Headlander

It's a testament to the excellence of Headlander that it can only be faulted for its slight technical flaws. Everything about it is so finely tuned, from its gunplay to its platforming to its puzzles, and it doesn't just stay true to classic Metroidvanias – it also builds upon the foundations that they laid.

Headlander is a perfect storm of thought-provoking sci-fi, biting humor, and pitch-perfect gameplay that comes wrapped in a stylish, affordable package, and is one of this year’s very best.

Headlander is a great metroidvania whose retro-future style, humorous story, and tremendous exploration come together in one of the summer’s most complete experiences.

This is easily one of the year’s most enjoyable games and one you won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

Minor gripe aside, I expect Headlander to reach that cult classic status like many of Double Fine’s prior titles and it’s well deserved. This is a must own for fans of the genre.

Headlander is a uniquely funny, sometimes weird and visually very distinctive action-adventure.

Headlander is an unexpectedly great take on Metroidviania-style action. Some of the objective design renders its flashier, body-endangering powers moot, but the quick and complex moment-to-moment gameplay carries it splendidly.

Coming in at around six hours for a pretty thorough playthrough, Headlander was an absolute delight.

It's heady stuff. It's head and shoulders above the competition. [Oct 2016, p.81]

Despite some minor issues, Headlander not only turns out to be a great Metroidvania, but also a very original videogame.

Without claims during the development, Headlander proves to be a Metroidvania with excellent core ideas and a lot of good vibrations. It's not so surprising as he seems in the first hours, but remains funny and engaging until the end.

For a certain nostalgic generation of gamer, it’s hard not to fall in love with Headlander’s retro futuristic stylings and the kind of “what if…” set up that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Terry Nation TV show or a film like Logan’s Run. The combat and and boss fights let it down, but this is an eminently enjoyable twist on the Metroidvania genre.

Headlander doesn't spend all of its time building a monument to Super Metroid, opting instead for a dangerous medley of absurdity that's nevertheless stable and, once you really start to look at it, kind of marvelous in its ability to stand upright and qualify as evidence of meaningful dissent.

The graphics look great, with very vibrant colours throughout the game. It’s fun to play, nice to look at and there’s a good number of laughs. It’s not a serious game, nor is it a triple A title; But it is fun.

Double Fine delivers a great game once again. It's not ground-breaking, but definitely a nice surprise perfect for the summer while we wait for the blockbusters.

Headlander from Double Fine Productions is a fun, quirky science-fiction Metroidvania game with engaging puzzles, strong exploration elements, and flying heads.

Every so often a game comes along that reminds me of how boisterously odd the medium can be.

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.

Headlander has a few rough spots, but its 70s retro/sci-fi aesthetic and head-swapping gameplay are out of this world.

From its odd mechanics to its captivating presentation, Headlander's parallels to Metroid bubble under the surface; it's the game's fresh qualities that grab your attention and make it one of the most delightful takes on the well-worn formula in years.

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.

A retrofuturistic adventure that promises comedy and action, and only ever falters on the latter. [Oct 2006, p.75]

Headlander is an enjoyable experience that shouldn’t be overlooked, especially if you like the Metroidvania style of games.

Headlander is a funny, well designed game with an excellent aesthetic, it's a shame that a few shortcomings let it down in the long run.

Headlander has a few faults, but when getting into a flow of this style of game, it turns out to be a pretty well made Metroidvania game. Filling out the map is addicting, and seeing a room I can’t enter without having a certain body usually always had me backtracking to see what exactly was in it. I still enjoyed my time with Headlander, even if the camera and combat got in the way a few times. I think everyone else will feel the same way. Give it a shot. It does have a lot going for it.

Headlander is quite challenging, packed with effective gameplay, but unfortunately it's never really addictive or so memorable.

Headlander could've been of the best games of the year if the combat were better and the environments more varied. Now it's just a good game.

Headlander takes on an old setting with a new formula and does it just right. The Balance between combat and puzzle-solving is quite good but the story might leave you unsatisfied, while the gameplay also gets repetitive after a few hours.

Quotation forthcoming.

Thanks to its settings, its universe and some good gameplay ideas, Headlander succeeds in delivering a tasteful experience. Even if a bit redundant and not really irreproachable technically speaking, this Double Fine game surely can make your head spin.

Headlander is entertaining, looks and sounds excellent, and gives off a cool vibe, but this isn't quite a classic.

Hitting the right balance of puzzle and action with a proper dose of true `80s nostalgia, the majority of Headlander is a treat to play and to watch. That being said, its ending segment has a few head-scratching moments, including an uninspired “Simon says” memory game, and a final boss fight that is as frustrating as it is formulaic; the boss has three main segments of health and changes style after each segment is depleted, followed by a surprise re-birth into yet another form.

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.

Headlander is a tease — a conglomerate of great ideas that tapered at the halfway point in favor of very basic “find the right color robot body” mechanics, lack of continued humor, and a middling story at best.

Although I absolutely love the aesthetics and concept of Headlander, the non-combat gameplay is only fair, and it’s brought down further with too much combat detracting from the things it does well. I was interested enough to stick around and see how things turned out at the end, but there were definitely a few times when I walked away and took a break out of annoyance. Like so many other examples before it, Headlander is another could-have-been that just doesn’t play to its strengths.

Double Fine offers a unique game with a retro futuristic 70's style and strong gameplay. This Metroidvania does miss new features and the story could be better.

What starts as a fine homage to Super Metroid and ‘70s style sci-fi ends as a disappointing waste of both story and gameplay potential.