Headlander Reviews

Headlander is ranked in the 63rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
8 / 10.0
Jul 25, 2016

Headlander is a lightweight Metroidvania. Aim problems are annoying at some points, but they do not take away the fun, and the main mechanics of owning the bodies with the helmet generate as many intense battles as moderately well-thought-out puzzles. Although the story itself is not the main highlight of the title, it certainly was a joy to experience because of the comical dialogues of the characters that interact with the protagonist. Going through rooms such as the "High Five Lounge" or "Rings of UrAnus" translate the light spirit of this adventure with incredible ''retro-futuristic'' visuals.

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90 / 100
Aug 4, 2016

Headlander is one of my favorite games of the year. It is beautiful, plays fluidly, has an interesting story, rewards exploration and is just plain fun.

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Aug 5, 2016

Headlander continues to demonstrate that simplicity isn’t necessarily a bad thing with its upgrade system. While most games in the genre have you picking up dozens of different powers to get to new areas, Headlander only has a few, making many areas accessible early and eliminating the need for lots of backtracking.

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5 / 10
Aug 8, 2016

Headlander isn’t a lost cause, yet Double Fine should have done a couple more reinventions on the drawing board before they let this one loose. The main idea is intriguing and might convince some dedicated players to go all the way through, but to anyone else it will be a drag with some laughter, but mostly tedium.

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9 / 10.0
Aug 12, 2016

"yet another game that strengthens the standing of Double Fine as pioneers in eccentricity, one of the few developers respectfully willing to pay attention to their bizarre ideas"

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Aug 9, 2016

By narrowing their focus, Double Fine have crafted probably their most cohesive and mechanically sound game to date, one that takes its gimmicky concept and executes it to perfection.

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Liked
Aug 11, 2016
Headlander(Critical Eye): Getting A-head in the Genre video thumbnail
81%
Aug 16, 2016

Headlander doesn’t rise above the genre in every respect, but it honors it and enhances it through clever gameplay and inventive new mechanics. It succeeds because it adds a wonderful new spin to the action-adventure side-scroller while maintaining a distinct aesthetic and personality. It’s quirky and fun with a big dose of silly humor. Fans of the genre shouldn’t miss it.

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4.5 / 5.0
Aug 22, 2016

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 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.

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Evan Norris
Top Critic
Unscored
Jul 31, 2016

Headlander is neither Double Fine's best game nor its most ambitious. Yet it's a solid, quirky, funny, and bold experiment in a genre new to the developer.

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68 / 100
Aug 9, 2016
Headlander - Quick Game Review video thumbnail
8 / 10.0
Aug 18, 2016

Headlander it an outstanding game artistically speaking, gameplay-wise its really fun and even though it's story is lost midway through, it's not something that hurts the game at all. The difficulty scales linearly as the game progresses, finding more powerful enemies as we advance, enemies which in turn we can posses, making it all beautifully balanced. Some gameplay mechanics fall short as they are not used enough, however the game is enjoyable from beginning to end. This is why i absolutely recommend this game, it's a fun experience all the way through, although clocking at around six hours, it left me wanting for more.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Aug 8, 2016

Headlander may not be perfect, but I'll be darned if it isn't one of the most enjoyable games of the year so far.

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7.5 / 10.0
Sep 6, 2016

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

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Cubed3
Top Critic
7 / 10
Nov 10, 2017

While Headlander's brand of humour isn't quite as pronounced as Adult Swim might have wanted it, there are so many absorbing elements at play here.

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92%
Sep 28, 2016

I loved my time with Headlander. It’s 70s sci-fi inspired aesthetic, tight Metroidvania gameplay and crazy “dock your head on other bodies” mechanics have been keeping me happy for a while. As I did my Headlander review I kept thinking about how varied Double Fine’s output is. The studio has given us adventure games, action games, Russian nestling dolls games, and games that are the most metal ever. I can’t wait to see what the studio does next, and I highly recommend that you give this one a go today.

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7 / 10
Feb 9, 2017

Headlander injects new ideas into a familiar genre and does it brilliantly. While the story might be unsatisfying and the gameplay gets repetitive, the balance between combat and puzzles is so good that'll keep you coming back for more.

Review in Persian | Read full review

Jul 25, 2016

Overall, Headlander is the most fun I’ve had with a Double Fine game since the first time I played through Psychonauts. With gameplay revolving around an elegant, but surprisingly involved head landing mechanic, and audio and visual flair in spades, this is definitely something any video game fan should check out.

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Aug 3, 2016

Headlander is a Metroidvania style game that will not only take players on an out of body and world odyssey but it will serve as an example of the influence that science fiction of the 1970's has had on pop-culture.

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Gareth Fidler
Top Critic
8 / 10
Oct 23, 2016

Headlander deftly delivers a smart story via a constant stream of varied, original ideas, to ensure a journey that feels remarkably vibrant and fresh from start to finish. Crammed full of Double Fine's trademark humour, and loaded to the brim with references to classic sci-fi, it pays loving homage to that corny, yet fun, era of film and television, that often gets overlooked in the age of the green screen and digital effect.

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