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Airhead was a game that suprised me in many ways but unfortunately most of all in how underrated this game is. At the time of writing this review the game has only 40 reviews, apparantly not enough to generate a % score based on my steam review settings (probably something to do with language). Regardless, this fact is such a bloody shame as airhead does everything right to deserve succes. From the expertly crafted puzzles to the excellent level design and gorgeous visuals the game just fires on all cylinders which makes it all the more tragic that it is so underrated. I hope to contribute with this review and maybe convince you, possible buyer, that you're missing out not playing this. Allow me to divulge what makes airhead so great in what follows below.
The thing airhead does best is what is pretty much also the most important thing in a puzzle game, namely the puzzles themselves. Their central mechanic of having a detachable head allowed them to make a huge variety of puzzles where each and every one feels unique(ly challenging) and most of all fun! You'd think that having a timer, that being your head deflating, would make puzzles annoying or frustrating but the truth is far from it. This simple constraint, paired with brilliant game design, allowed the devs to make some deviously and deceptively clever puzzles without ever making them too complex. If anything the game feels very approachable and satisfying because you can in fact come up with the solution.
The level design plays a huge part in this, as the distance you can travel without a gas tank defines where you can and cannot go. With this constraint they managed to make a hugely interconnected map that most metroidvania's can only be jealous off. No really, the level design in this game is just so satisfying, it keeps looping back on itself in unexpected ways, adding layers onto previous areas especially with one of the later game upgrades (that i won't spoil). This is in no small part possible due to the 2.5D world that sometimes adds a fork in the road in a 3rd dimension. This makes for lovely level design but also poses my only (minor) gripe with the game, the signposting of these forks in the road. Sometimes it's hard to see that there is a path at all and the controls to take this exit are a bit finnicky at times.
What's also sometimes a bit finnicky is when you need to push or pull an object when holding your head. If you put it down right next to the object then you'll often pick back up your head instead of pushing or pulling the object. There's plenty of available buttons left on the controler so they could have maybe provided an alternative here. Other than that the controls are great, platforming feels good and moving around the world is fun. It's not so much a platformer as it is a puzzler but the few sections that did feature some were fun to change up the gameplay. For a game of this lenght it's appreciable as some puzzlers do outstay their welcome. Airhead did not, it felt perfectly paced with new mechanics and ended when it should have. There's tons of content here to engage with and for completionists there's much appreciated tools to help you 100% the map.
The story is told through a sort of codex but in my opinion moreso with environmental storytelling. Your mind can fill in the blanks in this weird world and while doing so you can feast your eyes on the gorgeous visuals that are equally entrancing and foreboding. This whole game is strange and interesting, bursting with atmosphere in no small part due to its masterfull sound design & ambience. The sound effects are super immersive and of suprisingly high quality for an indie game. Normally this is one of the areas that indies stumble one but airhead pulled it off so well! All of this paired with the fitting soundtrack solidified it as one of my favorite games this year so far. And even though it's got no combat it can easily sit among my favorite metroidvania's too date as well! It's also super polished technically with few bugs, lags or crashes for such a low price and that much content. Just all around incredible game, recommended to any puzzle platformer or MV fan, as long as you don't mind not having combat.