Technical Information

Developer: Draw Distance
Publisher: Curve Games
Release Date: July 14, 2017

Serial Cleaner is a stealth game where your objective is to clean up all the blood, dispose of bodies, and get rid of any evidence of crimes.

Final Thoughts – Analyzing the Game as a Whole

Graphics and UI

What makes this game so unique is the fact that its art style is simple but at the same time very remarkable. Rectangular-styled shapes are mixed into a charismatic 70’s aesthetic. Less is more, and here it was perfectly calculated.

The color palette features a lot of brown, yellow, orange, and pastel tones contrasting with the vibrant red of blood.

The interface is clear, with a straightforward main menu. During the first stages, there’s a brief tutorial that teaches you how to play. The HUD shows the items and bodies you collect and the percentage of blood you have cleaned.

Soundtrack and Sound Effects

Awesome soundtrack! For a game with criminal objectives, I could never imagine jazz-themed songs. It fits well, perfectly harmonizing with the art style.

When an enemy sees you, they make a sound alerting you that something has happened. Some other noises can be noticed during gameplay, making the experience more immersive.

Gameplay

This game is very fun and maintains a good pace until the end.

I played Serial Cleaner for the first time around 2017 on Xbox One. Since then, I’ve found this game very charming and full of a peculiar humorous touch!

In Story Mode, the challenges get harder as you progress, but don’t think the game is complex. Once you understand the movement patterns of the enemies, it becomes simple to beat the stages. Each enemy has its own movement pattern and viewing area.

Each new level introduces new events in the story. It was a good way to keep the player hooked until the end of the game.
In addition to the story mode, there are also hidden items that unlock clothes (skins) and additional stages, as well as specific challenges for each level.

There’s also a Night Mode, which changes the level from day to night. In terms of story and gameplay, I see no difference. I didn’t understand the reason behind this feature (maybe to reduce eye strain?).

When you run over blood, you slip. It’s an interesting detail that I liked a lot! 🙂

Unfortunately, I experienced some annoying bugs.
The worst one was the blood percentage counter. For some reason, it isn’t very accurate. Sometimes even when you clean 100% of the blood, it doesn’t count, and you need to restart the game and play again to get the “100%” badge. 🙁
Another issue I found happens when navigating to the main menu and selecting “Exit”. The confirmation option sometimes doesn’t appear, which leaves you stuck in the game.

Replayability and Game Retention

It took me approximately 5 hours to finish the story mode. However, if you include the extra stages and challenges, it’s easy to spend around 15 hours playing.

For those who enjoy this style of game, it’s definitely worth it. However, don’t expect anything too difficult. I’d say the difficulty is fairly average. It’s more about having patience than relying on strategy or quick reflexes with the controls.