Mother Russia Bleeds

**Mother Russia Bleeds** is a side-scrolling beat 'em up video game released on the 5th of September, 2016. It was developed by Le Cartel Studio and published by Devolver Digital.

## Gameplay

Mother Russia Bleeds is a side-scrolling beat 'em up, similar to Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and Final Fight. One can punch, kick, grab, throw and use weapons to incapacitate enemies. Players are equipped with Nekro syringes, which may be filled with the blood of convulsing corpses. Nekro can be used to heal, go berserk or inject enemies (Rose Kennedy and Bloody Mary variants only). Points are awarded based on how well the player does, in addition to their move variety. There are two modes: campaign and arena. The campaign mode is the story mode, in which one fights through side-scrolling levels until one encounters the level's boss; each level ends after its boss has been defeated. Arena mode is an endless mode, in which one fights increasingly harder waves of enemies until it becomes overwhelming. Reaching round ten in an arena stage unlocks different variants of Nekro.

## Plot

Mother Russia Bleeds takes place in an alternative 1986 Soviet Union. The story begins in a Gypsy camp where mixed martial arts fights are held. The fights are organised by Mikhail, who is often at odds with Vlad, a revolutionary who believes that the government is colluding with the Bratva and that it must be overthrown. Mikhail organises a fight in which one (or more) of the four champions, Sergei, Ivan, Natasha and Boris, fight waves of tramps and a knife-wielding lunatic. However, government forces interrupt the fight and capture the four champions.

The party awakens a month later, finding themselves in a laboratory where they have been used as test subjects for Nekro, a performance-enhancing/recreational drug with addictive properties and many side effects (one of which is causing hallucinations). The protagonists fight their way through waves of technicians and bodyguards until they reach the sewers. The sewers are populated with pigs and zombie-like test subjects. After the protagonists fight their way to the end of the sewers, they fight a large test subject, who uses Nekro as a performance-enhancing drug. After defeating the Twisted Experiment, he protagonists escape from the sewers via a ladder, only to discover that the laboratory was built underneath a prison.

The protagonists break into the prison with a sledgehammer, interrupting a gang of prisoners about to rape another prisoner. The prisoner thanks the protagonists for rescuing him from the rapists and reveals that they belong to a gang, so the other gang members will attack them to avenge the rapists. The protagonists and the prisoner fight their way through waves of prisoners and guards, until the reach a locked door. The prisoner unlocks the door, but accidentally activates the alarm, starting a riot. The protagonists then fight their way through waves of rioting prisoners and guards trying to stop them. policemen and spetsnaz operatives reinforce the prison in an attempt to stop the protagonists from reaching the armoury, but they fail. The protagonists enter the armoury and experience a hallucination, before arming themselves with pistols. The protagonists then confront the Warden in the yard, who reveals that he was aware of the laboratories existence. After defeating the Warden, the protagonists return to the Gypsy camp.

Once the protagonists return, they notice that a gang has taken control of the camp (the same gang which the protagonists fought in prison) and that most people there are addicted to Nekro. The protagonists fight their way through waves of gang members, dogs and gopniks, before breaking into a building that houses a swimming pool, interrupting a concert. After a confrontation with the drug addicts, tramps and gopniks at the concert, the protagonist enters the pool to confront the Gang Leader. The Gang Leader reveals that Mikhail is the middleman who provides him with Nekro, which he then sells to the camp's inhabitants. Whilst the Gang Leader explains the situation, a combine harvester is driven into the pool, then the Gang Leader orders her underlings to attack the protagonists. However, the Gang Leader is killed when she is thrown into the blades of the combine harvester.

The protagonists meet Vlad at the railway station, who plans to travel to Moscow with a group of Gypsies to start a revolution, under the guise of a 'peaceful protest'. However, the Bratva's men arrive to stop them from boarding the train. The protagonist defeats them and boards the train with the rest of the Gypsies. On the train, a drunk busker harasses the passengers. When the protagonists confront the busker and his entourage, the busker throws his accordion at one of the protagonists, starting a fight. Three train inspectors notice the fight and try to apprehend them, but the protagonists defeat both parties. The protagonists fight their way through waves of thugs, drug addicts and train inspectors until they reach the end of the train, preventing the train inspectors from calling for backup. Vlad tells them that they took control of the train. However, there are more hostiles on the roof of the train, so the protagonists climb onto the roof and fight them until the train stops at its destination in Moscow. However, a giant Spetsnaz Officer stops them at the station, but is defeated by the protagonists. Vlad congratulates them and tells them that the Bratva holds strange parties at a nightclub.

The protagonists go to the nightclub, fighting their way through bouncers, bottle-throwing men, bodyguards and policemen until they reach a room with a deranged man who thinks that he is a dog. In the room with the deranged man, the protagonists' hallucinations become more severe, to the point where they believe that they are under attack by clones of themselves. After leaving the room, the deranged man follows them (he believes that they are his masters), but obese men wearing pig masks attack them. After defeating the pigmen, the protagonists encounter Mikhail, who is cleaning the floor. The protagonists confront Mikhail, threatening to kill him for betraying them, but a huge masked man notices them and breaks through the window, while Mikhail escapes. The protagonists defeat the Butcher and leave the nightclub.

