Replaced: Navigate a Gritty Alternate America in This 2.5D Action Platformer
At Summer Game Fest, Restart went hands-on with this stylish pixelated action game.
Posted 5 months ago
At Summer Game Fest in LA, Restart had the chance to check out Replaced, a 2.5D action platformer from developer Sad Coat Studios and publisher Coatsink.
Replaced brings players to an alternate 1980s America, where they’ll take on the role of an AI named R.E.A.C.H. who has become trapped in a human body following an explosion.
Replaced’s setting is dark and gritty, but oh so stylish, with pixelated graphics and some of the smoothest transitions we’ve ever seen when moving from room to room.
The game’s Steam page offers more details about its setting:
“Outlaws are rife in a society that has sustained lasting damage and taken a turn for the worse, following a catastrophic nuclear event. Everything is ruled by corruption and greed and the ones in power see humans and their organs as nothing more than currency.”
Replaced’s Summer Game Fest Demo was split into three portions. The first was a prologue, allowing players to experience the disaster that caused R.E.A.C.H. to fuse with its human host. Following the explosion, we were challenged to escape from a facility while being chased by people who wanted us dead. Timing was crucial in this portion of the demo, as we found ourselves running through the woods, being required to jump over fallen logs at the correct time to stay ahead of our pursuers.
The second portion took us to Phoenix-City at a time when R.E.A.C.H. has grown more accustomed to its new housing. Here, we could talk to the locals, like a young child who wants a friend and will introduce R.E.A.C.H. to the concept of playing arcade games.
Finally, we checked out the combat demo, which focused on more precise button presses as we were taught how to dodge attacks and deal out punishment of our own.
While we only spent a short time with Replaced, it didn’t take long for the game to draw us in with its striking visuals and intriguing storyline. Players can dive into the full Replaced experience when the game launches on Xbox, PC, and Xbox Game Pass in 2024.