Mother Russia Bleeds

I've never played a game like this - usually beat 'em ups have nice, straightforward healing mechanics. Mother Russia Bleeds is not for the feint of heart. You can't pick up and play MRB with your casual gamer girlfriend and awards you an achievement for starting the tutorial. This game demands you eat a mahogany chair while it beats you with the chair. It starts basic enough. Punching. Kicking. Running. Jumping. So far, so good. Next! Grappling. Throwing. Weapons. Getting the hang of this. Then combos, running slide kicks. Holy crap, did I just knock five guys over with another guy? Achievement unlocked! Then it brings in the Unique: health mechanics. Over the stages, you have to harvest your health item by sucking out the childhood memories of dying enemies with a syringe. That's a mental image I can never unsee. Then you find out, it is only CERTAIN enemies and there is no telling which ones will be harvestable. Their buddies dgaf, they are not going stand back and watch as you demonstrate impromtu vivisection (Impromtu Vivisection should be a DLC or track title). They keep coming. I may be paranoid, but I think they get MORE aggressive when there's a bastard writhing on the ground waiting to donate his memory of his first puppy. It's a Devolver Digital game. Vivid, highly polished sprites. MOSTLY fair. I think it's pretty BS that you end up pounding a guy's face when you are trying to knock another's teeth out. A rocking soundtrack. Get it. Get two, with the dealer edition. Unfortunately, there is no online multiplayer, but this is a game that BEGS to be played couch-coop. Grab a retro game controller (or an arcade stick), find a buddy or three, turn the volume up and prepare for a harrowing experience.

I very rarely post about anything on the internet. I only post about things that are really important to me in some way. And I say MRB is a hell of a lot of fun and one of the few games worth mentioning of all games I have played. MRB belongs up there with Vampire the masquerade bloodlines and Max Payne 1, Gothic 1, Fallout 2, Witcher 3 etc :D

Laugh. Played the game in coop with a friend right from the start (didn't even try singleplayer). We've beaten the game in several hours on easy. It didn't really felt really difficult (even i was drowning the team all the way to the ending), but some boss battles were really tough. The gameplay - standard beat'em up, nothing new, but that's not bad, as i haven't played such games since i was a teenager. The levels have some varieties in mechanics by adding additional hazards on the screen (rats, passing trains, etc). But the killing joke was the plot and the art. It's all so ridiculous (both the gore and the russian theme), that it makes people lough their ass out. And the top - the beginning of train level: it has always been my dream to beat those musicians and train guards - now it has come true. Summary: no a revolution or anything special, but several hours of challenging gameplay and laugh are guaranteed.

(This review is based off my experience while playing it on my own, while on the Easy Difficulty) Oh Mother Russia Bleeds. How I've wanted something like this for years. I grinned through the entirety of the first play through. The combat was fluid, even if a bit sluggish at times. Even with that minor flaw, I couldn't help but beat the ever living crap out of every enemy on the screen. It was a bloody, gory, and exhilarating ride from start to finish. Some of the stages are slightly more difficult compared to others, but when something got outlandishly tough, I buckled down to figure out the correct action to complete the section of that stage. The environment was a treat for the eye. Every stage had it's own feel and felt accurate to the scenario you're thrown into. Of all of the stages, my favorite stage was the 5th stage. Without spoiling to much, I'll just say it's the most colorful stage you'll fight through. I can't forget about the Boss Battles. They are brutal in the best way possible. You will fail, playing alone. Each boss felt like a puzzle that needed to be cracked to defeat. Once you fill in that puzzle piece, you will feel the satisfaction of finally taking down that boss. I really liked the final Nekro Boss battle. It requires you to take all of the skills you learned from the rest of the game and fully implement them to conquer this nightmare. I have yet to get the "good" ending, but I know, and understand that it will be brutal to accomplish. Therefore, As I don't give a typical score for games, I give this a Golf Score of: Birdie. For the love of Russia, grab this if you like over the top game play. PS: The 4 star rating I'm giving is pretty accurate to how I score games. PPS: This is my first review on GOG and this game was my most anticipated game of 2016. I was NOT disappointed.

I loved almost every aspect of this game. The visuals are great, the music is fantastic, you feel every punch you throw, the enemies are varied enough to not become too repetitive, the levels are usually not too long, and the final boss really feels like a final boss to get the good ending. My only problem with this game is the fact that your character remains the same throughout the entire game. No health boost, no damage increases, no extra moves, nothing. This might be the norm among side scroller beat em ups, (I wouldn't know, this is one of the only ones I've actually enjoyed) but it makes the game feel not rewarding at all. The only changes you can make to yourself is by lasting long enough in the endless mode, and I don't feel like one should have to do a side game to make the main game more fun, I guess. Overall, loved the game, could of easily been much better. Is this helpful to you? yes no