Laika: Aged Through Blood review — Vengeance & Retribution

Don’t let the otherwise playful character designs fool you; Laika: Aged Through Blood is a dark and depressing tale that is not for the faint of heart. The game revolves around death and destruction at almost every turn. You play as Laika, a mother coyote that will do anything to protect her people against a tyrannical army known as “The Birds”.  She has a variety of guns, gadgets, and her trusty motorcycle at her disposal.

The plot is that of a revenge tale at heart, Laika seeks retribution on behalf of a fallen comrade slain by The Birds. Laika’s mother Maya acts as her informant and serves as a Navi/ Cortana type character to guide the player and add juxtaposition. Laika’s daughter Puppy is her anchor, and she tries to shelter her child from this cruel dark world they are forced to call home. The game takes a few story beats from Stephen King’s The Road in this regard, and I’m all for it. 

The gameplay featured throughout is merciless and very Souls like. The game plays not unlike that of the Hotline Miami series, Laika will die the moment they are attacked and even the beginning of the game was brutally unforgiving. Any minor error will be met with an untimely demise, and you’ll find dying and restarting is just a major facet of the games formula. Each time you die, Laika respawns at a totem that acts as a checkpoint. Even when you learn all the bells and whistles of the game it never gets easier, just more challenging. There were some moments towards the end of the main storyline that felt frustrating at the time but ridiculously rewarding once I accomplished them. 

Laika: Aged Through Blood has a primary narrative as well as a plethora of side quests. While the main quest was compelling and the story had me engaged, I can’t say the same for the side quests. A good portion of the quests were to just go on supply runs for your community or the many oddballs you may meet in the wastelands. They felt tedious and unrewarding, unlike progressing through the main narrative. Still, some of the character dialogues through these quests offered some much needed comic relief that was sorely missed from the main storyline. 

The visuals are equal parts Mad Max as they are Star Fox, as almost every critter you’ll encounter in the post-apocalyptic ruins are anthropomorphic animals armed to the teeth. Wherever you ride your bike, death and destruction follow. Any time Laika gets shot or poorly maneuvers her bike, she’s met with a comically gruesome death. Whenever a member of the Birds is killed, they explode in a pool of blood. There are even some instances that look straight out of a Sam Raimi film with how over the top some of the bloody deaths can be. 

Despite having a very polished soundtrack with a lot of thought and effort put into it, I couldn’t help but feel it felt a bit out of place. The tracks have a somber tone, with deep emotional vocals that evoke doom and despair accompanied by acoustic guitar and drums. Whenever there were intense action sequences something more energized and engaging would’ve felt more in line, save the dramatic tunes for Narrative heavy moments. The sound effects were great, each gunshot and explosion sounded mighty and powerful, while the roaring engine of Laika’s motorcycle made you feel capable and resilient. Each death is met with a fitting animal howl, be that from a member of The Birds or Laika the coyote.

There were plenty of instances where I wished the gameplay tutorials were more in depth; I spent upwards of thirty minutes trying to figure out how to reload my weapons and that was excruciating. It felt like the gameplay equivalent of Ocarina of Time’s notorious Owl. Despite my gripes, there was a lot I enjoyed. The ability to deflect projectiles with your bike was my favorite part. I tended to rely on that trick a lot in later parts of the game when enemy birds became more and more plentiful. The plethora of tools and gadgets you get in the game help to refresh some of the gameplay. The grappling hook was a treat, I enjoyed manipulating the environment and pulling off cool tricks with it.