With every coming year, the average price range for indie titles on PlayStation platforms seems to increase. Last year, an indie title would rarely cost more than £11.99 regardless of its size and replayability. However, this year indie developers have started to charge as much as £29.99 for their titles, and no less than £15.99, and when Gio Corsi announced at the PSX keynote that Mother Russia Bleeds is available for purchase now from the PlayStation Store, I was expecting it to cost at least £15.99. But as it turned out, this was not the case, as Mother Russia Bleeds debuted on the PlayStation store for the mere sum of £9.99.
Suspiciously low entry point of £9.99 could seem too good to be true to some, as now, more often than not, people associate the price of a title with its quality, and many could perceive Mother Russia Bleeds to be nothing more than a cheap throwaway game. However, despite its ridiculously low price tag, Mother Russia Bleeds offers much more than a vast majority of the titles which can be found on the PlayStation 4’s digital store.
Mother Russia Bleeds is split into two separate game modes: Story mode and Arena. Story mode offers player a chance to experience the harrowing, yet lighthearted Soviet narrative of Mother Russia Bleeds, whereas Arena allows one to simply kick some heads in. Both modes can be played in singleplayer with the use of a single character, or in co-op with up three other players. Co-op options however, are limited to offline play, so if you want to play with friends you’re going to need three additional controllers. But if you opt-out of co-op and decide to play alone, but are overwhelmed by the ever approaching waves of enemies, you can always call in three other AI controlled fighters.
Level of in-game AI is reasonable, as all three characters are capable of holding their own, and can revive the player if he/she falls amidst all of the chaos. And dying in Mother Russia Bleeds is a common thing, as enemies are relentless, and due to the large amount of on-screen adversaries, it is easy to lose track of the player controlled character, and once that happens, it takes a couple of seconds before he or she falls.
Difficulty in Mother Russia Bleeds can always be adjusted, and chapters can be restarted and resumed at any given time. However, once the player quits a section of the story, it has to be restarted from the very beginning. And this means that with its structure, it resembles Call of Duty, as both titles do not allow the player to continue the abandoned chapter from the last checkpoint. However, where the damage is primarily dealt with bullets within the digital boundaries of the FPS blockbuster, it is limited to bare fists and telephone poles in Mother Russia Bleeds.
Yes, you can use guns in Mother Russia Bleeds, but such only hold a handfull of bullets, and fall apart before the player can say CCCP. Also, I can guarantee that anyone who picks Mother Russia Bleeds up from the PSN, will refrain from using guns, as hand to hand combat is meaty and enjoyable, and it ultimately makes guns feel boring and archaic in a way. Constant use of firearms is a viable option, however, it is much more enjoyable to paint the pavement with somebody’s blood while using your fists, than it is to simply shoot him/her in the head.
Blood, guts, and broken bones are a vital part of Mother Russia Bleeds, as despite it’s old school visual facade, it is an extremely gory title. And, contrary to popular belief, that’s good, very good in fact. Gore which accompanies the violence that is present throughout this Soviet journey, is the backbone of the the title, as it is the thing which allows Mother Russia Bleeds to stand amongst other slouching, half-baked indie products. And ultimately, gore is the final piece of the puzzle which makes Mother Russia Bleeds whole. However, the puzzle despite its completion, is lacking in some sections, as the story of Mother Russia Bleeds gets constantly lost amongst all the blood, screams, and chaos. And that is what some may find disappointing, as many will see Mother Russia Bleeds‘ story mode as nothing more than an extension to the arena mode.