Serial Cleaner

Serial Cleaner is an oldschool stealth game taking place in America of the 1970s, inspired by such movies as Cohen brpthers’ Fargo or Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The game was released for PC, XONE and etc. and developed by a Polish studio iFun4all, the creators of the original arcade games Red Game without a Great Name and Green Game: TimeSwapper.

Plot

The plot is a creative version of a serial-killer story. The protagonist only appears when the victims are already dead — he's the eponymous “serial cleaner,” who specializes in cleaning crime scenes, which means getting rid of the corpses, evidence, and blood, so the game allows you to feel slightly like Pulp Fiction's Winston Wolf. The feeling is even more underscored by the fact that Serial Cleaner doesn't take itself too seriously: the protagonist has a cliché “killer” moustache and never leaves his house without a pair of fashionable tight-fitting pants and his big sunglasses.

Mechanics

Serial Cleaner is a dynamic action game with stealth elements, in which the missions are based on real crime scenes of the 1970s. Your task is to successfully “clean” them all and not get noticed by nosy passer-bys and the policemen patrolling the area. The task is made slightly easier by the fact that those policemen don't pay much attention to their duties. A splendid example of that is how they stop looking for you once they lose sight of you, saying they're not paid enough to be so dedicated to the job. The game gives you a lot of freedom, rewarding you for exploration, making quick decisions, and experimenting with different methods of solving a problem. Every level can be completed in many ways.

Technical aspects

Serial Cleaner for PC, XONE and etc. features 2D retro graphics and isometric views, which makes it similar to Hotline Miami. However, the visual style brings to mind the atmosphere of America of the 1970s, inspired by the works of such artists as Matthew Lyons or Moebius. Curiously, the game utilizes the a Real-World Data system and bases the gameplay on the information it gathers. For example, if you play the game at night, it will be nighttime also in the in-game world, which affects e.g. your field of vision and the policemen's behavior.

Last updated on 24 February 2017