HEADLANDER
The pulpy science fiction platformer, from Double Fine.
I feel for you, friend. I really do. There must be so much carpet worn from excessive amounts of pacing. There must be so much sleep lost while you toss and turn and kick around the persistent thoughts swirling through your head. Right now your brow is probably furrowed and you’re likely stroking your beard (imaginary or otherwise) in silent contemplation.
“Should I play Headlander? Is it fun? Does the game allow delightful robot dancing?”
The answer is a definitive yes on all fronts. Headlander is something special and easily one of my favourite games of the year so far. Who knew? It’s safe to say that this surprised me!
It really shouldn’t have, though… this is Double Fine, after all… prepare for arm flailing…
I’m a Double Fine true believer from way back. I’ve loved just about everything they’ve done. Some studios excel at one genre, but Double Fine excels at a specific charm and personality that carries over to all their games no matter how they play. It helps that the gameplay tends to be clever and fun, as well. Strangely enough, Headlander wasn’t even on my radar, though.
I had seen screenshots and I knew it existed, but its release came and went and passed me by.
It wasn’t until I saw some gameplay footage that I fell in love in an instant. I had to play this.
Even without knowing this was a Double Fine game, it would be so obvious — the humour, the aesthetic, the special brand of magic that makes it more than the sum of its parts.
That’s enough arm flailing, they’re starting to get sore. I guess it’s time to elaborate…
In Headlander you hit the ground running. Well, I guess that’s more of a figurative expression, right there. It’s probably more literal to say you take to the air soaring. That’s what you do when you’re a disembodied head in a rocket propelled helmet, don’t you know?
…
Have I lost you, friend? Don’t worry, it’s really not as terrifying or bizarre as it sounds! This is the stuff of pulpy, over-the-top science fiction from way back when, with retro charm a-plenty.
Headlander depicts a future where people just so happen to do things differently. Humanity has been ‘liberated’ from the fleshy, mortal confines of their bodies and transferred into robot equivalents. You assume the role of the seemingly last flesh-and-blood incarnation of the species, which puts a big damn target on your back — well, the back of your helmet, any way.
The space ship Starcophagus has been attacked and boarded. It seems an artificial intelligence known as Methuselah wants to find you real bad. That doesn’t bode well for anyone in his way!
Our protagonist has been reawakened with the aid of Earl, who begins to fill in the blanks of our predicament. Survival is our primary concern, but soon we find ourselves investigating why we’re being pursued with such ferocity. Headlander doesn’t weigh us down with a whole lot of cutscenes, instead we learn by taking in the sights and sounds of the future.
Headlander is a game that really lives up to its name, friend…
Landing your head into a variety of robot bodies scattered about is the game’s main hook. Different bodies have different abilities and you’re able to jump between them at will. Some are built for combat. Some are built for navigating confined spaces. Some are built for dancing. (Those ones are my favourite.) It’s necessary to frequently change forms in order to overcome the various dangers and obstacles of the world. It’s also a whole lot of fun.
Headlander plays very much like those old school Metroid or Castlevania-style platformers, with sprawling locations to explore through a series of interconnected rooms. Believe me when I say the game’s pretty damn addictive too. I found myself constantly saying that I’d take a break after exploring a room, only to keep pressing on for another twenty minutes.
There’s a nice combination of action, puzzles, and story in Headlander to break up the pace.
The controls feel intuitive and quickly kick in like muscle memory, something that’s always welcomed in this particular genre. This is achieved by slowly introducing mechanics and allowing the time to master them before accessing new abilities. All this is staggered across the entire game, ensuring that things always seem fresh on the gameplay front. Headlander also has an RPG-like levelling up system that gives you incentive to scour the world for upgrades.
You’ll want to explore this world, anyway. It’s just a thing of beauty!
Double Fine is skilled at the whole world building thing, consistently immersing us in interesting settings that feel like no place we’ve ever been before. That’s no small feat.
Headlander is brought to life with an amazing ’70s aesthetic, that’s almost an extension of the studio’s science fiction work on Broken Age. There’s even film grain a-plenty to make the game look like a product of that era. The environments are bright, beautiful, stylised, and populated with plenty of interesting characters. There’s so many little touches of detail that makes everything feel lived in and it’s always compelling to see what’s around the next corner.
The character animations in particular are a thing of beauty. You can see it’s a labour of love from people who know what they’re doing. I could watch the robots dance for hours.
The silly, instantly recognisable Double Fine humour is in full effect here…
The writing is consistently weird and genuinely funny, I found myself laughing like an idiot the whole way through. Headlander reminded me of the studio’s best work and it’s right up there with the greats like Psychonauts, Stacking, and The Cave. The story is surprisingly engaging too. I was invested in the people and places of this game. Double Fine’s works are always warm and good natured and leave you feeling good — this is no exception.
The sound design is every bit as great as the visuals. It’s safe to say I’m a fan.
As much as I loved Headlander, it’s not without a couple of notable flaws…
One of the biggest flaws of Headlander is shared by many other games of the genre…
It’s the kind of thing that’s prelude to a descent into madness. It’s the kind of the thing that keeps me awake at night. It’s the kind of thing that leaves me shaking my fist and swearing at the TV. This is sounding a whole lot more unhinged than I initially planned. So, what is it?
It’s the dreaded boss fights. Though infrequent, they are the kind where you’ve got to do multiple rounds to bring them down. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it’s just when the game refuses to checkpoint between the rounds themselves. If you mess up, you’ve got to do the whole thing from the start. It’s a waste of time better spent moseying, but still mostly just a nitpick. It’s the definition of a pet peeve for me, so your mileage may vary.
Headlander also crashed way more times than any other game I’ve played on the PS4 before. It often happened when there was a lot going down on screen. I’m sure things will be patched soon enough, but it’s worth noting all the same. The game could definitely be more stable.
Otherwise, it’s pretty hard to fault Double Fine’s latest if you’re a fan of the genre.
It doesn’t happen often, but it’s always amazing when a game seemingly appears out of nowhere and instantly becomes one of your favourites. I couldn’t get enough of this. I recommend Headlander to anyone who likes fun. You do like fun, don’t you?
Written by Dan Clarke. August 08, 2016.
Originally published at dcpresents.tumblr.com.
