Headlander was announced last summer as a “retro-futuristic, side scrolling, action-adventure” in which you play a disembodied head encased in a flying helmet, trapped in a 70s-style sci-fi dystopia ruled by an insane AI. Developer Double Fine Productions announced a release date today—July 26, just a couple of weeks away—and also a new story trailer that may be one of the finest bits of videogame promotional material I've ever seen.
The video does a great job of nailing the vibe of movie trailers from the era in which the game is ostensibly set, while at the same time also showing off bits and pieces of gameplay. Which is a good thing, given its bizarre central mechanic of using your detachable, flying head to assume control of other bodies in the Headlander world. It'll be awhile yet before we learn whether that will translate into a gameplay experience that's as clever as the premise—we described our hands-on experience with it as “a few different combat situations in various level of bullet hell,” which depending on your perspective may or may not boost its appeal—but at this point, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic. And I do like that trailer.
To clarify, the trailer indicates only that Headlander is coming to the PS4, but it will be available for the PC on the same day.
