Headlander (2016)

Headlander (2016) directed and written by Lee Petty, developed by Double Fine, published by Adult Swim 

All the expectations I had towards Headlander were solely based on how the game looks: a mixture of the 70s and early 80s sci-fi. I knew nothing else of the game, except of the fact I liked how it looked and that it was made by Double Fine, the company Tim Schafer built. So, after installing it, I found out that Headlander is comedic, but not a comedy, sci-fi action-adventure, set in a world, where humans have been transferred into robot bodies and controlled by an AI called Methuselah. You, on the other hand, control ahead of the last human. Incased a durable space helmet fitted with a thruster, you fly through the game, attaching yourself to all kinds of other robotic bodies in order to advance, solve puzzles and fight. I should admit, I knew about the head thing. That was a hard one to miss, as it is such an odd idea.

What remains of you, a male or a female, wake up from a cryogenic slumber aboard a spaceship about to go kaboom. A voice calling himself Earl tells you to skedaddle as soon as you can with an escape vessel located nearby. This section also acts as a tutorial, giving the quick gist of how to do things like pull heads off the robot bodies you might want to occupy.

After the basics have been taught and the escape vessel's been launched, you head to a space station of pleasure, where the human minds enclosed to their robotic bodies indulge in hedonistic pleasures provided to them by Methuselah. There you need to start building a way to defeat the overlord AI one and for all in order to save humanity and perhaps even find them their original bodies.

All this mess takes place in a world designed after old sci-fi movies, which really is what makes the game stand out. As far gameplay goes, there's very little anything special about it. In the core, Headlander is just a pretty standard action game with some light puzzles in it. But as the setting is so fantastic, a mixture of retro-futurism with bright colours, sounds and voices, I can't help but love Headlander.

A good deal of the game is about finding a suitable guard robot body that allows you to advance to a new location. Certain areas of the satellite are colour coded and only a guard bearing the right colours can enter. This means some amount of retracing your steps, but thankfully there are also teleports, allowing a tad speedier progress. You just have to find those correct teleports firsts in order to unlock them.

Another important thing to do is to upgrade the helmet your fleshy bits exists in. This is done by collecting upgrade points by doing simple tasks for a couple of quest givers, who are few and far between, as well as locating upgrade consoles and energy pellets floating in the air, often in hidden areas. These upgrades give you more speed, allow the use of reflective shields, which help you get past laser barriers as well as reflect enemy fire, help you heal faster and spruce up your attack skills.

The most challenging form of puzzles in the game is a handful of laser puzzles, where the objective is to light up a certain amount of lights placed all over the room. This is done by fetching a guard body that can shoot multiple laser shots at once and aim so, that the shots bounce the right way, lighting up the targets. But, these kinds of puzzles are few and far between.

As Headlander is an action game, the action is quite a prevalent part of it. The combats are not hard, but interesting enough to keep you occupied for a while. You can knock off the heads of the enemies or just destroy them with your lasers or if you are good enough, by reflecting their own weapons fire on them.

A bit more challenge comes in the form of boss fights, in which, as you might have guessed, you have to dispatch a tad larger enemy. These battles do have a puzzle element in them, as you do have to crack the correct method for the victory. All the bosses have their weak spots, which you need to hit in order to win, so you need to spot that before you can do the maximum damage.

I do believe if Headlander would not have the style it has mixed with a stream of double-ender jokes and set design that is both delightfully retro-futuristic as well as to the brim with human anatomy-inspired shuttles and whatnot, I would have liked it less than I do now. It is kind of a refreshing game, as far style goes and does stand out for its own benefit.

But, as it often is, your mileage may vary.

Headlander is available for Mac, Windows, Xbox One and PS4