Head over heels for ’70s sci-fi
Headlander was originally pitched as one of Double Fine’s Amnesia Fortnight projects – the studio’s in-house game jam. For years, the company has kept this campy ode to ’70s sci-fi on the back burner, but when Adult Swim Games came to visit Double Fine, the publisher fell in love with Headlander’s oddball antics and immediately offered to help bring the game to market.
Inside a futuristic false utopia where all of humanity’s descendants have downloaded their consciousness into android bodies, you control a lone head that is the last remaining biological life form in the galaxy. While you may be merely a head, you have the ability to boost around the environment thanks to a tiny thruster that has replaced your neck. If you manage to knock off another person’s head, you can plop down on the abandoned body and take it for a spin.
The main character’s animations change depending on the body equipped. For example, jump into the body of a young female disco queen and you don’t just walk across a room – you boogie through it. Humanoids aren’t the only creatures your head can interact with, either; you can take over a robot dog’s body and even dock with a computer station.
Once you have a couple limbs, the action really heats up. Defensive drones come equipped with hand cannons of various types. One might fire off a powerful laser fire stream while another covers a room in a wide spray. Thankfully, it’s easy to pop off one body, fly across the room, and steal another drone’s body and use its weapons. In fact, you cannot heal your bodies, which encourages you to continually jump from one neck to the next.
The headlander can also take cover behind certain objects, which is good because laser fire bounces off of walls, creating a laser show that puts Daft Punk’s concerts to shame. Thankfully, bouncy lasers also work to your advantage, since you can ricochet your shots around corners and knock the heads off entrenched enemies.
Stealing new bodies is Headlander’s main draw, but a few sequences force you to explore vents or other narrow passages as a lone head. During one sequence, the head travels through a narrow set of tubes, dodging lasers and protecting itself with a directional shield controlled with the second analog stick. This shield also comes in handy when deflecting blaster fire back at enemy attackers. Players need to explore the city’s various nooks and crannies to find other power-ups like the shield to make it easier to navigate the world when you’re between bodies.
Headlander has been officially announced for PC and Mac, but Double Fine told us that the game is also heading to consoles – though the team won’t reveal which ones specifically. Fans of classic ‘70s pop sci-fi should immediately be drawn towards Headlander, but those raised on modern sci-fi epics might also be charmed by the wild antics and slapstick humor of Double Fine’s unique 2D shooter. Ben Reeves