Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass continues to expand with even more Xbox One games added to the service. Starting today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Batman: Return to Arkham, Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two! and Double Fine’s Headlander are available for subscribers. On February 28th, Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season 2 and The Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation will also be available.

Batman: Return to Arkham is arguably the highlight of this month’s launches. It includes remastered versions of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, complete with all of the downloadable content for both. As for Headlander from Double Fine Productions, it’s a retro-futuristic Metroidvania-type game where you play as a disembodied head. Ripping off robot heads and attaching yours to their bodies is important for success.

Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two! was designed by Warren Spector (who’s currently working on System Shock 3). It features Mickey and Oswald as they work to save the Wasteland. Various Disney characters and attractions will be encountered, further adding to the charm- even if the sequel isn’t as good as its predecessor.

Double Fine’s newest is Headlander, an incredible Metroidvania style adventure game that channels the developer’s unique sense of style into a great, 70s inspired retro science fiction aesthetic, while also crafting and providing for some compelling and engaging gameplay. Headlander may be different from the average Double Fine release, but fans of the studio owe it to themselves to play it nonetheless.

That said, owing to the game’s genre – it’s a Metroidvania – it can be hard to keep track of where you are, and where you are supposed to be going. The game can be sprawling and daunting, and it is easy for you to feel so overwhelmed that you want to stop playing. That’d be a terrible mistake, so don’t do it! Instead, refer to this walkthrough right here. This walkthrough is a complete video guide to all of Headlander, start to end. That’s awesome, isn’t it? It means you won’t ever get stuck in the game. Just remember, the guide, by its very nature, has spoilers, so be mindful of them.

The PlayStation 4 Neo and the Xbox One Scorpio now being a reality, it will be interesting to see what impact they have on the gaming market, from how customers perceive console purchases going forward to how the development community receives these upgrades.

GamingBolt recently spoke to Lee Petty of Double Fine, the project lead of Headlander, and we had a chance to ask him what his take is on these new upcoming iterative consoles. He hasn’t had the chance to see them in person, but he does seem to be intrigued by the concept, and the possibilities that they could offer.

“I haven’t seen them in person and don’t know much about them,” Petty said. “But this approach could potentially change the console game business — in the same way that Apple releases new hardware with greater abilities that still run most of the same software.”

But what about the role of the Scorpio in specifically delivering 4K visuals?

“As an artist, I am always interested in having more options,” he said. “The power of new technology excites me not because of higher “fidelity” but because greater GPU/CPU power gives me more room to explore new visual styles. I don’t think we’d change much about our approach in working with 4K, other than perhaps making sure our assets are built with more scalability in mind — something that we already do to some extent in order to support the large variety of PC/Mac capabilities out there.”

On the whole, it sounds like Double Fine are intrigued by what the Scorpio and Neo offer- as are we all. let’s hope we receive more details on these systems soon, because the wait is killing us.

Headlander is a retro-inspired, 1970s-style Metroidvania sci-fi shooter to its core. You could almost call this game “the poor man’s Metroid,” and you’d be absolutely right in doing so. However, what results from a conglomeration of classic 2D side-scrolling, platform-shooters comes down to pure genius in Headlander. Sure, it doesn’t have the scale of Metroid, or the enemy types of Castlevania, but it has humor, excellent puzzles, side quests, and cool and varying abilities you’ll soak up throughout the whole game.

"From the very beginning, running around from room to room, trying to figure out what is needed to open up one door, then the next is so much fun."

You start the game by finding out that you are simply just a head… yes, a head in a space helmet and you can use the helmet’s thrusters to dart around the spaceship from location to location. Getting from one place to another often requires a body to do so, and the head can attach to any form of robot body that can be found in the game. Attaching to robotic bodies allows the use of rifles which are used to open colored doorways (think Metroid) and flip switches, so flying through the entire game just as a head won’t be happening.

A voice from an intercom tells a story of humans uploading their consciousness to servers and occupy robot bodies for a longer life. But the A.I. named Methuselah has taken control of these uploaded minds and now uses the robots for its own evil deeds. The voice tells you that you may possibly be the last human(-ish) alive and the only one who can stop Methuselah before it’s too late.

