When you think of bikers, you tend to think of tough folks in leather jackets, skirting firmly in the territory outside the law. Occasionally these people will ride bikes, but the legends of the cool outlaws who operate outside decent society continue. In 2013, after some setbacks, an up-and-coming team decided to venture on in their telling a tale of revenge on a motorbike in Ride To Hell: Retribution.

After a stint in Vietnam, biker, Jake Conway arrives back in town when his brother is killed by the Devil’s Hand gang, who took umbrage with the kid wearing his father’s jacket. Their dad is a persona non grata to them. Jake is now set on seeking vengeance over the Devil’s Hand gang, going to their locals, and bringing lead to anybody even remotely associated with the group. Putting a lot of road between him, and the pile of bodies in his wake.

The game is set in the dying days of the sixties and takes advantage of the aesthetic of the era to create a cool style from the menus to just about anything else in the game. The soundtrack almost has a Lenny Kravitz appreciation of the era and manages to call back some of the more rocking tracks of the later part of the decade while being original. The look is cool too, and has a very stylised appearance, with the characters almost taking on the comic-like appearance of TellTales’s The Walking Dead, and some larger-than-life characters from Brütal Legend. Of course, this makes it easier to animate. Even the world has a striking look. It pays off when driving down the starlit dusty roads, or exploring the contrasting towns or settlements. While there are some slight hiccups in motion, especially if you’re used to the triple-A side of gaming, the complete package is a fun biker themed story of vengeance, that is easier on the senses than you would imagine.

You can tell that the game was repurposed from the remains of an open-world engine, with its attention to details in the locations and scenery, and the collectable cards. The biker-driving mini-game shows promise too, when you’re not bumping into cars, the bike riding is reflexive, taking Zen and the art of Motorcycling to a whole new dimension. You can upgrade your bike and buy better guns from your hometown. The combat is simple but effective, when motorcycling, you mash whatever button appears overhead, and on the ground, you do the same to combine combos and quick time events to expatiate the brutal execution of your foes. You can also engage in gun-play, which can be especially useful during fistfights, if you perform a headshot you get a satisfying slowdown for your troubles.

Ride To Hell will live in infamy, with only the legend living on. One focused on how a team from Gateshead managed to salvage a result from less than auspicious circumstances. It would have been preferable if they had the resources to polish what they had into a fully open-world game. Yet in its wake, the game is a solid adventure through the badlands of America’s southwest during one of the most turbulent times in its history. If you excuse the problems, and the slight quibbles, and follow Jake, you will find that the ride to hell is paved with good intentions.

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