The thing about this game is, it tries to be style over substance.
And although it harbours a fantastic presentation, it falls short where any game worth its salt should not fall short - being fun.
The game design at its core is very simple.
You find the bodies, clean up the blood and try not to get caught by the police patrolling the map.
This concept is good on paper, not so much in its execution.
The gameplay has a feel akin to a 2000's flash game.
What I mean by this is, the controls feel borderline clunky and the gameplay loop itself is very repetitive and although the game tries to change things up by introducing new mechanics, it never manages to change the formula enough to really capture and entrance.
There are also technical problems with the policemen's line of sight being twitchy and unpredicatable (in a stealth game, you need to telegraph these things properly to players!) as well as the hiding mechanic being straight up overpowered.
You can hide even if the police is right behind you and they will ignore it like they have no idea where you went one second ago.
Another problem is, the artstyle is very pretty, but it hinders the readability of the map as the colours make everything blend together and it's sometimes hard to see what is a passage, a movable object, etc.
Aside from these glaring problems, Serial Cleaner has a fantastic, pop-y artstyle and a jazzy, funky soundtrack that made the missions a lot more enjoyable to complete.
And although it harbours a fantastic presentation, it falls short where any game worth its salt should not fall short - being fun.
The game design at its core is very simple.
You find the bodies, clean up the blood and try not to get caught by the police patrolling the map.
This concept is good on paper, not so much in its execution.
The gameplay has a feel akin to a 2000's flash game.
What I mean by this is, the controls feel borderline clunky and the gameplay loop itself is very repetitive and although the game tries to change things up by introducing new mechanics, it never manages to change the formula enough to really capture and entrance.
There are also technical problems with the policemen's line of sight being twitchy and unpredicatable (in a stealth game, you need to telegraph these things properly to players!) as well as the hiding mechanic being straight up overpowered.
You can hide even if the police is right behind you and they will ignore it like they have no idea where you went one second ago.
Another problem is, the artstyle is very pretty, but it hinders the readability of the map as the colours make everything blend together and it's sometimes hard to see what is a passage, a movable object, etc.
Aside from these glaring problems, Serial Cleaner has a fantastic, pop-y artstyle and a jazzy, funky soundtrack that made the missions a lot more enjoyable to complete.