Serial Cleaners (2022)

In this unusual take to stealth action, the players will have to clean up crime scenes after the gruesome actions occur but before the law can catch them. With its marvelous art style and sountrack, and an accessible and fun experience, Serial Cleaners' biggest flaws are its rather easy difficulty for experienced players and repetitiveness that settles in after a couple of hours, but which can be averted by playing in short sessions.

Serial Cleaners tries to take a leap forward from its predecessor, but manages to barely make a dent: while the graphics and narrative are indeed improved, giving us a colourful and enjoyable 90s-tinged work, the gameplay still has shortcomings.

The varied set pieces really capture the grimy, gritty nature of the crime that permeated film and TV during the late 90s with a surprising level of detail.

While Serial Cleaners isn’t without its issues, this macabre mop-’em-up has its moments, but only the most patient custodians of carnage will likely want to see it through to the end. The writing is fantastic and the characters all bring something new and exciting to the table with their various talents. If you enjoyed the original game and can look beyond the grime and viscera that occasionally gunk up the experience, you might just find Serial Cleaners to be a dirty job worth undertaking. It’s not much, but it’s honest work.

I loved my time with Serial Cleaners, which clocked in at around 10 hours. It was everything you could expect from a sequel of a game that showed some real promise. The greater lean on narrative and the gritty aesthetic carried the game much further than the original Serial Cleaner, but sadly the core gameplay loop remains mostly unchanged. This is fine initially but wears thin toward the end.  If you're a fan of Stealth games and movies such as Pulp Fiction, you'll lap up everything Serial Cleaners has to offer. While it outstayed its welcome, I'd have no qualms about hiring this motley crew for another clean-up.