What does it mean to be human? Replaced asks that question through Reach, a machine whose consciousness has somehow been transferred into its creator's body. Reach speaks aloud to Warren as he gets his bearings in the new body, addressing his host as if still inside a computer. Whether that's because he's lonely or simply used to it, I'm not sure. But Reach's hunt to restore Warren's consciousness leaves me feeling oddly philosophical.
Set in a neon dystopia where human body parts have market value, Replaced takes us beyond the walls of Phoenix-City to explore the lives of the Disposals – the humans deemed "trash" by the corporate elite – in a retro-futuristic 1980s America. My two-hour demo taster walks me through the broad strokes of this post-apocalyptic side-scroller, from the Cyberpunk 2077-like grit to the strangely nostalgic tech… but my biggest takeaway is how Replaced has somehow made me fall in love with beat-'em-up combat as an arcade noob.
