Video games like PowerWash Simulator and Home Flipper are invites to chill out; they’re all about creating order from chaos. It’s gratifying to see a trashed home or a messy storage and restore it to its former glory. However what if there have been larger stakes? What if as an alternative of eliminating an outdated, rusted-out car, I needed to haul lifeless our bodies? What if as an alternative of grime and soot, my major concern was blood and forensic proof? Crime Scene Cleaner is a recreation that bravely tackles these questions, and the reply is unusually satisfying.
In Crime Scene Cleaner, I play a down-on-his-luck janitor referred to as Kovalsky, who has tons of economic issues together with a vaguely but tragically sick youngster. A pal affords an enormous payday to assist him take care of an enormous oopsie doodle – he murdered somebody. Seems, scrubbing crime scenes is rather more worthwhile than scrubbing bogs. 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 loss of life specifically gave me an sudden chuckle: a younger man, murdered whereas taking part in 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 scrub all of it up: mops, sponges, a step ladder, a strain washer, detergents, and plenty of trash luggage. That is the place the meditative facet of the sport shines. It doesn’t matter whether or not I’m cleansing up outdated bins of pizza or the splatter sample from a physique falling from an ideal peak; both means, my mind will get the nice chemical compounds. I can even steal from the lifeless 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 elements of Crime Scene Cleaner have been a bit of extra pronounced. As soon as I end a job, I head again to my dwelling. I can learn a few emails, which often 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 loss of life. Upon discovering the beforehand talked about gamer, he quips, “Simply think about taking part in 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 means of the morbid environment of every crime scene.
Crime Scene Cleaner initially launched on Aug. 14, however I stumbled throughout the sport whereas scrolling by means 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.