When the protagonists arrive in Moscow, policemen try to arrest them. The protagonists fight their way through waves of policemen, riot police, tacklers and bikers until they reach the end of the bridge. A child tells them that Vlad sent him to locate them. The protagonists find Vlad, who tells them that he started a riot and that the government officials retreated to a luxury penthouse flat that is heavily guarded. He tells the protagonists to meet a group of riots, who then accompany the protagonists. Riot police attempt to apprehend them by throwing tear gas and fragmentation grenades, but the protagonists throw them back, killing the policemen. Vlad then arrives and gives the protagonists AK-47s, which they then use to clear the police force guarding Red Square. After Red Square is clear, the protagonists head to the flat, which is guarded by a government official with a machine armed with flamethrowers and mortars. After disabling the machine, Robotnik begs for his life, but the protagonists ignore him and kill him.

The protagonists enter the flat, but are ambushed by remnants of the Nekro-dealing gang. After defeating the last gang members, the protagonists encounter Mikhail again, who is now missing an arm. Mikhail explains that he left the Bratva punish him so that they would spare the protagonists' lives. He begs them not to enter the room behind him, but they ignore him. Once inside the room, metal barriers are raised to reveal an audience and an announcer explains that the protagonists will die in a gladiatorial-style fight, before the gates are opened to reveal knife-wielding lunatics. However, the protagonists defeats the lunatics. Then, huge waves of bodyguards (some of whom are armed) and more lunatics enter the arena through the gates, but are also defeated. A girder falls from the ceiling and test subjects and lunatics enter the arena, but they are also defeated. Finally, the announcer reveals the name of the arena's champion, Masha the Bear. After defeating the bear, Mikhail calls the protagonists monsters for killing so many people, but the protagonists state that the real monsters are the ones who arranged the fight.

The protagonists and Mikhail enter a lift to the penthouse at the top of the flat. On the way there, the protagonists suffer another hallucination. This worries Mikhail, who draws a gun, pointing it at the protagonists. However, he turns the gun around and commits suicide. When the door opens, the protagonists enter the penthouse. The protagonists fight their way through waves of bodyguards and their stronger counterparts, spetsnaz operatives and huge bouncers. The severity of the hallucinations increases. The protagonists imagine themselves in a hallway, in which a wall made from flesh is chasing them. Once the hallucination ends, the protagonists find themselves under attack by more spetsnaz operatives. After defeating them, the protagonists fight their way to a room in which they come under fire from an attack helicopter. However, the protagonists escape. The protagonists enter a room in which three naked women (with cuts on their legs) are running away, then more bodyguards and bouncers attack the protagonists. After defeating them, the protagonists encounter the General Secretary in his bedroom, but spetsnaz operatives break in through the ceiling before the General Secretary can be confronted. The protagonists then enters a room with a katana on display, which is the protagonists use against waves of government forces and bodyguards, before reaching the General Secretary's office. The protagonists confront the General Secretary, who explains that the Bratva is as much of a thorn in his side as it is in theirs; he was convinced to fund establishment of the laboratory under the prison, as he was told that Nekro was simply a synthetic chemical that was cheap to produce. Unsatisfied with the General Secretary's answer, the protagonists threaten him. The General Secretary calls for reinforcements and hides under a table. His dog, riot police, bodyguards and bouncers attempt to apprehend the protagonists whilst the General Secretary attempts to escape via the attack helicopter's ladder. However, the protagonist defeats the General Secretary's men. The General Secretary surrenders to the protagonists, but they experience another hallucination. The protagonists hallucinate a skeleton wearing a leather jacket, who tells them to take more Nekro. However, the protagonists refuse and the walls start to close on them while clones attack them with syringes. The protagonists throw syringes at the walls until they retreat. Then, huge fists try to crush them while syringes on legs try to inject them, but the protagonists punch the fists until they retreat. The protagonists then challenge the personification of Nekro to a fight, who then attacks with with huge, intestinal fists, charging punches, jump attacks and syringes. The protagonists strike Nekroman whilst after he exhausts himself, avoiding the clones. Eventually, Nekroman's jacket peels off, turning into a clone of himself. The protagonists must now fight two Nekromen. Eventually, Nekroman is defeated and the hallucination ends, revealing that the protagonist crucified the General Secretary by nailing his hands to his desk. Vlad enters the room. What happens next depends on whether the player used Nekro during the hallucination. If the player used Nekro, the protagonists die from an overdose. If the player did not use Nekro, the protagonists recover and it is later revealed that Vlad commissioned a statue to be built in their honour.

## Levels

### Campaign

* Tutorial
* The Lab
* The Jail
* The Squat
* The Train
* The Club
* The City
* The Arena
* The Penthouse

### Arena

* The Camp
* The Sewers
* The Prison Yard
* Underground Concert
* Roof of the Train
* The Nightclub
* Downtown
* The Bear Cave
* The Vault
* The Nekro Dimension