot instead of into it.

Although I can't help but feel Replaced would've benefited from voice acting, which is something I normally wouldn't say. But with such a meticulously cinematic production, it feels like a missed opportunity to bolster the emotional delivery of an already solid story and help the pacing of longer cutscenes.

Unfortunately, I did encounter numerous frame rate hitches, but nothing too major. Yet, I did feel the game was overlong and would've benefitted from cutting down some simple side scrolling sections that felt like padding, as outside of this, I loved the slower pace this cyberpunk thriller. But I did play a pre-release build with technical issues the developer says will be fixed at launch. And if these issues are sorted, players will have an entertaining experience, if they enjoy retrofuturist thrillers.

Replaced was a game I'd been anticipating for years, that surprised me, both negatively and positively. I was disappointed with the absence of voice acting, as I feel it could've made the storytelling more emotional. But I was pleasantly surprised with how the combat and traversal develops, and how the protagonist's personality alters when meeting all the optional quest givers. To match all the cinematic flair with slower, thoughtful character interactions allows you to ruminate in the world. The story doesn't escape the tropes of the genre, but it's at its best when its developing characters. For a story about AI, Reach is the most human thing in it - a personification of a human - a perfectly youthful naive perspective to reveal the story to the player.

While Replaced isn't what I thought it would be, it's clearly what the developers envisioned - a bold, focused thriller that plays by its own rules. If the patches fix every issue for launch and you can overlook some minor pacing issues, Replaced is well worth playing for fans of action platformers and dystopian thrillers.