Video games like PowerWash Simulator and Home Flipper are invites to loosen up; they’re all about creating order from chaos. It’s pleasing to see a trashed home or a messy storage and restore it to its former glory. However what if there have been greater stakes? What if as a substitute of eliminating an outdated, rusted-out automobile, I needed to haul useless our bodies? What if as a substitute of grime and soot, my main concern was blood and forensic proof? Crime Scene Cleaner is a recreation that bravely tackles these questions, and the reply is surprisingly satisfying.
In Crime Scene Cleaner, I play a down-on-his-luck janitor referred to as Kovalsky, who has tons of monetary issues together with a vaguely but tragically sick youngster. A good friend provides a giant payday to assist him cope with a giant oopsie doodle – he murdered somebody. Seems, scrubbing crime scenes is way more worthwhile than scrubbing bathrooms. There’s additionally an lively mafia on the town, so there’s no scarcity of labor.
Crime Scene Cleaner units up some ingenious but grisly eventualities, like a mass homicide at a pizza parlor, full with a man midway within the pizza oven. One demise particularly gave me an sudden chuckle: a younger man, murdered whereas enjoying a Soulslike, full with the “YOU DIED” display screen on his monitor. How ironic!
It doesn’t matter what I’m confronted with, I’ve the instruments to wash all of it up: mops, sponges, a step ladder, a stress washer, detergents, and many trash luggage. That is the place the meditative side of the sport shines. It doesn’t matter whether or not I’m cleansing up outdated containers of pizza or the splatter sample from a physique falling from an ideal top; both manner, my mind will get the great chemical substances. I can even steal from the useless to my coronary heart’s content material, promoting a bit of coke on the aspect or dropping fancy statues off on the pawn store.
If something, I want the auxiliary points of Crime Scene Cleaner had been a bit of extra pronounced. As soon as I end a job, I head again to my residence. I can learn a few emails, which normally shine a lightweight on the protagonist’s dismal monetary state of affairs, and pet my canine, however then I’ve to hit the hay. Then, as soon as I get up, it’s time for one more job. It’d be neat to have a bit of extra company over the place that cash goes, however on the finish of the day, I’m simply there to haul our bodies and scrub blood.
One other charming contact is Kovalsky’s fixed commentary. The voice appearing isn’t superb, however that provides a sure je ne sais quoi. He has a droll line for each demise. Upon discovering the beforehand talked about gamer, he quips, “Simply think about enjoying some FPS and ending up with a bullet in your head. Now that’s what I name immersion.” The voice actor at all times supplies a flat supply, which is amusing in its personal proper, and cuts by way of the morbid ambiance of every crime scene.
Crime Scene Cleaner initially launched on Aug. 14, however I stumbled throughout the sport whereas scrolling by way of the Steam retailer. I’m glad I took an opportunity on this title and purchased it with out digging into it; cleansing crime scenes scratches a sure itch. Attending to shove $100 payments and bricks of cocaine in my in-game pocket is only a bonus.
