REPLACED Review
Is REPLACED just style over substance?
Just like Cuphead, Replaced immediately jumped off the screen when it was first revealed many years ago and just like Cuphead, we awaited the release of REPLACED with bated breath, as we wondered if there would be more to the experience than just the eye popping style and aesthetics.
The answer is undoubtedly yes. Due to the infusion of a combat system inspired by Rocksteady’s Arkham series and the Orwellian narrative about artificial intelligence coming to terms with existence within a human body, REPLACED is a breath of fresh air in a genre suffocated by the familiar.
Replaced might not break the mold of puzzle platformers, but it’s definitely trying to stretch the limits. The platforming can feel imprecise at times, there are a fair amount of minor technical hiccups along the way and an overall absence of polish that the experience deserved, but REPLACED was worth the wait.
90
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REPLACED REVIEW
Replaced is 2.5D cinematic action platformer with a heavy emphasis on cinematic where you play as REACH, an artificial intelligence trapped inside your creators human body, as you're trying to uncover the dark secrets of a mega-corp in an alternate version of America in 1984 where the Cold War didn’t stay cold.
REPLACED features all of the Orwellian essentials and wraps them in a cyberpunk universe from the dystopian society, the over reach of the Phoenix Corporation and their totalitarian quest including the suppression of truth, all the way down to the year the REPLACED is set, which is 1984. Everything seems like a massive wink to the author who was ahead of his time because what he wrote about in the 1940’s is just as relevant today, which is why the narrative was captivating.
REPLACED transports you easily because of how incredible the cinematography is from the very first frame, how fantastic the environmental audio is, how interactive the world is compared to your expectations for a 2.5D platformer as you constantly move in between the foreground and background, but also how believable the narrative is as it comes across like a Black Mirror plot.
You begin REPLACED as Warren, a research scientist and the inventor of REACH, an artificial intelligence, which stands for Research Engine for Altering and Composing Humans in hopes to pair donors perfectly with recipients.
However, development is being done at the Phoenix Corporation on servers that don’t have access to the outside world. After a catastrophic problem in the lab, REACH now finds himself occupying Warren’s body, but it becomes quickly evident that the Phoenix Corporation will stop at nothing to contain this leak and REACH instinctually knows to run to protect his life. REACH manages to escape and finds himself outside of the walls of Phoenix City on the run from corrupt cops who are trying to kill you on sight and now in the territory of the cannibalist cult know as the Termites.
Luckily, before the cops or the termites capture REACH, he is discovered by Tempest, a member of the outcast resistance. After being rescued, Tempest brings REACH back to their hideout and after meeting the leaders, devise a plan to rise up. Since REACH has been locked off from the human world, he begins to evolve just like the T-800 in Judgment Day as he begins to have trouble with humanity and existentialism. REACH just wants to get back home , but along the way he becomes almost human andit was fascinating to follow REACH on this journey.
If there is one thing REACH is good at, it’s being used as a weapon and the quickest way to explain the combat of REPLACED is to compare it to Rocksteady and the Arkham series. Just like Batman, REACH will often find himself in the middle of large crowds of thugs, or dirty police. You have an attack button and a dodge button, which can also be used to get you in close fast. If the enemy shows red intent, that’s an attack that cannot be blocked, but if they show yellow, then that can be countered. This is the basis for the combat, which evolves from here, whether or not you’ve played any Arkham entries before, it’s highly intuitive.
Platformers have created expectations for an experience without combat, so when a major focus of the experience is combat and that combat is free flowing, satisfying and evolves throughout, it’s very refreshing. Prioritizing enemies, breaking armor, and executing some brutal combos is an addicting experience, especially with all the skills andenemies REPLACED throws your way.
REPLACED felt almost metroidvania-like with its design as throughout the journey REACH constantly gained new abilities, most of which are crafted around your futuristic firearm and provided a combat bonus and a traversal bonus at the same time.
Sad Cat Studios have smartly crafted upgrades that provide both dual benefits. When REACH is given the pickaxe for removing armor from enemies, it can also be used to stick into softer concrete that can help bridge gaps that would otherwise be too far for a single jump. When you acquire the larger battery for your firearm that can allow you to deflect bullets, it also gains the ability to react with certain particles in air conditioning that can give REACH a double jump. There are a few other skills and items that you’ll find that will change you abilities in combat and exploration, but the point is that almost right up until the end, REPLACED keeps presenting the player with new ideas, which allows it to be much longer than your average platformer and not become monotonous.
REPLACED CRITICISMS
REPLACED puts a very high emphasis on immersion and often times you would be abruptly shaken out of the universe with a handful of technical anomalies and an overall lack of polish. Sometimes the music would completely shut off as well as the impressive environmental audio, other times the camera would zoom behind a pillar for a cutscene, occasionally REACH would get stuck in overcharge mode and release a never-ending barrage of bullets. The only was to remedy this was to reload from a recent checkpoint, which was usually just a few seconds prior. There was also the final boss fight which didn’t do any damage to me with any of his attacks. Sometimes if you skip a cutscene that you have already seen there won’t be any enemies where they should be.
The good news is that none of the problems encountered were game breaking, but they did hinder the immersion in an otherwise engrossing experience. I’m fairly confident that most of these anomalies will be cleaned up post launch with a few minor patches.
REPLACED is set in a very industrial world, so at least it makes sense, but there is a lot of yellow pipes, paint and platforms to help guide you in the right direction. It would have been great if it was toned down just enough to provide the player with a little more autonomy on solving problems.
REPLACED was very modern in design with its combat and narrative, which made it unfortunate that the platforming felt a little imprecise, which required you to be almost anticipatory with your actions like retro platfomers. There are some other abilities like the double jump and the pickaxe wall hang that also lacked precision. The remedy for this was to spam the action button as you pass the area where the axe goes or the over the gap you’re supposed to double jump.
Finally, as the story culminated, REPLACED throws too many combat scenarios at you, which drew out the conclusion, felt unnecessary and removed some of the impact from the finale.
REPLACED VERDICT AND SCORE
REPLACED doesn’t reinvent the puzzle platformer because at the core, you’re still moving blocks, climbing ladders, and sneaking from one side of the screen to the other. The platforming lacks precision as it can feel more Prince of Persia than modern platformer and the entire experience is missing the polish in many areas that it deserves.
Despite the flaws, REPLACED rises above most platformers thanks to the rich narrative, strong atmosphere from the excellent cinematography, moody tone from the original score, impeccable art direction and the infusion of a weighty, free flowing combat system inspired by Rocksteady, all of which made REPLACED feel irreplaceable.
