Falloutpunk
Sad Cat Studios has created a game that captivates at first glance. Initially, the developers chose pixel art for economic reasons, but the result speaks for itself: so much creative energy has been invested in the visual part that it cannot be measured by budget. All that remains is to admire it.
Pixel art here is combined with volumetric models converted into sprites, dynamic lighting, thoughtful scene depth, and neat work with perspective and camera. Despite the devastation, the environment breathes and lives, and the world seems multi-layered and dense. Posters, construction debris, industrial ruins, neighboring abandoned one-story America — all this resembles Fallout from a side view. And this is no coincidence.
REPLACED takes place in an alternate America of the 1980s that survived a nuclear catastrophe. For an unknown reason, the United States struck its own territory: hundreds of thousands of people died, and a third of the country became uninhabitable due to radiation.
The "Phoenix" initiative, created to restore the state, eventually mutated into a megacorporation. It erected an impregnable wall around the citadel city, while ruins, dilapidated settlements, and people whom the system considers garbage remained outside it.
The main character is an artificial intelligence named Reach (R.E.A.C.H.), who found himself in the body of his operator Warren. After the explosion of servers in the laboratory, the Phoenix fighters come not to save, but to finish off the survivors. Reach is forced to flee beyond the Phoenix City wall — it is at this moment that control passes to the player. Now he has to return to the laboratory, return Warren's control over the body, and figure out what is happening.
The setting follows the canons of cyberpunk: the corporation as the bearer of power, the body as an object of control, the person as an expendable resource. Against this background, an internal conflict arises. Artificial intelligence faces human emotions and is forced to reconsider its own identity — which opens up space for a personal and philosophical story in the spirit of "Blade Runner."
However, the demo focuses not so much on gloomy, oppressive cyberpunk as on retrofuturism with a light noir tint — Fallout is again recalled. The trailers, however, hint at much more diverse locations: neon streets, underground complexes, episodes on a moving train.
Classics with reservations
In terms of gameplay, REPLACED is a traditional puzzle platformer in the spirit of Inside and Limbo, to which a combat system with the DNA of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Marvel's Spider-Man has been neatly attached. The structure is simple: level exploration, a short puzzle, then a fight — and so on in a circle. The authors do not hide their sources of inspiration and do not promise revolutions, focusing on the accurate implementation of familiar solutions.
The combat system can already be praised, although reservations cannot be avoided. The basic set is a normal attack, dodge, and counterattack. Indicators light up above opponents: yellow signals the possibility of parrying, red requires instant evasion, including from shots.
Everything is mastered quickly, literally from the first clash. The timings are generous, the rhythm is readable, but sometimes viscous. Sometimes you want to speed up the pace by at least a quarter so that the blows feel tougher. However, the "Arkham-like" formula suffers less from this viscosity than others — it adds weight to the blows.
The fights become truly juicy when the "Huxley" pistol comes into play. In the demo, it is given out immediately; in the full version, it will appear in the story. You can't shoot without restrictions — you need to "earn" a shot: the scale is filled by successful attacks and counterattacks.
If you shoot at close range, Reach performs a cinematic finishing move with a control shot to the head. The mechanics are simple, but encourage an aggressive style and bring no less satisfaction than similar techniques in Spider-Man.
Platforming works, but it's not surprising. The hero jumps over chasms, clings to ledges, swings on beams, and climbs stairs. Some journalists compare it to Uncharted, but this comparison seems far-fetched. The pace is viscous not only in battles, but also in movement, so it will not be possible to dynamically clear locations. Moreover, the hero cannot independently step over even a log: without pressing the jump button, he comically sprawls on the asphalt.
Puzzles so far come down to simple tasks — move an object to climb higher, find a battery and open a passage. Whether they will become more complex in the full version, the demo does not give an answer.
The situation is similar with stealth. In the demo, it comes down to dashes from cover to cover so as not to fall under the light of the searchlight and not become a target for snipers. In the preview, Western journalists mention "social stealth" — for example, the need to hide in a crowd from drones. Judging by the descriptions, this is the same mechanic, just in different scenery.
Take a break
However, REPLACED is not limited to a linear chain of "arena — corridor — arena." The demo does not allow you to go beyond this structure, but Western journalists claim that the game is built in sections: between passing individual levels, the hero returns to the hub city.
There are no battles here, but you can chat with residents, take side quests, and get distracted by mini-games. For example, play a variation on the theme of Crazy Taxi on an arcade machine, beat the local girl's record, and get a permanent increase to health.
According to one of the preview authors, such episodes are easy to miss, but they add a "human layer" to the world and bring variety to the usual cycle.
Special attention should be paid to the implementation of the menu for reading notes and the quest log. It resembles a hybrid of a digital terminal and an old cassette player with a mechanical wheel. When activated, the camera seems to fly into the hero's eyes and switches to a first-person view. The first time it produces a wow effect — where else can you see this in a sidescroller?
White Spots
The main questions for REPLACED begin where the demo ends. The basic structure works, but everything depends on how long it can maintain interest and whether it will devolve into monotony.
There is no understanding yet whether the combat system will develop beyond what has been shown: whether new abilities, weapons, techniques, and the corresponding evolution of opponents will appear. It is also unclear whether the puzzles will go beyond primitive tasks, how well-developed the plot and side quests will be, and what the total playtime will be.
If the duration is closer to Inside or Limbo — about five hours plus time for the hub and additional activities — the chosen model can work without noticeable evolution and without leaving a feeling of being drawn out. However, in this case, a legitimate question will inevitably arise: why has a project with such a scope and structure been in development for almost eight years?
Verdict
REPLACED makes a strong impression and allows us to talk about it as one of the most notable indie projects of the year — the visuals alone are enough for this.
However, it is better to adjust expectations in advance. This is not a side-view role-playing game and not a deep systemic sandbox. Before us is a linear, stylish side-scroller — about atmosphere, staging, and rhythmic beat 'em up, complemented by side activities, quests, and mini-games.
What will happen to the plot and how deep and diverse the additional content will be is difficult to say yet. What the developers have shown does not amount to a revolution — it is a neat reassembly of familiar elements.
Nevertheless, the foundation looks stable. Even in its current form, the game will have enough for about six hours of dense playthrough without feeling artificially stretched. It all comes down to scale: will the project risk going beyond the basic structure and offer more — for example, the development of mechanics, the complication of platforming, or more inventive puzzles?
As for the demo, it gives only a brief overview of the combat system and visual style — so compressed that you can learn almost more from the trailers. Therefore, it is not necessary to play it. However, if you are close to cyberpunk, atmospheric pixel art, and juicy side-scrolling beat 'em up, REPLACED is definitely worth a look. The project has potential. It remains to wait for March 12 and see if the game can fully reveal it.