Headlander is a beautifully rendered 2.5D side-scroller that puts level design, puzzle solving, and treasure hunting at the top of its list. From the very beginning, running around from room to room, trying to figure out what is needed to open up one door, then the next is so much fun. Much like Metroid, you’ll eventually run into doors that are colored for specific robots to enter. These robots are strategically placed throughout each level to allow accomplishments to be met before being able to move on from one room to the next before it’s time. These colored robots carry the same colored laser rifles that allow you to shoot open doors from far distances, or just simply walk through upon approach. Entering and exiting rooms and hidden antechambers often become puzzles unto themselves, along with unlocking platforms, thrusting your head between platform smashers, and so on. There is no jumping so getting from one platform to the next in most of the game is also a unique puzzling challenge.

"There are several different colors of robot enemies, and each robot can be taken over, allowing you to use different colored rifles."

As the head, you’ll gain different abilities that cannot be used when you are attached to a robotic body. For example: thrusting your head through rooms and chambers is not possible when in body form. But some abilities can be unlocked later on that transfer between the two. This allows for a totally different variety of puzzles and challenges separate (quite literally) from the body challenges.

After learning how the game plays and the ease of the controls and the perfection of the thrusting of the head, you’ll quickly be introduced to the Upgrades screen on the touch pad menu. These upgrades are both automatically unlockable as you progress through the game, and unlocked by collecting Upgrade Points from certain locations that mostly only the head can enter. These upgrades include better melee attacks and some really fun and hilarious abilities that really come in useful throughout the game.

That brings combat into the forefront which is also quite solid. There are several different colors of robot enemies, and each robot can be taken over, allowing you to use different colored rifles. However, besides using these bodies to open different colored doors and shooting different colored lasers, there really didn’t feel like there was a difference in power between any of them. Also, you can use a melee attack if you are on a robot that is not designated for combat and has no other way to fight back. But I found a more enjoyable way to take them out quicker with just the head. I’ll just keep that my little secret.

"As the game progresses, so does the difficulty, but it’s more in the form of shooting enemies a little bit more, and not much else."

Headlander, as I stated above, is a retro, 1970s inspired game that really digs into that decade. From its faded rainbow palette of colors, to robots with afros and bellbottom legs, to even the disco-centric music and lighting effects in every corner, this game bleeds oldies. This falls into how humorous this game is, but it’s not laugh out loud humor, more of a subtle and extremely enjoyable experience that had me smiling every moment I wasn’t concentrating on trying to figure out how to solve opening a door.

As the game progresses, so does the difficulty, but it’s more in the form of shooting enemies a little bit more, and not much else. There is a tiny hint at cover-based shooting mechanics that allow you to hide behind kiosks from room to room, but it’s often times just easier to shoot the enemies down rather than hide and take them slowly. Keep in mind that this is a very fast paced game. You can take your time to think about what to do next on the map screen, but often times it’s fairly obvious and you’ll know where to go next and how to do it as you progress with more and more abilities.

When it’s all over with, Headlander has become one of my favorite games so far this generation. With so much nostalgia jammed in, then coated over with a hilarious and new premise I’d really like a sequel or even a TV show series that expands upon this concept. Make it happen!

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

GamingBolt spoke to project lead Lee Petty about the tone and concept, what players can expect from the gameplay – especially the cover shooting which is new for a Double Fine game – and much more. Headlander is out on July 26th for PS4 and PC.

"I like to think of all Double Fine games as having their own approach to humor. I really like humor that falls out of absurdity, rather than joke-telling or “gags”."

What motivated you to go with the retro futuristic tone in Headlander?

Our biggest inspiration was 1970’s science fiction films. There’s something special about those movies — they are often about our conflicting love for and fear of technology, but in a naive, charming way. “Computers” and “Lasers” were pretty new concepts back then, and no-one really knew how they would impact society — so there was a lot of fun, outlandish speculation involved that lead to really unique worlds.

Also, what inspired the trippy story of playing as a detached head moving from one body to the next?

As outrageously ridiculous as 70’s science fiction films were, underneath it all many of them had a strong existentialist tone. What makes you exactly? Your body? Your actions? Your thoughts? This lead to the idea of you just being a head and joining with different robotic bodies, gaining their capabilities but also their limitations at the same time.

Given that this is a Double Fine game, everyone expects a certain level of humour. How do you go about refining this humour from one game to the next without any dangers of it coming across as “stale”?

I like to think of all Double Fine games as having their own approach to humor. I really like humor that falls out of absurdity, rather than joke-telling or “gags”.  The world of Headlander doesn’t acknowledge that “it’s funny”, but attempts to be both profound and undeniably stupid at the same time.

