NOTE: I finished this article a few days ago. For the past few days I have contnued to play Replaced and towards the bottom of the article you will find a “Chapter 2”. This is just some additional material I wanted to add to the main article. Thanks.
Just so it’s clear, this has nothing to do with me replacing an XBox. Replaced is the name of a game I’m playing at the moment. It also just occurred to me that the picture I used from the game could have been taken straight from Blade Runner which is a great tribute and an absolutely respectable imitation.
My favorite types of games are survival/psychological horror. You know, the Resident Evils , Silent Hills, and similar games including greats like Alien: Isolation, SOMA, Outlast and many other pedigreed classics. I prefer to play games with a first person viewpoint interface as it seems to help with the immersion factor. Replaced is a little different from my usual fare interface wise as it doesn’t have a first person view interface. I avoid such games because they get boring because of a lack of the exploration factor. These side scrolling games basically has one moving in a linear fashion most of the game and it might start to seem repetitive in nature sometimes. Though Replaced does have horizontal movement as well as the 2d linear movement those are setup to be more of passage ways to new area’s or to move you up or down the screen on those screens which have multiple sideways paths.
I’ve made my way through to the 4th chapter or level so far. The first few levels were a kind of gratuitous tutorial sections which point out some of the non-obvious ways your character moves around as well as going into the combat basics which I do find challenging surprisingly. In fact the combat so far is the high point of the game. Instead of reproducing from memory what I wrote about Replaced in another article I will copy those contents here:
Right at this moment before I came back to type this paragraph I was playing Replaced. After about my 6th try, I finally beat the boss of the first level. In fact the the music from the game is still subtly playing a congratulatory guitar riff and wherever it is in that game world, it’s raining. ‘Cause I can hear it. Replaced is one of those sort of infinitely moving to the right scroller games very much akin to the “beat’em ups” of the old days. There are some interesting segments that present “stairs” so you can seemingly move backward or forward on the screen or around a room but this is used more as a transition effect rather than game obstacles or ways forward. You’ll need to search areas thoroughly to progress however so keep that in mind. Basically you run around screen to screen, defeating a bunch of challenging and not so challenging enemies, and at the end of the level there is a “boss”. Rinse, repeat, make progressively harder levels and it’s recipe for disaster but in the case of Replaced the awesome music, that good feeling I got when I finally defeated the boss, and the interesting story that’s starting to develop will have me playing this one through to the end. But that’s not the only thing.
Let’s talk about the Replaced combat for a minute, as this is probably the main reason I will play the game to the end. You would think with only two directions to move, a couple of different attacks, and something akin to a “slide” or “jump” mechanic how interesting could the combat really get? Well, it get’s interesting. So far I think there have been at most 5 enemies in the fighting “area” at any one moment. Two of those enemies might have a ranged attack. But you do have some defensive capability. You can “speed-jump-somersault-burst-slide” in any of your two directions and if timed right you can dodge those seemingly un-dodge-able projectiles. You can also block the projectiles with the ALT key. Your player combat is limited to melee in these first few rounds so far so you need to get close to the enemy to kill them but combined with your two directions of movement, a couple different attack styles, and timing the attacks so you can somersault or block projectiles while attacking a closer attacker, the combat actually gets very interesting, and at points even “twitchy”. The combat sequences in Replaced are the high points of the game for me. I am currently in the process of writing the article for Replaced so that will be coming soon (written and posted on both sites as of now).
Section copied from newsworldweekl\y.com article.
Replaced has actually been one surprise after another. It has an excellent and unobtrusive tutorial or more aptly learning levels, the games graphics are pretty awesome and as you progress through the levels the world starts to open up and become inhabited. I just discovered a “safe” city where I can interact with other citizens and perform other game functions. There were a bunch of people walking around, the streets were set up like a weekend market in some town with tons of people milling about doing their thing. You can interact the NPC’s and even discover required information when prompted to talk to certain people. The totally fun combat system which is really quite fun to play has become one of the main draws of the game to keep me playing.
After I beat the boss level a “friend” showed up to deal with some snipers who were trying to gun me down. There’s a real cool scene where the friend runs his car into the enemy and obliterates them while aiding me. It was this person, whose name I forget at the moment, who took me to that “safe” town.
Replaced is not a horror game. Seemingly horrible things do happen and will continue to… Replaced seems to have thrown me into a dystopian world where classes are at war with each other and somehow I am going to save the world? Who knows. All I know right now is I’m having a blast playing Replaced and if you have a XBox Game Pass subscription, it’s available right now for you to check out.
Thanks for taking the time to read my article. Consider a donation or like or comment if you found some value in the content and let me know where and the time you’re from.
CHAPTER 2
This is additional material I wanted to add to the original article as Replaced has gone on to be a little more enjoyable than my average horror fare.
As mentioned in the original article Replaced is one of those almost infinitely to the right scrolling adventures. The fighting is broken up by solving small environmental puzzles where you might have to move something like a box or commercial garbage dump into place to reach a higher up progression point. Or you may have to carefully scan the area you have access to and discover the way to progress.
Between the excellent combat sequences and puzzle solving there is a lot of “walking to the right” involved. At times you may pass through 5 or 6 screens in your travels with nothing to do but watch the background and game world of Replaced pass you by. That’s what I want talk about for a minute. The art.
Replaced has beautiful art throughout the game. A lot of it most players might not appreciate as they scurry from screen to screen looking for the next gang to beat up or puzzle to solve. But the world of Replaced is fully realized and fully populated with the denizens of the world of Replaced and there are many well worn or abandoned area’s throughout the game you might pass through. Because the background and art direction are just that, many may take for granted the beautiful scenes that have been artistically rendered throughout the game and it tells the story of the dystopian world your character finds himself in.
I spent a few hours yesterday playing Replaced and I started noticing the tree’s and how they sway with the wind in unison as I pass through the landscapes. Everything is broken down. Warehouses with broken windows and un-mended rooves give way to nature and wildlife slowly creeping in on man’s creations. And the rain. When it starts raining you know it because of the sound it makes. I usually game with headphones on as some games have subtle sound cues which could signal something to do, or simply be part of the environmental storytelling that is going on. Replaced is full of sounds and visual eye candy and the seemingly do nothing background is not there just for something to “pass through”, but it tells a story all on it’s own. A broken world full of predators and people just trying to get by. The art direction gives the world of Replaced an anchor to rely on as you move through the game to ultimately decide what’s going on and your characters place in the setting of Replaced.
I want to thank you if you came back to the article to read this additional bit or if you’re a first time reader enjoying the article and/or the game for the first time. The art in the game inspired me and it prompted me to write this additional bit which just might get an extra person or two into the game, because I am finding Replaced to be full of surprises.