Serial Cleaners has a very solid core idea and adds just enough variety with its four characters to make each level feel engaging and unique. I like solving the puzzle of how to get all the bodies while attracting as little attention as possible. The strength of the gameplay makes it easier to ignore the more undercooked elements of the narrative. The biggest issue with the game is that the opponent A.I. feels a little off but the saving grace is that this can create moments of weird, bloody comedy. Serial Cleaners delivers a good mix of careful planning and emergent moments that will satisfy every fan of the stealth action genre.
As a straight, old-school stealth experience Serial Cleaners certainly delivers. There's very little fluff or filler, with compact mission areas, clear objectives and little reason to deviate from the plan.
GreppoTV Games Review in 100 Wörtern:
Serial Cleaners ist ein Stealth-Action-Spiel in der Top-Down-Perspektive. Ihr spielt Tatortreiniger für die Mafia im New York der 1990er Jahre. Die Steuerung ausschließlich per Tastatur ist anfangs gewöhnungsbedürftig, geht aber schnell flüssig von der Hand geht. Besonders fasziniert hat mich die großartige musikalische Untermalung, die perfekt zur Stimmung des Spiels und der jeweiligen Level passt. Die Grafik ist nicht foto-realistisch, aber sehr schön gemalt und es macht Spaß, das Spiel anzusehen. Leider ist die Gegner-KI so dumm, das einige Level dadurch zu einfach werden. Hier wäre ein einstellbarer Schwierigkeitsgrad wünschenswert. Ein insgesamt nettes Schleichspiel mit toller Atmosphäre und befriedigenden Gameplay-Mechaniken.
8/10 - GreppoTV
Serial Cleaners is built upon the good foundations set by its predecessor, carried on by new characters that expand its interesting narrative concept. However, its stealth mechanics are a bit flawed and the innovative thrust of the first chapter got a little lost in this sequel.
Although its stealth systems can feel a little too forgiving and easy to work around, Serial Cleaners’ grungey story is still one well-worth going through thanks to its likeable cast, sense of style, varied levels, and satisfying core mechanics that manage to stay fresh throughout the adventure.
Serial Cleaners is a clever story about mob’s crime scene cleaners,
unfortunately spoiled with a couple of annoying flaws, e.g. an
irritating save system or the tendency to waste your time by making you
wait for something idly. Overall, it probably won’t wow you, but is
quite engaging and has a distinct, enjoyable atmosphere backed by an
excellent soundtrack.
Serial Cleaners' main problem is that it's kind of a wasted opportunity. There's room for a game like this on the market, and it's stylishly presented enough that it could easily garner an audience of obsessive stealth-loving cleaners. It just doesn't achieve the necessary tension to make it a compelling stealth game and its mechanics are too open to abuse to reward careful play and smart decisions. As a result, the potential thrill that it could have been is lost.
Good-
Excellent style; Unique premise; Fun story and characters.
Bad-
Clunky controls on keyboard and mouse.
Thoughts-
Overall, Serial Cleaners is a pretty good time. It’s not a particularly long game, but it’s definitely one that rewards repeated playthroughs thanks to its surprising level of interactivity. Its story’s also pretty fun, and you will likely end up getting surprisingly attached to the four protagonists by the end of the game. I, however, find myself strangely attracted to the game thanks to its unique use of a setting we’ve taken for granted these days. Couple that with the interesting subject matter, and a great use of aesthetics to evoke a certain style, and Serial Cleaners definitely becomes a game to look out for. We play all sorts of gangsters and hitmen, so why not take a small break from committing murders to maybe look at the difficult job of cleaning up after murders for a change?
It is a different game from the first game in every aspect. Completely different works that cannot be compared. While the first game was more arcade style, this game is a more advanced game. Both the drawings and mechanics are completely different. Overall, it's a good time, but it gets very repetitive and gets boring after a while. Even though I finished the game completely, I didn't even look at the story because it didn't give me anything to make me curious in the first chapters. But overall, it is a game that can be tried, but one should not have such high expectations.
What I look for in games is a good story. Here I found chaos. The concept of telling cleaning stories is very interesting, but unfortunately not in this way. I didn't feel motivated to keep playing. The characters are forced to be cool, which makes them seem tasteless.
When it comes to the gameplay itself, I like the multitude of solutions and my own creativity in solving problems. Very nice graphics that are pleasing to the eye.
SummaryNew York City, New Year's Eve 1999. An unlikely team of four professional cleaners for the mob gathers to drink and reminisce about their careers at the turn of the millenium. As the details of their stories stop matching up, the ugly truth behind their cooperation begins to reveal itself. What starts as a celebration of a decade of shar...