If Streets of Rage got into a car with Double Dragon and Hotline Miami, took a road trip to Russia, survived, then documented the entire experience in a video game – provided Jimmy isn’t the one driving – let’s just say you’ll have a very good idea what this is all about.
Built with Unity, Mother Russia Bleeds is a blood-curdling beat-em-up that is sick, savage and fun in equal measure. It has something of a story, but it’s layered with shock factor to really draw you deeper into the experience.
Each of the four characters has different abilities, being strength, speed, agility, and variants on familiar moves. Players fight through eight stages against wave after wave of enemies with guns, wine bottles, steel pipes and whatever else they can find.
Set in the 1980s alternate univse of Russia, the aim of the game is to figure out the source of some horrific hallucinations triggered by the side-effects of a new drug by the Russian Mafia called Nekro. As one of the fighters, you have to figure out why you were chosen for this project by breaking out of prison, but also embracing this new fangled addiction by filling syringes of Nekro. drawing it from twitching enemy bodies. This serves as health as well as a power up which can trigger Berserk mode. When activated, the players’ speed increases as well as their strength and resolve in combat. This can also be used to revive buddies in co-op, which is fortunate as you can play locally with up to 3 other players, there’s also online co-op, as well as survival and boss rush modes.
You can even play with 3 other AI bots at the same time, though there is some questionable logic as either they can attack enemies too much, or do absolutely nothing at all and push against the roving screen.
Developed by Le Cartel Studio and published by Devolver Digital, this game is an extremely violent, chilling personification of this alternate reality and it’s clear that this is one for action enthusiasts, an old-school beat-em-up, only with the grotueity that wasn’t prevalent there in the first place. It really sticks close to what made these games fun to begin with – likewise it has a lot of the same routine and monotony that even a slight story can’t distract from.
The gameplay is fairly basic, punch, kick, grab, jump and you can also use a dodge button at the same time to do floor slides and grabbing enemies in the air. The game rewards some creativity but generally you’ll have mastered most – if not all – of the controls within the first few levels.
However, some enemies will require different strategies than others, for instance fighting a boss or the dogs who are quite low off the ground.
The plot does try to take itself a bit too seriously at times, seemingly forgetting this is an alternate universe and ends up being a bit humourless and dull. You also find it difficult to sometimes align your character up with the enemy you’re trying to fight, which can actually work against you as they can still hit you. This happens again and again and does present tedium at times.
And more worringly still, you find yourself getting quite desensitised to the violence. There’s dead bodies everywhere, skulls caved in, see through bullet holes through the chest and it stops shocking you all while you’re trying to figure out creative ways to really lash out at your foe. And once the violence stops shocking you, the game proves to be fairly shallow in that there’s not much else it can do to sway you.
It also lacks some of the sophisticated charm that made games like Golden Axe so fun and replayable and really give you the compulsion to jump back into Streets of Rage. Sometimes the element of mystery and suspense really outweighs the need to build a game with a half-hearted plot.
The additions to the background really paint a gritty dystopia though and draw you into this world that any of the genres forbears. And the boss battles really do present a refreshing change of pace from the mindless button spamming you’ve been doing the last 10 minutes. And the message the game tries to convey about drug addiction and the effects it has on the body are fascinating and occasionally insightful.
As a game however, Mother Russia Bleeds hits and misses and comes away feeling average more than evolutionary. It’s a great homage to the past and is entertaining with a group of buddies, but it’s not for those with a weak stomach and despite some combat tweaks and entertaining boss battles, ultimately exposes itself for its limitations as you mindlessly wander the streets caving someone’s skull in or smashing up their car. Also, be prepared for a brutal difficulty spike towards the end of the game, MRB really steps it up and it may lose you along the way!
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