It's hard to say exactly what to think about Serial Cleaner, as it seems to be full of good intentions. Inspired by the Hotline Miami model, and giving it a twist with its stealth-based gameplay, the game is adorned with qualitative assets. The introductory cinematic foreshadows the excellent graphic style, which communicates the atmosphere of the 1970s well. On paper, the mechanics should all work well and provide a worthy experience. Nevertheless, the execution leaves a rigid game, which is just a carcass of what an infiltration game should be. What should be its charm becomes an unpleasant chore: failure is particularly punishing in this title, as the mission starts again from the beginning. On the other hand, the game has no moments of grace in finely crafted plans, as it is possible to escape any policeman by jumping into a crate or hiding in a plant. The emergent gameplay is never rewarded; you just have to wait for the unreadable and boring cycles of the enemies. In the end, Serial Cleaner fails miserably on an interesting concept, even though it offers a particularly charming art direction. But the game breaks its teeth on the basics of game design. It's unfortunate, both for us and for the developers.