The gameplay has been cited to have a heavy Metroidvania appeal but with the ability to attach one’s head to bodies or fly around as a detached head. Can you offer examples of some of the crazier puzzles players can expect?

Most of Headlander’s traversal and combat gameplay relates to the player switching between head and body mode, as each can do some things the other can’t. For example, only bodies can open doors, by shooting the door with the correctly colored laser, but only the head can fly, gaining access to terminals and tube-ways higher up in the environment. As the game progresses, the player can upgrade the helmet’s abilities, which both unlocks areas in a Metroidvania-style way but also grants new combat and traversal mechanics. Many of the upgrades are optional and player-driven, allowing the player to chose the style of gameplay that most interests them.

"A play through of the primary objectives will take most players 8 hours or so. There are optional objectives the player can do to earn more upgrade points."

Cover shooting plays a big part in Headlander. For a company known more for platforming and adventure, what was it like shifting to a heavier action focus in Headlander?

Headlander is a bit more action focused than our other titles of late, although games like Brutal Legend featured a lot of core action gameplay. Although the moment-to-moment Headlander gameplay is combat based, there are lots of hidden things to find, conversation trees to explore and puzzles to solve that make the game feel very much like a Double Fine Production.

What are some of the combat options players have? We know about the ability to hurl bodies at enemies but what benefits does this have? 

Headlander’s basic combat premise is a combination of body-based laser weaponry and head-based abilities. There is an interesting dynamic in that when a player is docked into a body, their head is not vulnerable— making it desirable to quickly dock into a body and use its laser weaponry to take out the enemy. But bodies don’t heal by themselves — so after they take enough damage they explode and the player is ejected and must out-maneuver enemy attacks and acquire a new body. Once a body has taken critical damage, the player can still manipulate it for about 5 seconds and then it EXPLODES, dealing damage to any enemies near it. This leads to a fun tactic where the player can run a body that is about to explode at an enemy and then head-launch out of it and watch the body explode and take out additional enemies.

On the head side of things, the player gets the ability to vacuum off a nearby enemy head pretty early on in the game. This lets a player without a body get one — but it’s not without risk as enemies will attempt to smack and shoot the player out of the air as they approach them. The player can upgrade their head with a “bounce shield”, which they can use to reflect lasers by rotating a small “arc” of shield around the head as they fly. You can even bounce an enemies laser back at them and make them shoot their own head off! As the game progresses, player’s can invest “upgrade points” into ramping up their head or body abilities — and create some really interesting combat abilities that the player can cater to their play style.

How long do you expect players to spend on completing the game? Are there any optional objectives or collectibles to discover?

A play through of the primary objectives will take most players 8 hours or so. There are optional objectives the player can do to earn more upgrade points. There are also tons of secrets to find, many of which can only be accessed by using certain upgrades. There is also a lot of different characters and dialog in the game, which helps complete the back story and sets the tone of the world. Players who are interested in this can explore the hundreds of “rooms” in the game and interact with all sorts of characters.

Will there be multiple endings for the game based on one’s decisions/actions?

No, there is only one ending, although — in classic science fiction form, it is somewhat open-ended and mysterious. Players who are interested in discovering more can travel through the entire game in the “end game” and talk to folks and get more information and complete optional objectives.

"As an artist, I am always interested in having more options. The power of new technology excites me not because of higher “fidelity” but because greater GPU/CPU power gives me more room to explore new visual styles."

If Headlander is a success, can we expect to see more of it in the future?

Maybe! One of the things I enjoy most about making games is creating a “believable” world, even if it is unrealistic and absurd. To do that, lots of additional material is written and created that doesn’t make it into the game— but could be a foundation for a sequel.

I am sure you must have heard about the Xbox Scorpio and PS4 NEO. What are your thoughts on the same? 

I haven’t seen them in person and don’t know much about them. But this approach could potentially change the console game business — in the same way that Apple releases new hardware with greater abilities that still run most of the same software.

Does the potential of 4K gaming excite you for the Scorpio? How much of a development change it will be if you were to work with 4K native data on the new console?

As an artist, I am always interested in having more options. The power of new technology excites me not because of higher “fidelity” but because greater GPU/CPU power gives me more room to explore new visual styles. I don’t think we’d change much about our approach in working with 4K, other than perhaps making sure our assets are built with more scalability in mind — something that we already do to some extent in order to support the large variety of PC/Mac capabilities out there.

