Headlander Reviews
Headlander also has an extensive upgrade system for your helmet, but I found myself only making use of a small percentage of them, but this might act as the perfect example for the game itself: a ton of great ideas without fully making use of all of them.
Double Fine's head-spinning sci-fi puzzler has plenty of style but not enough substance to sustain its lengthy adventure.
Headlander is a lightweight Metroidvania. Aim problems are annoying at some points, but they do not take away the fun, and the main mechanics of owning the bodies with the helmet generate as many intense battles as moderately well-thought-out puzzles. Although the story itself is not the main highlight of the title, it certainly was a joy to experience because of the comical dialogues of the characters that interact with the protagonist. Going through rooms such as the "High Five Lounge" or "Rings of UrAnus" translate the light spirit of this adventure with incredible ''retro-futuristic'' visuals.
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Not as unique as you’d perhaps expect given the premise, but still a very stylish, characterful and funny adventure.
Headlander is an okay game made much better by a suitably daft concept, and the way it’s presented. It’s an amusing take on the Metroidvania-style genre that adds little new mechanically.
The game is loaded with Double Fine’s signature humor, from snappy dialogue to turrets that apologize while firing at you
Headlander's weird world overflows with color, power-ups, and personality.
While lackluster combat and simplistic puzzles would prove a damning criticism for most games of this type, Headlander’s tone and aesthetic is so fully-realized that the whole package manages to be a groovy, retro delight.
Headlander is entertaining, looks and sounds excellent, and gives off a cool vibe, but this isn't quite a classic.
Double Fine Productions has managed to craft an experience in Headlander that successfully combines the retro style of 1970's science fiction with excellent modern gaming trappings. Don't let the absurd premise sway you, there's more than just zaniness here.
Double Fine was able to take a classic gaming genre and imbue new life into it with their trademark humor, and the resulting experience is solid. It could use some tweaks here and there, but fans of metroidvanias are sure to have a great time floating through the ridiculous world of Headlander.
Overall, Headlander is the most fun I’ve had with a Double Fine game since the first time I played through Psychonauts. With gameplay revolving around an elegant, but surprisingly involved head landing mechanic, and audio and visual flair in spades, this is definitely something any video game fan should check out.
Headlander’s vibrant sci-fi trappings can’t make up for dim execution
Without those lackluster diversions, it would be an amicable trifle. Even at its best, the game feels like an idea gestating in real-time, like a sponge dinosaur filling up with water. So much of Headlander teases you with the idea of what could have been; a shame, because the game we actually got is kind of a bummer.
Headlander has a few rough spots, but its 70s retro/sci-fi aesthetic and head-swapping gameplay are out of this world.
Headlander had me hooked during my nine hours with it. The game oozes with charm through its off-the-wall and eccentric gameplay mechanics, and its humorous characters and fictional world. Though the checkpoint system may feel a little too ‘hardcore’ for some, and the game seems to struggle under the pressure of some of its more demanding moments, those who are after a Metroidvania-style side-scroller could do a lot worse than this.
An excellent side-scrolling Metroidvania game, with nostalgic undertones and great gameplay, helping it thrive in its science fiction paradise.
We’re not exactly short of Metroid clones these days, but Headlander rises above the herd through a mix of its ingenious body-swapping game mechanics and its bonkers '70s retro sci-fi vibe. It’s great-looking, absorbing and genuinely funny, managing to imbue its robot cast with a real sense of character. And if it has sequences where its ideas fail to click, these aren’t that numerous or annoying. While it’s not quite up there with Psychonauts, Headlander is still one of Double Fine’s finest.
Headlander isn't Double Fine's funniest game, but it's one of its most consistently fun