Double Fine, the developers of Psychonauts, Brutal Legend and a weird Grim Reaper from Dia de los Muertos explore a new way of action platform gaming. This time, they explore a hero’s journey throughout the galaxy with only one super skill and that’s a head strapped on a jetpack that’s able to hijack robotic bodies. It might seem gruesome to some, but it’s a pleasure to do. This is definitely one step for a head, and a big giant leap for upcoming sci-fi games! Let’s jetpack ourselves into this review.
If you’re a developer and you have to promote your recent game, you might want a concept that’s interesting for your community. The concept of Headlander is so absurd, I mean it’s about a disembodied head that can steal other bodies, that it actually works. It’s definitely a good step forward for Double Fine, as it might be their best game in a while. Psychonauts is still my favorite but this one comes close.
The whole idea/ setting/ concept just works. The game is set in a space environment ripped from the early 50’s Sci-Fi universe where humans destroyed their world by depleting their resources and life-prolonging opportunities. It seems like the world has evolved into a world where robots with an artificial brain have been built and took over. These robots seemed to be the last resort for humans to actually survive the upcoming universe. Scientists found a way to transfer the human consciousness into this artificial brain that can be found in the upper chambers of the robot’s head. That’s why all of these robots act like a normal humanoid thing. Now where does our hero come from, you might wonder… after about 100 years, you wake up as one of the three disembodied heads. You’re able to choose from 3 different heads with no “exceptional” attributes whatsoever, so it’s mainly cosmetic. With the help of this ERL and your mechanical attributes of your rocket fueled head, you want to figure out what happened by eliminating this Orwellian Methusaleh AI’s control over this robotic space station.
Orwellian Methusaleh’s space station is built in a way where areas have different security measures and most of the time it’s just some plain security doors that are only unlocked if you’re in the possession of the right kind of body whereas the body’s color matches the security level’s color. In other words, the bodies are your way out of there, literally. Of course, as you might have thought, your disembodied head has some abilities to rip off another robot’s head while placing your own head on top of that body instead. Once you’ve found the right type of body, you’ll just have to walk towards the security door in order for it to open or by shooting your colorful laser towards the door. A cool amazing idea that’s been fully explored by Double Fine in which the game results in a fun and interesting game.
The game has a unique and strong vibe throughout the whole game.
This space station where you’re flying your head around and getting your head around things is full of these humanoid robots. Just like in the human world, not all of these robots are important for your head’s journey. There’s a gender difference but also a difference when it comes to a certain status. The security robots are called Shepherds and they come with different colors, lasers and skills. The security scales are coded with the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. These Shepherds are equipped with lasers attached to their hands, these lasers are used for defending yourself and opening security doors. These laser beams also have the “skill” to bounce off walls, this will help you in defeating other Shepherds and opening certain key doors. The higher your Shepherds rank, the more bounces a laser will get and it will also have the skill to launch multiple beams at once. This makes up for some interesting puzzles.
The game has a good learning curve, this action platformer puzzle game starts off simple and gets more complex while playing the game. Most of the time, it’s getting the right body with the right gender tag through the right security door but these puzzles don’t stay this straight-forward, they get more complex. Later on, you’ll need to find the best laser with the highest amount of bounce points that can help you with the activation of different security points at once. You’ll also be fighting off these Shepherds along the way but you’ll have to figure out which Shepherd you’ll keep alive since their body is needed for opening doors.
In other words, the bodies are your way out of there, literally.
The combat system within this game is easy and simple. You aim with your mouse and you try to change these Shepherds in a more “out-of-order” kind of robot. If you’re aiming for the head, chances are big that the head flies off very quickly and this leaves the body right for the taking. If you just shoot your way through the robots by aiming at their bodies, it will take a lot longer before you can actually kill them. Then again it’s also up to you to fully destroy them or not… Robotic bodies can explode if they take too much damage, this leaves your head into a very vulnerable state. You’ll have to fly over to a new body and avoid the enemy’s laser beams while doing so. The shooting is straight forward but then again, there’s this decent system where you can use the environment as cover. You’ll have to be quick about your problem-solving skills, if you want to get out of those battles alive and well.
Not only do you have a set of skills when your head is attached to a certain body, there’s also a set of skills implemented in that big head of yours. First of all, there’s a mini tractor beam that can manipulate objects in the world, for example you’ll often use it to pull out the heads of the robotic civilians of this space station. Certain passageways to secret rooms can also be cleared up by using this tractor beams. These secret rooms often have energy that’s being used to level up your head and improve your survivability or combat system. Second, your head can also boost its way out of dangerous situations and there’s also a reflector shield your head can project to defend itself against laser beams.
The game has a unique and strong vibe throughout the whole game. It has some grain textures of 50’s through 70’s Sci-Fi films which make up for an excellent graphic presentation. The sounds are good as well and although the game might seem simple, it’s often the smaller details that give this game a lift up. Double Fine has always had this “joke” like environments and this aspect is definitely present in Headlander. Robotics have crazy dialogues with each other and I mean one of the funniest things I’ve experienced was the interaction you have with these background strange figures. I mean you can actually rip off the head of a dog and eventually place your head onto this body.
Headlander is a unique and fun experience that’s easy to learn and yet challenging for the gamer with its over thought puzzles that will definitely appeal to your problem-solving skills. The game’s presentation takes you back to the early 50’s- 70’s Sci-Fi movies with a unique view on the world’s future with a humoristic atmosphere. It’s not Double Fine’s finest but it will be a game that will definitely be remembered.
| The good | The Bad |
| – Old Sci-Fi atmosphere | – repeatable objectives |
| – A disembodied Swiss Army head | – some hiccups with the covering system |
| – A good learning curve | |
| – A decent upgrade system |
Score: 4 out of 5:
