Introduction

The Headliners, developed by KAFI and released on January 30, 2025, for PC via Steam, is a co-op horror game that fuses journalism with monster-infested chaos, drawing comparisons to Lethal Company and Content Warning. Set in a ravaged New York City overrun by alien creatures and military forces, players take on the roles of fearless journalists tasked with capturing high-stakes photographs to maintain their press passes. Supporting 1-8 players in online co-op, the game features a unique scoring system where unique shots determine success, alongside a 10-minute timer per session. Launched with a modest $7.99 price point, it has seen rapid updates, including a February 2025 patch adding new monsters, reflecting community feedback from its Early Access phase.

With an 85/100 Steam Player Score based on 6,880 reviews and a "Very Positive" rating, The Headliners has garnered praise for its chaotic fun and dark humor, though some critique its repetitive gameplay and limited indoor content. As of 03:00 PM +07 on August 25, 2025, X posts and web reviews from gamer.org and indiegamestavern.com highlight ongoing enthusiasm, with recent patches addressing bugs and adding content. This review explores the game’s narrative, world, gameplay, and technical execution, drawing from web sources and X sentiment to provide a comprehensive assessment. For co-op horror fans or those seeking a quirky journalism twist, The Headliners offers a thrilling, if imperfect, experience.

Narrative & Storytelling

The Headliners employs a minimal narrative framework, casting players as daredevil journalists in a monster-ravaged New York, driven by the pursuit of viral fame. The story unfolds through environmental cues—faded news clippings, military warnings, and radio broadcasts—suggesting a city abandoned amid an alien invasion, as detailed by gamer.org. The lack of a central plot emphasizes survival and photo ops, with the press pass mechanic (three failures reset progress) adding a stakes-driven urgency, praised by indiegamestavern.com for its immersive tension.

Player-driven narratives emerge in co-op, where voice interactions create emergent tales—heroic captures, comedic deaths, or strategic retreats—as noted in 8bit.tv’s review. Solo play heightens isolation, with the radio’s cold directives amplifying dread, though the narrative lacks depth compared to story-rich horrors like Until Dawn. The dark humor—posing with severed limbs for points—adds a satirical edge, appreciated by pixeldie.com, but the absence of a cohesive arc frustrates some, per Steam discussions.

X posts from August 2025, like those praising giant T-rex shots, reflect community enjoyment of the chaos, though @GreeshaR’s critique of repetition hints at narrative fatigue. For players valuing gameplay over lore, the narrative provides a functional hook, but its simplicity may limit appeal for story enthusiasts, making it a backdrop to the action.

World & Environments

The world of The Headliners is a procedurally generated New York City, blending urban decay with monstrous overgrowth. Environments include abandoned streets, crumbling buildings, and outdoor zones with giants and T-rexes, rendered in a gritty, low-poly style, as showcased by indiegamestavern.com. The February 2025 update added indoor variety—warehouses with starfish explosives—addressing early complaints about exterior focus, per steamcommunity.com. Visuals feature detailed gore and monster designs, with attention to environmental tells like blood trails, praised by 8bit.tv.

Sound design enhances immersion, with proximity voice chat requiring whispers, ambient growls, and military chatter building tension, a highlight from offheshelfmedia.com. However, repetitive room archetypes and invisible walls, critiqued by Achille12345 on Steam, limit exploration. Recent patches have improved map transitions, but the world’s scope remains constrained compared to Phasmophobia’s diverse haunts.

Compared to Lethal Company’s industrial settings, The Headliners’ urban chaos offers a unique flavor, though its repetition challenges longevity. X users like @trainkoh on February 1, 2025, laud the atmosphere, while @Rockpaw notes indoor potential. The environment excels at fostering paranoia, making it a compelling stage for co-op horror.

Gameplay Mechanics

Core Loop

The core loop involves exploring New York, capturing photos of monsters and gore, and returning to the helicopter within 10 minutes, with perma-death on capture, lasting 10-20 minutes per session. The goal is to exceed point thresholds to retain press passes, a mechanic lauded by gamer.org for its strategic depth. Co-op for 1-8 players emphasizes teamwork, while solo heightens stealth demands.

Photography & Scoring

Photography requires unique shots—giants, T-rex, or exploding starfish—scored higher than duplicates, adding variety, per pixeldie.com. Posing with limbs boosts points, a darkly humorous twist, though RNG spawn locations, critiqued by Achille12345, can unbalance runs. The system rewards creativity but penalizes repetition.

Stealth & Entity Encounters

Stealth is key, with crouching or hiding to evade entities like the Velocialien, whose speed increases late-game, as noted by 8bit.tv. No combat exists, emphasizing vulnerability, with death photos offering posthumous points. AI adaptability—prioritizing frequented spots—adds tension, though hitbox issues, reported on Steam, frustrate.

Progression & Co-op Dynamics

Progression includes gear upgrades (cameras, flashlights) unlocked with points, enhancing strategy, per offheshelfmedia.com. Co-op shines with proximity chat, fostering chaos or collaboration, as seen in @Zero’s January 30 post. Solo is viable but punishing, with limited resources. Difficulty modes scale entity aggression, but Insane’s high failure rate, per steambase.io, alienates casuals. Gameplay blends Content Warning’s photo focus with survival horror, excelling in team play but needing polish.

Technical Execution

The Headliners runs well on PC, meeting minimum specs (GTX 970, i5-8400) with stable 60 FPS, per Steam. The gritty visuals, with gore and monster details, impress, though texture repetition, noted by 8bit.tv, reflects budget limits. Audio excels with spatial voice chat, but sparse music loops, a critique from pixeldie.com, can feel silent.

Controls are intuitive—WASD for movement, mouse for photos—though no console port limits access. Bugs like entity clipping or lag spikes in co-op, reported on steamcommunity.com, persist, but February 2025 patches improved stability. Technical execution supports the horror focus, with audio and visuals standing out amid minor polish needs.

Community Feedback

The Headliners enjoys strong support, with an 85/100 Steam score from 6,880 reviews and 5,866 positive votes, per steambase.io. Gamer.org and indiegamestavern.com praise its humor and co-op, while 8bit.tv rates it highly for fun. X posts from @trainkoh on February 1, 2025, laud excitement, and @GreeshaR notes mixed friend reactions. Reddit’s r/coophorror celebrates thrills, though some critique repetition.

Criticism targets indoor content and glitches, with Achille12345 on Steam lamenting building emptiness and @Rockpaw noting early bugs. The community thrives on strategy guides and streams, with 20+ hour logs, per metacritic.com. Despite flaws, player retention remains strong, driving ongoing updates.

Final Verdict

The Headliners is a thrilling co-op horror gem, excelling with its unique photo-scoring and dark humor, rivaling Lethal Company’s appeal. Its chaotic teamwork and atmospheric design shine, though repetitive gameplay and technical hiccups temper its polish. As of August 2025, patches enhance its potential, making it a must-play for co-op fans. Grab a squad and a camera for the best ride.