It’s hard for me to believe that I was still studying when Replaced was announced. As if it was yesterday, not five years ago! The first display of this action 2.5D title remained etched in my memory with its combination of futuristic theme and retro style. At that moment, Replaced didn’t seem like a typical indie game to me – it seemed like pushing the boundaries of independent game production. Then came the numerous release delays, and in the meantime we got other indie games that looked just as great. Now that Replaced is finally here, the theme of that game is more relevant than ever before because AI technology is increasingly coming out of fiction and becoming our everyday life. Not a day goes by without a mention of how we could be replaced artificial intelligence.
| Initial price | Reviewed version | Reviewer copy |
| 20€ | PC | Provided by publisher |
Replaced is set in an alternate eighties, where nuclear disasters have ravaged the entire American nation. The game shows a world trying to put itself back together after a complete breakdown, through a system that feels controlled and somewhat artificial. Traces of the past are still present, while at the same time a new power structure is being imposed in the form of the Phoenix Corporation. It shapes everyday life in a way that is not entirely clear, but in every segment of the environment it is felt that the inhabitants are placed at the service of the corporation.
The game begins without an introduction to prepare the player for what follows. An accident occurs where the AI REACH merges with a human body and ends up trapped in a physical form, with no clear context and no one to explain where it is and what is happening. From that moment on, the AI protagonist (s) finds himself in a world that is completely unknown to him. He is forced to run and survive as the AI police start hunting him.
The story in the first half of the game unfolds quite slowly, which will not suit all players. However, this is precisely its intention, because Replace wants to gradually guide the player through the situation in which the main character finds himself. The world is slowly revealed to him through written records and dialogues that build the background and context of the environment. Ultimately, the story revolves around the transformation of Reach from a calculated system into a being with emotions.
On his way, Reach meets Tempest, a young man full of ambition and ideas for opposing a corrupt organization. He is the one through whom Reach sees what life looks like for people who are not part of the system. Through it, the contrast between the system and those outside it is further deepened, and thanks to it, Reach begins to understand the human perspective and the consequences of the world in which it finds itself.
The visual style in which all this is told is definitely Replaced’s strongest asset. The appearance of the world enriches the atmosphere of each scene, and the mix of realistic 3D elements and 2D retro pixels of sprites gives it a special depth. Lighting plays an important role in the gameplay itself and at the same time creates a gloomy and anxious atmosphere, present in every frame.
The main settlement in the game seems gloomy and lifeless, while the city of Phoenix City itself, illuminated by neon lights and street lights, leaves a completely opposite impression. It is precisely through this contrast that the visual representation itself conveys the story and clearly suggests what these places are like, without the need for additional explanation.
Replaced very precisely chooses the moments to move the camera, widen the frame and let the space convey the mood. It chooses those moments to narrow the focus on corridors, conflicts or tense movement sequences with equal precision. This further enhances the rhythm and intensity of each scene.
Combat in Replaced relies on a highly action-oriented approach, where every punch, dodge and parry has its own weight and rhythm, just like choreographed beat ’em up scene from movies. Solving opponents can therefore be quite satisfying.
Over time, however, one gets the impression that a strong presentation also carries a certain burden of expectations. At first, everything feels fresh and exciting, but as the hours pass, the gap between what the game visually promises and what the gameplay manages to deliver becomes more and more noticeable. Naturally, there is an expectation that the mechanics follow the same level of ideas and progression, but Replaced often remains without real progress in the depth of the gameplay.
Much of the game boils down to linear progression with sporadic stealth segments breaking up the rhythm. The emphasis is clearly on absorbing the atmosphere and observing the surroundings, but such an approach becomes monotonous over time. There is a lack of greater intensity or variety, and only towards the end of the game do you begin to see something more dynamic.
From time to time, there is also frustration in jumping, mostly due to imprecise recognition of commands and insufficiently clear surfaces for climbing. Because of this, sequences often have to be repeated through trial and error. As nice as Replaced looks, the legibility of the environment is not its strong point.
Through the story, abilities such as the use of a gun, grappling hook and different approaches to conflicts are subsequently unlocked. However, the combat system does not bring any surprises. There is some variety of enemies and comboing of moves, it just comes down to guessing at which moments to parry the attacks. An additional problem in this 16-hour adventure lies in the fact that the sequences themselves are often repeated in the same pattern, so it seems as if they were artificially stretched to make the game last as long as possible.
The situation is worsened by the fact that the checkpoints are badly placed. Checkpoints are quite strict and unyielding, which is why you often lose about 15 minutes of gameplay, either in combat or jumping.
I played Replaced in the PC version, which was mostly stable, with only occasional and short jerks outside of combat. There are very few graphic settings, which makes sense considering the specific visual style and the way the game is presented. There are actually more visual bugs than graphics settings, but a reboot fixes those things.
In the end, Replaced leaves the impression of a game that doesn’t hide its weaknesses, but openly shows them through its pace and performance. The flaws can’t be simply ignored because they affect the pacing of the gameplay, but at the same time they don’t detract from what the game is trying to achieve. Underneath it all, there is still a solid vision of the game that knows exactly what kind of reaction it wants to elicit from players with its world, even when its mechanics don’t follow that level of ambition.
Despite dealing with frequent themes of identity, control, and survival, Replaced relies more on the plausibility of its setting than on straightforward narrative. Phoenix City remains a compelling space precisely because of the way it is experienced through the game. However, Replaced devotes itself more often to the atmosphere than to the events, thus occasionally slowing down its pace. The overall impression remains positive, only as a whole rather than in individual elements.