Replaced: Chapter 1 Walkthrough and Early Tips – Complete Guide

Chapter 1 of Replaced is the only time the game stops to teach you, and it does it while pretending to be a cinematic action set-piece. Miss what it is quietly drilling here and the later chapters punish you for it.

The short version

• Chapter 1 is titled Non-Standard Task. A first run takes roughly 60–90 minutes; longer if you scan everything.
• The route is fixed: lab escape → sewers → Outskirts/forest → Termite Camp → South Labor District → Laboratory/Library archive.
• Long jumps come from holding the sprint/run modifier through the jump, not from stopping first.
• Combat is timing, not mashing: dodge through enemies and counter their wind-ups in Termite Camp.
• There are 10 scans, one health upgrade (Genetic Profile #1, in the South Labor District), and one music track (“Lab Rat”, in the sewers).

Core mechanics to internalize before you push forward

Chapter 1 is a systems tutorial disguised as an opening. Locking these in early makes every later segment safer.

Movement and long jumps

Replaced has a deliberately simple movement set, but the long jump is the input people get wrong:

• Basic run: tilt the stick fully and hold your run input.
• Long jump: keep the sprint/run modifier held as you jump. The extra distance comes from carrying your run speed into the jump, not from releasing the direction or stopping first.
• Context vaults: approaching low obstacles or ledges at speed triggers automatic vaults and grabs with the standard jump.

You need the running long jump for several gaps in this chapter, so start carrying speed into your jumps the moment you gain control.

Combat: dodging, countering, and stringing attacks

Termite Camp is where the game checks whether you understand melee:

• Light attacks: fast and chainable; use them to open and maintain combos.
• Heavy attacks: slower, but they break guard and end combos with knockdowns.
• Dodge: a directional dodge with a brief invulnerability window; this is what keeps you alive in gang fights.
• Counter: time it to an enemy’s wind-up to turn defense straight into damage.

Treat every early fight as a timing exercise. Do not mash. Identify the pre-attack animation, then test how late you can safely dodge or counter. The chapter’s fights become routine once you feel the window.

Scanning and collectibles

Chapter 1 holds 10 scans, one music track, and one health upgrade — all reachable on a first playthrough. The practical rule:

• Whenever the environment widens, check both horizontal directions before advancing.
• Watch for subtle glows or interaction prompts near benches, desks, banisters, and dead ends.
• Scan anything that visually stands out — papers, posters, terminals, unusual objects.

Prologue: destroyed laboratory escape

The opening puts you in control of Warren Marsh’s body with the AI R.E.A.C.H. at the wheel, inside a collapsing laboratory. Move forward with minimal hesitation while you learn how the environment behaves under stress.

• Initial corridor: move right, staying just ahead of falling debris. Ignore background detail and prioritize forward motion.
• First jumps: jump the gaps and ledges as debris falls. Normal jumps are fine here; the timing is forgiving.
• Window exit: follow the prompt through a broken window onto the exterior scaffolding.
• Vertical pathing: climb up and down scaffolding frames. Highlighted or white-painted ledges almost always mark the intended route.
• Elevator: use the interaction prompt to ride down and continue.

You can see police violence playing out below as environmental storytelling. There are no real fail-state fights here; the only hazard is misreading a jump during a timed collapse. When unsure, line up at the absolute edge before jumping — a habit that pays off in later platforming.

Sewers: baseline controls and the “Lab Rat” track

After the lab, Warren wakes in the sewers. This is where the game slows down and teaches its baseline control scheme — and where you grab your first collectible.

Navigation through the sewers

• Move right through shallow water and broken platforms; depth changes affect your jump distance, so watch your footing.
• The first gaps that reward a running long jump appear here. Build speed and keep the run modifier held through the jump rather than stopping at the edge.
• Minor moving threats and hazards are tuned so a single well-timed dodge or jump carries you through.

Collect: “Lab Rat” music track

The “Lab Rat” music track is collected during this sewer corridor — tucked beneath a dimly lit light, just before you climb out of the sewers. Grab it before you exit; you do not return here.

Leaving the sewers transitions you to the forested Outskirts beyond Phoenix City’s walls.

Outskirts and forest: platforming before the fighting starts

The stretch between the sewers and the city is a controlled space to reinforce movement before combat becomes central.

• Traversal: a mix of ground-level running and simple platforming. The camera generally frames the intended path, but check foreground silhouettes that may hide ladders or ledges.
• Pursuit beats: moments of implied chasing are scripted — focus on clean inputs, not raw speed.
• Constructed areas: as you near built structures, explore upper beams and back corners for early narrative objects.

