Adult Swim lands itself yet another unexpected hit with its rather unorthodox new title Headlander.
Title: Headlander
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Price: $19.99
MonsterVine was provided a Steam code for review.
Reviewed with an i5-4690k, GTX 970 and 16GB RAM
On television Adult Swim usually isn’t my cup of tea. I find much of the humor immature or crude and simply unfunny, but Headlander is a completely different story. While the game may not contain any slapstick hijinks, it’s chock-full of jokes and sexual innuendos that simply make the experience more enjoyable. For example R.O.O.D (Routine Operator of Doors), the completely superfluous door AI who hates his simple role, will commonly exclaim phrases like “You are red, and I will spread.” There are hundreds of lines like this that, while not laugh out loud hilarious, are cheeky interactions that both extentuate the light-hearted nature of Headlander and further immerse the player in this obscure, retro sci-fi world.
In Headlander you play as a disembodied head of your choosing. Without any previous exposition, your head wakes up and is contacted via helmet radio by somebody known as “Earl.” Earl gives you the simple task of getting the hell off your ship while also explaining the basic concepts of Headlander. Despite existing only as a head it becomes immediately clear that you are in no way powerless.
The primary mechanic which drives all other interaction in the game is the ability for you to perform the titular “Headland.” As a sentient head you can dock in various sockets, mostly atop humanoid robots, and take control of whatever device you’re connected to. There are literally hundreds of different robots and devices that you can Headland in, and while many share similar features or traits they are all incredibly unique and detailed. There are even gendered robots that, aside from animations, are functionally identical. Take that Ubisoft.
Most of the time you’ll be Headlanding into your the primary antagonizing force known as the “Shepherds” consisting of various unique security robots, but you’ll occasionally take control of much more unique automatons like Frankie the Robot Dog, Mappy the Map Terminal, robot-chess hybrids and Electrosux cleaning droids.
Most security droids have melee abilities and various different types of lasers, and all have color-coded clearance levels according to the ROYGBV scale. As R.O.O.D will so delicately explain, you only have access to secure doors when controlling a body that is the same color or higher on the ROYGBV scale, so red security drones can not open yellow doors. This color-coded system serves similarly to Metroid as a means of increasing your power while also locking away specific areas until later, or until you can figure them out. While I imagined that I’d run into issues with this system, I’m happy to report that I never locked myself out of an area, even when I really tried to. If you destroy your bot body and the area is locked behind a door, the game will simply send another one in for you to commandeer.
Combat is one of the few areas of Headlander that is average at best. While nothing is particularly wrong with it, most conflicts lean towards the chaotic side and until the end -game enemies do not do enough damage to require and strategic thinking. Even with the ability to take cover and ricochet shots the end-result was usually me aiming at an enemy and pulling the trigger as quickly as I could. Later units, unlockable combat abilities and the two boss fights shake things up a bit from time to time, but most hostile encounters leave something to be desired. The two boss fights mentioned were quite interesting, but both were long enough that near the end I became both slightly bored and frustrated.
Your body’s not the only weapon at your disposal. Your head is fully equipped to take on enemies with default abilities such as the ability to vacuum off an opponent’s head, and upgradable abilities such as the ability to overcharge any item, effectively turning into a grenade. Your head also has a directional shield that is imperative to solving most of the puzzles in the game.
Between your head and your body the possibilities are quite extreme and Headlander takes full advantage of that. There are various puzzles and intelligent backtracking that require you to pick up another body or stick your head into a tunnel to unlock a new pathway. Some of these puzzles were a step too long or a bit repetitive, but this wasn’t a huge issue. My favorite puzzle in particular involved a chess deathmatch, robotic humanoid chess pieces and the classic black and white teams. And horse people.
There are many unlockable perks in the game that range from boosted stats to entirely new ways of doing things. Each and every perk has its place, but to my knowledge none of them are required. By the end of my playthrough I had most every upgrade node unlocked without having to jump through hoops searching for upgrade experience, although I did stumble upon numerous tucked away areas that contained quite a bit of experience.
What impresses me most about Headlander is the the presentation and polish of the game. From the opening moments it’s extremely clear that this is a sci-fi game that is heavily influenced by the ‘70s. The title screen, loading music, visuals and so much more just completely emulate that distinct ‘70s vibe while also being incredibly smart. Even in-game story elements lend themselves to this theme. “Gems,” inhibitor chips that keep the human-turned-robot population in check, essentially put inhabitants in a constant lethargic state that keeps them from feeling completely human while also causing them to focus on “hippie” topics. I was asked multiple times if I was a Taurus, and more than a few people were aggressively staring at the atomic reactors which also happened to be giant lava lamps. The addition of Invader Zim’s Richard Horvitz brings yet another level of entertaining professionalism to the mix.
There were almost no bugs or design issues to be found. At one point I managed to roll off the side of a platform towards the screen, peculiar for a 2D platformer. However, this wasn’t an issue at all. The one issue I did encounter was a checkpoint that had me locked in a death cycle for about five minutes near the beginning until I finally lucked out of it.
The prime story line is surprisingly good for a one-off Adult Swim title and I was rarely bored. There’s actually a good amount of serious content that will keep players enthralled, as well as side missions and hidden areas in there for the completionists. The map itself is completely open, and even after completing the game you can roam around to finish off whatever you may have left incomplete.
The Final Word
Headlander is a unexpected but pleasant title that has rekindled my interest in 2D side-scrollers. The title is both familiar and wholly unique, and the main mechanic of Headlanding is both entertaining and intuitive. A sleek and stylistic design matched with an incredible attention to detail more than make up for any frustrations with the game’s combat or puzzles.
-MonsterVine Review Score: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