Is there anything else you want to tell us before we let you go?

Headlander is a fun and funny game that features both engaging combat and traversal puzzles in a stylish, crazy world. We hope players have as much fun playing the game as we did in creating it!

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Headlander was officially announced by Double Fine and Adult Swim Games at Pax Prime in August of 2015. The developers have said the title is a callback to some of the old school 1970’s science fiction games but also has a number of features that players have seen in games that are in the Metroidvania vein. There isn’t a great deal of information about the development of the game, but in December, the companies did put out an 11 minute gameplay trailer that should the first mission in the game. Headlander is slated for release sometime in 2016 on the PC, Mac and the PS4. At the moment, the game is not slated for release on the Xbox One.

Story

Headlander’s story is one that is based off old school science fiction television shows and movies. The basic premise is that the story takes place in a future where there are very few organic beings left in the universe. The player is one of the last organic beings, and that organism is just a head that can fly from one place to another and attach itself to other bodies. This disembodied head will be taking on villains of a number do different stripes and breeds including the malevolent computer that controls the entire world. The player’s character starts the game by waking up on a spaceship known as the Starcopagus without really having an idea about what is going on or how you got on the ship. In order to help you along the way, the player has a “friendly voice” in their helmet who introduces himself as Earl. Earl helps you through the game and helps you to escape the first ship you wake up on. Earl also walks you through the rules of the world, such as the fact that you cannot talk since you do not have any

Gameplay

The game is a 2D sidescroller that has been described as a title in the Metroidvania genre. The player starts out with his head being placed on a robotic body but the head will be able to disengage from this first body and actually attach itself to other bodies, even those of robotic animals as the game goes along. There are some physics aspects of the game when it comes to using weapons and solving puzzles as well as the bigger mystery as to why the player is the last organic entity in the universe. At times, the player will be able to shoot a number of different lazer beams. Sometimes these lasers are regular combat weapons and other times they actually bounce around their environments in order to trigger door locks and other switches.

The flying head mechanic is not as a way to jump onto one body or another. There are also specific areas that will need to be passed through by using the ability for the head to detach. Sometimes the floating head will take the place of what would normally be a character jumping over a chasm. Other times, there will be areas that are only big enough for the disembodied head to pass through. There are also parts of these ships that have laser beams that are impassable, though the developers have said that later in the game the lasers can be manipulated but early on they will need to be bypassed.

As the game goes on, there will be various abilities that the Headlander can pick up. One of the early abilities is a kind of vaccuum gun. This weapon allows the player to pull the head off of enemy robots so the player can put their own head there in its place. The player will also be able to suck certain items that are needed to solve a puzzle to them so they don’t have to find a way to go get it. Another way players will have to solve puzzles is to find bodies that have certain security clearances in order to get into some rooms. The security clearances are based on color with red bodies being the lowest security clearance. This means that orange color coded doors will not open for your head if you are riding on a red body.

Characters

There are not many named characters in this particular title but some of the trailers and videos that have been released have introduced us to a few of the characters in this world. The main character and protagonist cannot tell us his name because he cannot speak. The character is known as the Headlander. When the Headlander is officially brought back to consciousness, he doesn’t understand or remember why he is the way he is. He does have an unexpected friend named Earl which is a disembodied voice that helps the player through the game. There is the malevolent artificial intelligence that runs the entire world that the player will have to interact with from time and time. One other character that we have already met is Rod.

Rod is a robotic presence that actually operates the doors on the first space ship the Headlander occupies. Rod is not particularly happy about his station in life and will let the Headlander character know that he isn’t particularly happy, as well. Rod is the voice that will also talk to the player from time to time, announcing different things about the doors that the player is going through. There are likely other characters that will be met throughout the game but they haven’t been detailed.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game

Broken Age and Psychonauts developer Double Fine Productions has announced its next upcoming game – Headlander, an action side-scroller whose concept is as unorthodox as they come.

Published by Adult Swim Games, Headlander takes place in a 70’s style sci-fi universe where humans have their minds transplanted into robot bodies. This has caused a shocking drop in actual human heads apparently since the world is now run by an insane computer and you’re the only human head left that can do something about it. Players will use a special helmet to attach to robotic bodies within the game’s space station and explore clues related to their past.

Check out the reveal trailer of the game below along with the official website. Headlander will release in 2016 for consoles and PC. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months. Thoughts on this newest game from Double Fine? Let us know in the comments below.