Headlander makes a helluva trailer. Its central premise and a lavish lust for early 70s sci-fi kitsch are instantly eye-catching, the fact that it comes from the same studio that made the wonderfully written adventure classic Psychonauts only raising expectations. Take a brief look at Headlander and it looks fantastic, with amazing art, endearing humour, frantic combat and pleasurable puzzles. Which is all well enough, but having now seen it through unfortunately it all seems only surface deep.
It makes for a great first impression though. You're the last flesh and blood human, being given a choice of three ludicrous looking decapitated heads in a future where humanity has abandoned its corporeal form to upload its consciousness into the cloud. Unfortunately, you're just a head. Thankfully you're encased in a high tech helmet capable of flying and using a vacuum beam to interact with the world - most notably to suck the noggins off other robotic vessels before settling into their neckholes. Think Grand Theft Auto meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers and you've got a good idea of Headlander's goofy central premise.
It's instantly amusing the first time you plug your head into a comically mismatched body, like that of a Roomba-like cleaning droid, robot dog, or unsuspecting citizen while your avatar's nonchalant expression deadpans the outright ridiculous situation. Plus, as is typical of a Double Fine adventure, Headlander is overflowing with funny dialogue as you create chaos in this quirky futurescape.
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