Laika: Aged Through Blood review

Revenge is rising to the top of this murderous, motorcycling-rising, mama coyote’s to-do list.

Once again, humanity has wiped itself out in Laika: Aged Through Blood’s dystopia. But instead of a quaint story about the surviving species banding together, the game’s anthropomorphized animals are every bit as barbaric as humans. The game’s opening moments depict a motorcycle-riding, mama coyote discovering her nephew lifeless, after being viciously tortured by a faction of birds.

The impact of this savage set-up could have been the basis for a straightforward revenge tale, as you drive around, gunning every avian antagonist you see. But Madrid-based developer Brainwash Gang has slightly loftier ambitions. Instead of a one-dimensional depiction of malevolence, as you delve deeper into Laika’s world, you’ll find that a debauched ideology is the driving force behind the bird’s ferociousness.

To ensure that Laika isn’t a cheerless trek, Brainwash Gang contrasts its brutality with a few heartwarming moments. Mostly, these come via the interactions you’ll have with your daughter Puppy, a coyote cub who embodies the last remnant of hope in an increasingly nihilistic world. In between wiping out flocks of militarized birds, you might call your daughter to make sure she ate her dinner. That maternal bond feels like one of the few things keeping the Laika from truly cracking. And it’s refreshing to witness how just a bit of tenderness offers a brief reprieve from a world filled with cruelty.

Ride Like Your Life Depends on It

Although Laika’s action-driven play is engaging, it never quite lives up to the game’s exposition. That said, the game’s mixture of Trials-influenced bike stunting and racing, Metroidvania-style exploration, along with slow-motion firefights is distinctive and the controls are responsive. Yes, sprinting and shooting as a pissed-off mama coyote who can pull off Akira drifts is irrefutably cool. And before long, there’s enjoyment to be found in being able to ‘read’ Laika’s areas. Much like executing combos in a Tony Hawk game, each ramp offers opportunity- inspiring you to strategize every shot, flip, and reload.

But to encourage players into pulling off tricks, Brainwash Gang requires Laika to execute flips to reload or position the bottom of their bike to deflect shots. At first, it feels gratifying, as you gun down the game’s enemies with the elegance of a classic Hong Kong action film. Laika’s early moments function as a hands-on tutorial, teaching you to nudge the analog stick to adjust your landing angle or to send Laika down the game’s branching roads. Soon, your ability to simultaneously balance your bike, aim your weapon, all while managing reloads will be scrutinized across an increasingly challenging trek.

For Laika, Death is Never Far

But the escalating difficulty eventually pushes too hard, eventually requiring players to maintain an extended wheelie in one stage. That was never an issue in titles like Excitebike or the Trials series, but neither of those had an army of sharpshooters targeting you. Habitually, the game’s boss battles are engrossing, extending a test of your skills as the game’s elevated enemy cycle through a succession of attack patterns. But a single hit will kill Laika. As such, it’s easy to make a mistake while waiting for a fleeting offensive opportunity.

Mercifully, Aged Through Blood is generous with the checkpointing, so you won’t lose too much ground when you’re hit or your bike lands disobediently. But punitively, the game steals a portion of your currency, forcing you into refighting enemies. During the review process, I encountered a number of disheartening bugs, the worst of which required me to start a new game and lose hours of progress. But fortunately, a few days after the Steam launch, Aged Through Blood has fixed most of its misbehaviors- save for the occasional quest journal neglecting to update.

While these transgressions are annoying, I was consistently calmed by Beícoli’s masterful soundtrack. Instead of composing music that complemented the game’s themes, these songs feel like they are pulled from Laika’s post-apocalyptic world. Filled with lament-filled lyrics, the lonesome cry of Spanish guitars, and fragments of striking harmony, there’s a starkness that complements the protagonist’s trail of inconsolable bloodshed.

Laika: Aged Through Blood was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.