Mother Russia Bleeds Review

Mother Russia Bleeds is a competent brawler in a bloody package, and that’s fine by me.

Share

Rage against the Machine:

Mother Russia Bleeds wears its heart on its sleeve, and it’s a heart that’s dripping with viscera. If you’re a fan of Streets of Rage and its sidescrolling ilk, and you don’t have an aversion to a bit of claret (or popped eyeballs) then skip my review and go grab this one.

It’s a bloody good time.

Story:

Mother Russia Bleeds is set during an alternate history version of 1980s Soviet Russia. That sentence alone should pique your interest, as it did mine, but don’t get overly excited. Whilst the premise is a decent one, Mother Russia never devotes much screen time to developing this idea – the best of its world building is instead in the backgrounds; in the grimy places you visit and the degenerate meatheads you beat up.

Gameplay:

Mother Russia Bleeds might try to mix things up in the story department, thought it needn’t offer us reasons to mush people’s face-paste into the floorboards, but when it comes to the actual mushing it’s pretty standard fare. There’s light and heavy attacks, grabs, divekicks, a handful of special moves that will mix things up as you go level to level leaving a trail of increasingly desecrated bodies in your wake.

mother_russia_bleeds_7

Indeed, should you have played any similar titles from the genre you’re going to feel right at home almost immediately. This is by no means a bad thing – it fits in with its brethren without missing a beat, and would feel right at home in the dark, pulsing belly of a dingy arcade, just begging for mother’s to start freaking out about its violent content and moralistic merit (or lack thereof). It slides so effortlessly into that particular scene that it’s easy to feel Mother Russia kind of missed its moment, actually. Over the top violence, as satisfying and as cringe inducing as it is here, is a bit passé now. No one really seems to care.

Mother Russia’s hook is a syringe full of green goop – a new drug called Nekro – that sits in the corner of your HUD. You can fill this syringe by extracting it from fallen enemies who are still twitching and spasming in their death throes, and can be spent on either healing yourself and your teammates, or giving yourself a short power boost where every punch you deliver knocks enemies across the room. It’s a decent twist that helps keep you engaged throughout, and adds a wrinkle to reviving your teammates that may just get you questioning how worthwhile your co-op partner is, and whether they’re worth that precious goop during a hard to beat boss.

mother_russia_bleeds_5

Multiplayer:

Multiplayer is the way Mother Russia is meant to be played. For every person that jumps into the fray (which allows up to four) you’ll find your enjoyment increase exponentially. Whilst I could only stomach a few stages at a time on my own thanks to the classically repetitive gameplay, I found it easy to sink large chunks of time into the experience when I had some friends sitting next to me, groaning and laughing at the over the top action playing out in front of us.

Good

  • Looks and sounds fantastic
  • Enjoyable iteration on a classic formula

Bad

  • Doesn’t do anything new for the genre
  • A bit boring on your own
8.3

Great

Story - 7.5
Graphics - 9
Sound - 9
Gameplay - 8
Multiplayer - 8
Value - 8
Reviewer - GamerKnights

Leave a Reply

Lost Password

%d bloggers like this: