Replaced Hands-On Impressions - Dystopic Bliss

The 80s continue to deliver the goods, more than 40 years on…

There’s something to be said about both the paranoia of, and the projection to, the future that creators and writers in the 80s considered. Dystopic, naturally, but a future where machines were still sporting analogue components rather than micro-processors or quantum computing. A time when oppressive governments and a so-called ‘big brother’ prompted guerrilla tactics to survive. A time where myriad gangs and ‘crews’ formed to either capitalise on a power-vacuumed street-life, or worked to bring down big corporations. A time when it rained a lot in seemingly perpetual night, everyone knew a form of martial arts, and where music and lens flare and hue danced in such ways they’re still inspiring creators and storytellers today.

It was the best of times, telling stories of the worst of times.

Replaced is all of the above and is doing things in its 2.5D-ish space not many others have, or are while also excelling at what others have done to a degree that feels almost too good. “Polish” is the right adjective and even in demo form, it felt as close to perfect as you’d hope for any game, let alone one punching with this measure of confidence. At its core, Replaced is a highly, highly, highly stylised vision of that dystopic future self-indulged above, that looks to tell a story of reverence and unique import to our current climate, but it also features clever level-design, great combat and contextual mechanisms for drawing into its locked-plane world. We only managed to get hands-on with the demo for the game, but even that short 10-odd minute jaunt was enough to have this ultra-high on our must-have radar.

You can check the demo for yourself out right here, and watch the latest trailer below.

Replaced

Genre: Side-Scrolling Action-Adventure
Developer: Sad Cat Studios
Publisher: Thunderful
Release Date: April 14, 2026
Classification: MA 15+
Author: Stephen Farrelly
Date: February 26, 2026

Our biggest take away is by far in its combat and dynamic camera. The world itself is both volumetric and pixel-art-based, allowing the devs a level of visual depth to have control of as the player moves about the limited space. You can shift up and down and there’s a degree of platforming and exploration attached to achievable points of interest in terms of scalability. What we loved is that these aren’t ultra highlighted and leave said exploration up to how well you can ‘think parkour’ as you gaze upon the space in front of you. It’s clever and never overbearing, at least not yet, but we do hope the skill ceiling for this is high and that as you progress through the game both your abilities and the world around you offer more complex options for discovering all this world has to offer.

"Introducing a Batman: Arkham-style system to something we never really thought you could, at least not this meaningfully..."

On that combat front, however, so far we suspect you’ll really only be engaging on a single plane as is the case with the demo), but the team has been clever about this, too, introducing a Batman: Arkham-style system to something we never really thought you could, at least not this meaningfully. Rather than just mash your way through, you’ll need to watch for specific indicators to block or reverse melee attacks, while weapon fire will require a quick evade, though you can follow these up with a movement continuation and remain wailing on the baddies around you. The demo gives you a handgun that isn’t so much bullet-based as it is cooldown and combo-based for firing. Utilising this is great for crowd-control and bigger enemies, but also offers a stylised finisher that fits in with the overall presentation of Replaced.

Despite the limitations in which the studio worked due to budgets, it has done an incredible job of making the most of it. It’s a scary prospect to think what it could be capable of with bigger dollars behind it.

"Stealth, all out combat, platforming and exploration are already a fairly solid base to build off, but we think there’s scope..."

As we sit, Replaced is very, very good. It’ll be most interesting to see how long its makeup and presentation can be drawn out for and just what other gameplay tools the studio has up its sleeve to keep it interesting. Stealth, all out combat, platforming and exploration are already a fairly solid base to build off, but we think there’s scope given the level of polish those pillars above have been delivered with. We’re just honestly hoping for more.

As of posting these basic impressions, the game has been pushed back slightly, but at this point it has to be feature-complete and simply undergoing bug fixes and other quality of life tweaks so it can be the best version of itself upon release. So we’re not upset. But, while the demo exists, even if these types of games aren’t your jam but you love John Wick or The Matrix or Escape from New York or any of those sorts of media, this is going to be hugely up your neon-lit, anti-gov, anti-corp graffiti-laden rain-soaked alley.

And then some.

About the author

Written By Stephen Farrelly
Stephen Farrelly is a veteran journalist and editor with more than two decades experience in the worlds of gaming, entertainment, lifestyle and sport. He is a proud pug dad, loves art in all forms (particularly street and tattoo culture), and is the director of Swear Jar Editorial and Media Pty Ltd, this site's owner and publisher. When not dispensing words, he's also dispensing boutique beers as a taproom fixture at Bracket Brewing in Marrickville, NSW...
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