Serial Cleaner is a unique and imaginative production in which we play a unique role. It’s also one of the most intriguing games about gangsters and murders because we never kill anyone and have to suck up blood with a vacuum cleaner instead of shooting it.
The work of our hero is more tough than that of a hired thief. It’s not difficult to solve mafia scores with a ton of lead, but someone needs to clean up the mess afterwards. Remove important evidence and bodies so that the police inquiry can’t be continued. We play as Bob C. Leaner, who was a “cleaner” in the 1970s in the United States. The narrative is told with a sense of humour and a lot of bizarre, but we must be careful what we do during the game since it is extremely simple to fail. The game’s structure is straightforward. We always begin with the main character at home, who is the proud owner of the most trendy mustache and elegant sideburns and lives with his mother. Bobby accepts the assignment over the phone and goes to the crime site to clean it up. The tale slowly discloses new surprises with each chapter, but it’s apparent that the gameplay, not the story, takes center stage.
Each area and goal presents a different sort of difficulty, requiring skill and concealment on par with a decent arcade game. The Krakow company iFun4all’s offering is largely a stealth game – there is no action here because if we are spotted by the police, we have no ability to protect ourselves, we are captured, and we must restart the stage. From above, we view the activity. We oversee the cleaner’s operations from above, hide in closets and garbage cans, evade the police’s gaze, and gradually eliminate all signs of the crime. Picking up the murder weapon and cleaning away the blood is simple, but moving the body is more complicated. Aside from taking it to our car, the body can be removed by different ways over time, such as drowning it in a swamp or dumping it into an aquarium with piranhas. We first underestimate the difficulty. The officers’ sight ranges are specified, and their patrol itineraries are extensive enough that they may be outsmarted without drawing special attention to themselves. We just have to employ all of the distraction choices halfway through the game. We control sounds, relocate obstructions, imprison obstinate officers in areas with no exits, and do whatever we can to avoid detection.
The mission area grows wider and more intricate as you continue, and patrollers have significantly shorter periods of inattention. The difficulty is also connected to the fact that following a failure, the loaded area randomly positions the goals. As a result, memorizing all phases is impossible. The bright colors and angular style perfectly reflect the styles of the 1970s and subtly express that, despite the serious subject matter, the game attempts to stay amusing and slightly entertaining. The sound design is the only thing that sticks out from the others. The 1970s were a musical utopia, with songs and rhythms that are still recognized today. However, throughout the game, we hear songs that are rather boring and expressionless. The unique stages, which pay homage to legendary flicks like Alien, Star Wars, and even Monty Python and the Holy Grail, are a welcome addition. You must discover secret cassettes throughout story missions to unlock special assignments.
Cleaning the decks of the Nostromo or removing an outspoken knight’s limbs is absurd, but yet properly challenging. It is evident that the authors did not include additional tasks in the game for the sake of pleasure, but rather to ensure that they were as difficult as the final stages of the plot.
Serial Cleaner is an innovative idea with enjoyable and tough gameplay. Sneaking about with a body on your shoulder under the careful eye of the legal system is novel, as is the ability to depict the horrors of gang battles from a somewhat different angle. Poles demonstrate once again their ability to create innovative games.