3 
0 Today I’m checking out first-person cleaning simulator Crime Scene Cleaner. Developed and published by President Studio, with additional publishing by notorious simulator developer, PlayWays S.A. Releasing on August 14th on Steam, Crime Scene Cleaner is available to wishlist right now.
What About The People He Murdered?… What Murder?!
Crime Scene Cleaner follows the story of a janitor by the name of Kovalsky who has fallen on hard times. With mounting hospital bills for his sick daughter, he receives a call to clean up the aftermath of a gruesome scene for exceptional pay. Getting entangled in the mob, Kovalsky takes on bloodbath after bloodbath. Let’s see if he can keep his own nose clean.
Gameplay
The first job the game throws our way involves cleaning an apartment following our friend Tyler’s business going south. Very south. Equipped with sponges, detergent, a mop and bucket, I jump into action. In this level, there are taps in the bathrooms where we can fill up the bucket. Once filled, we can choose to add two types of detergent; an orange or green. Both detergents offer different bonus to the mop and sponges. The orange detergent makes stains 20% easier to remove. Whilst using the green detergent means you have to rinse your tools less often.
While mopping around and removing blood from surfaces, I found I accidentally knocked over a bottle here or a vase there. This caused them to smash and increased what I needed to clean up. To avoid this, I recommend using the sponge instead as it looks like it doesn’t move these objects. A great feature is the mess highlight when you press the Q button. I found it great to use, as this feature shows both blood splatters and where furniture should be placed.
Evidence and Stealing
One of the regular tasks assigned to you in Crime Scene Cleaner is finding and collecting evidence that has left behind. While looking for evidence and cleaning, no one will notice if a few rings/bracelets or even a kilo of cocaine goes missing. Stealing these will grant extra money, which later than increases the amount of skill points you can get for upgrades. I didn’t see any consequence for stealing, so grab all the goodies you can!
Tools and upgrades
The mop and bucket are not your only tools in Crime Scene Cleaner, as you play you will unlock the Ozonater. This will help aid in weakening stains. A power washer (seems these are in a lot of simulation games now) will help with reaching higher areas. However, it doesn’t work as well as your trusty sponges. You can also get passive perks. For example being able to walk through blood without leaving footprints behind.
All tools get their own skill trees and the game is generous with the skill points, so no need to worry. Even though the tree shows two choices, you can switch anytime. Most upgrades will improve the cleaning efficiency by making it get through stains quicker or preventing you from having to run to the bucket for fresh water. Personally I found the best upgrade to be the the Akimbo sponges. They’re both efficient and funny.
Graphics & Audio
While it may not be visually stunning, there’s plenty I enjoyed with the visuals and audio of Crime Scene Cleaner. As a whole, the graphics and audio were of decent quality. Many of the songs from the collectable cassettes you find in-game are really good. The voice acting is corny and funny, however overall it is done well, especially with Kovalsky himself and the Ozonator’s voices.
The minor visual details are what I enjoy most. Besides the icon for your cleaning tool icon turning red, blood splashes off of your mop/sponge. Your mop bucket itself gets bloodied, and the water turns red. When using detergents, little bubbles in different colours show on your mop/sponge. This makes it easy to remember which detergent you’re using.
Longevity
I’ve been playing Crime Scene Cleaner for nearly 12 hours and fully intend to play more. The small maps take roughly 30 – 40 minutes, while medium and large maps take a bit longer. There are secrets hidden around and the cassette tapes serve as the games collectables. These are scattered around maps for players to find.
Final Thoughts
My initial thoughts on Crime Scene Cleaner were that it was going to be another bog standard simulator. I’m glad this wasn’t the case. Even though you’re essentially playing a game about cleaning, there is a nice story that unfolds over-time. Tie that in with a few fun Easter eggs and secrets scattered around, you end up with an enjoyable experience. The upgrades work as intended, and I enjoyed switching between tool upgrades, trying to maximise my cleaning efficiency. The levels are all enjoyable and as of writing this review, I’ve completed eight so far. With each feeling fun and different, although not unique. My personal favourite level is the haunted house-styled one.
There are some small adds I would like, such as turning on lights in the building. Or money actually having a use aside from being part of the story narrative. I also didn’t enjoy the hacking mini-game, but as this only pops-up now and then, I didn’t overly mind.
If you’re looking for something in the same vein as Viscera Clean-up Detail but with more story, then Crime Scene Cleaner is right up your alley.
Crime Scene Cleaner gets the Thumb Culture Platinum Award from me.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