By the time you reach the outskirts of Phoenix City you should be comfortable carrying speed into your jumps and reading the environment for climbable geometry. That is the intended prep for the first serious fight: Termite Camp.

Termite Camp: how to survive the first gang fights

Termite Camp is the first place mistakes get punished consistently. You face groups, and the game assumes you understand dodging and basic combo structure.

Reading enemy telegraphs

Most basic Termite enemies share one pattern:

• A short step or shuffle toward you.
• A wind-up — arm or weapon pulled back.
• A brief flash or visual cue right before the strike.

Treat the telegraph as your cue. Wait for the wind-up, then either:

• Dodge through the enemy to land behind them and open a light-attack combo.
• Counter if the attack is parryable, turning their aggression into immediate damage.

Positioning and crowd control

• Drift to one side of the arena before the fight escalates.
• Force enemies onto a single horizontal line so incoming attacks are easy to read.
• Dodge through enemies rather than away — it repositions you behind the group and keeps them compact.
• Finish with heavy attacks only when no off-screen telegraph is incoming.

Scans in and around Termite Camp

This stretch holds several of the chapter’s scans. After clearing each fight, sweep the edges before exiting:

• Survivor’s Memoir — after you defeat Termite Dale.
• The Catastrophe: 20 Years Later — in the open area, after pushing a crate.
• Board Game Box — after defeating Termite Kyle’s gang.
• Goodbye Letter — near a camper van by the billboard.

Check behind crates, makeshift walls, and tents — the designers tuck lore into the quiet corners. Grab these now; later access to the camp is limited.

South Labor District: the first real stealth test (and your health upgrade)

After the open aggression of Termite Camp, the South Labor District shifts to stealth. Direct confrontation is rarely optimal here; being spotted usually drags you into messy fights with bad sightlines.

Stealth principles

• Use the layers. Many routes let you slip into a foreground or background lane that bypasses patrols entirely.
• Read patrols from cover. You usually get enough time to watch one full patrol cycle before committing.
• Prioritize staying hidden over speed. Detection costs you control; patience keeps it.

Collect: Health Upgrade (Genetic Profile #1)

Chapter 1 contains exactly one health upgrade — Genetic Profile #1 — and it is here, not in Termite Camp. After you drop down into the district past the first stealth section, take the path to the left to pick it up. This is the only permanent stat gain in the chapter, so do not skip it.

Scans in the district

• Eviction Notice — found in an archway.
• Pawn Shopkeeper’s Note — in a box after clearing the grocery store.
• Preacher’s Diary — in a crate in the Preacher’s yard.
• Portative Battery — obtained by inserting a battery into a terminal.

Stay stealthed first, then sweep the small offshoots once patrols move away.

Sniper run, Library archive, and meeting Tempest

The chapter ends with a sniper-evasion run into the Laboratory’s archive, then your first proper meeting with Tempest.

The sniper evade

Before the interior, you cross a section under a Termite sniper and a sweeping red spotlight. Move cover-to-cover; if the light catches you in the open, you get shot. The mechanics:

• Time your dashes to the spotlight’s sweep — never leave cover until the light is moving away.
• Plan your next piece of cover before you leave the current one.
• Do not linger in open ground.

Last two scans in the archive

Inside the Laboratory’s archive, two final scans sit together as you head upstairs:

• Inaugural Address — on a banister while going up the stairs.
• Archived Poster — right next to the Inaugural Address.

That is all 10 scans for the chapter.

Meeting Tempest

Your first encounter with Tempest is primarily narrative and closes out Non-Standard Task. There is little mechanical challenge here — pay attention to the dialogue, which sets up threads that pay off in Chapter 2.

Common mistakes

• Stopping before you jump. The long jump needs your run speed carried through the jump — releasing the direction first kills your distance.
• Mashing in Termite Camp. Spamming light attacks gets you flanked. Read the wind-up, dodge through, then commit.
• Hunting the health upgrade in Termite Camp. Genetic Profile #1 is in the South Labor District, to the left after you drop down — not in the camp.
• Skipping the “Lab Rat” track. It is in the sewers under a dim light; you cannot return for it later.
• Fighting through the spotlight section. The sniper run is a stealth puzzle, not a fight — wait for the sweep, then move.

Practical takeaway

Carry your run speed into every long jump, treat combat as a timing read instead of a button mash, and sweep each area’s edges before you leave. Follow the fixed route — lab escape → sewers → Outskirts → Termite Camp → South Labor District → Library archive — and you finish Chapter 1 with all 10 scans, the lone health upgrade, and the “Lab Rat” track, plus the fundamentals that carry straight into Chapter 3’s scans, upgrades, and boss.