Relooted is an Afrofuturist heist game with a twist: You’re not thieves, you’re liberators reclaiming stolen African artifacts from the dusty vaults of private collectors and Western museums.

It should be a victimless crime, what with the Transatlantic Returns Treaty about to demand the return of all stolen artifacts. Unfortunately, the offending museums and stately mansions don’t see it that way, hiding their pilfered treasures behind bomb-proof security doors, laser-triggered alarms, robotic guards, and automated turrets. To get the artifacts back, you’ll have to fetch them yourself. And like the best heist movies, success comes down to the team’s unique set of skills.

With protagonist and heist planner Nomali’s team composed of regular Johannesburgians, not a hardened crew of suave career criminals, you’ll need to deploy an unorthodox approach to case the joint, grab the gear, and make a daring escape with Africa’s lost relics, like the irreplaceable Benin Bronzes. 

But don't worry—with our guide to Nomali and the team, you’ll learn exactly how to make the most of their unique skills and get away with your well-gotten gains! 

 

Nomali

Nomali’s a continental freerunning champ who grew up parkouring across Johannesburg’s many high rises. You’ll see why each raid falls on her shoulders when you witness her expert mantling, nimble slides, and propulsive jumps. 

Those acrobatic skills make her the star (with some help from the team) during the platformer-puzzler Entry phase. Nomali's parkour training separates her from your standard 2D platformer hero, adding several important mechanics to her moveset that allow her to exploit momentum. Whenever you pass a vaultable or slide-underable able obstacle, get in the habit of tapping the action button to trigger a speed boost. It’s a vital tool, helping you race through swiftly descending shutters to extend your jumps, or providing a burst of acceleration for a leap that brings distant ledges within reach. 

Nomali’s talents really come into their own though after you’ve grabbed the goods and triggered a chaotic Escape sequence. The security shutters come down, you’re up against the clock, and you’re scored for your speed and each correctly timed boost. Fail one and you’ll slow down and even risk a missed long jump, making you plummet onto a slower path beset by security drones as you struggle to reach the getaway vehicle. 

Everyone has their Kryptonite though, and Nomali’s is reinforced glass. Even a speed-boosted jump can’t shatter it like a regular window. If there’s a pane of reinforced glass below you, look for a way to gain sufficient height to drop through it. If there’s one in front of you, you’ll need a dangling handhold to swing through. And later in the game, you’ll need to rely on one of your teammates—we’ll explain how shortly!

 

Trevor

Impetuous, overconfident, and determined not to share a single detail about his love life? Sure sounds like a kid brother to me. Fortunately what Nomali’s troublemaking sibling lacks in humility, he more than makes up for with security breaching skills.

When assigned to an access point, Trevor can use his robotic arm to hack open (or even close) doors, crack the safes which hold many of the game’s optional relics, or just stand on a pressure plate to activate nearby devices. As the game’s first crew member, he starts with simpler assignments—but they soon give way to more devious obstacles for completionists. 

One of Relooted's favorite tricks is placing laser sensors between Trevor and wherever you need him to be. It looks intimidating, but just remember they’re non-lethal. If you can use a safe to jam the shutter that slams shut after the trap is triggered, you can then summon your sibling to open the safe without worries. Once open, you can walk through the safe from either direction, creating a secure new walkway that stays open when the alarm sounds.

 

Nu-Nu

As South Africa’s answer to James Bond’s tech-wizard Q, gadgetmaster Fred’s main contribution comes in the form of his spy-drone Nu-Nu—and it’s key to acquiring the info you need. In the all-important Case the Joint phase (which precedes the Entry phase) you’re not just assessing blueprints from the safety of your hideout. You’re actually scanning the live map. 

Here, as Nu-Nu you float around the stage, locating your targets, the obstacles in your way, and the path you’ll use to get in and out. You’ll also use it to determine a limited number of access points for your team members. These work in tandem: If you choose to escape from an eastern hallway, it’d be foolish not to make sure Ndede (next up) is ready to help you escape via zipline through a shattered skylight.

Nu-Nu remains by Nomali’s side during the Entry phase. Use the drone liberally to zoom out and assess adjoining rooms so you’re not caught out by robot guards, and to work out the optimal escape route. There’s no rush—until that first alarm sounds. On command (and on lower difficulties), Nu-Nu will even sketch out an escape route and identify which obstacles you’ll need to overcome.

 

Ndede

As an acrobat turned food delivery boy, Ndede’s skills with a zipline make him the team’s resident Tarzan. In addition to opening up Relooted's most dramatic escape plans, he provides a rare method to shatter that aforementioned reinforced glass—either by giving you a high-speed zipline that runs straight through it, or dangling upside down Batman-style from a pipe to manually swing you through it.

As any trapeze artist would tell you from their hospital bed after messing up a stunt, timing is everything. In Ndede’s case, he takes a beat to get into position, even when he’s assigned to a location—so stop just for a second to confirm he’s in place, or you’ll need to loop back after falling into empty air.

And in some cases, if you used Ndede to access a relic, his zipline will still face the wrong direction when you go to escape. You can adjust this while Nomali is running, so hold the trigger and readjust Ndede's aim to minimize lost time.

 

Cryptic

When the team’s first tracked down by an outsider, they’re lucky it’s not Interpol. Instead it’s just a teen hacker prodigy, who’s desperate to help liberate some artifacts. As long as it doesn’t interfere with schoolwork—Nomali insists!—Cryptic can use Forger the robot to completely disable robot guards, who stay out of action even after the alarm is tripped. 

On top of that, she can also reverse the polarity of pressure plates, meaning the mechanism does the opposite of what it was originally meant to do. These are hugely powerful abilities that can often instantly solve a room’s puzzles. Make sure Forger is assigned where you need help most, and you’ll go far.
 

Security Robots

Adorable until the moment you trip the alarm, many of these robo-guards can be temporarily turned to an ally until then. You just need to answer a security question, which you should predict in advance with Nu-Nu’s assistance, or by searching the room keenly for environmental cues to answer questions like “What is humanity’s most important invention?” Just don’t be like me and end up in robo-jail because you forget fire was a discovery, not an invention!

Once on your side, you can convince these turncoat robots to go elsewhere. Make sure you do, as they can be talked into triggering pressure pads or being locked into dead-ends for your benefit.

But beware if you don’t have total confidence in the answer, or see one roving menacingly around the stage in the dangerous alert phase. Those robots are to be avoided at all costs. Don’t even try jumping over them—being sighted is a rare fail state that resets the Escape phase and loses all progress, and the robots are often placed as wily mid- or late-level bottlenecks.

 

Luso

Lastly we come to Luso, a former MMA fighter whose already considerable frame gets further bolstered by a titanium skeleton. Needless to say, she’s the team’s muscle. Throwing Nomali allows her to travel much further than mere jumping can manage—and with enough force to shatter the pesky reinforced glass that’d usually bar her way. Luso will also happily throw tables and safes in the same fashion.

Best of all, she provides a welcome solution to one of the game’s nastiest obstacles: electrified floors. They slow Nomali to a desperate crawl, rendering her incapable of jumping. But Luso is immune, and can hurl you out of those desperate straits. Just make sure you don’t walk through the field to her, as it’s painfully slow. Simply jump into her arms and hit the action button so Luso can fling you to safety before you hit the ground.

The key to success is preparation, and the same applies to Relooted. Now that you know how to use your field team to its fullest capabilities, you’re all set to plan and execute your globetrotting breaking-and-entering adventure.

But if there’s one thing you shouldn’t steal, it’s Relooted, available now on the Epic Games Store.