Kovalsky is a widowed father, trying to provide a home for his daughter, despite the medical bills piling up for her care. Who could ever judge someone like that for how he makes his ends meet?
Every mission is labeled as a "Chapter" which progresses the story. Household furnishings and trash change with every chapter. You can't sit on the sofa, but you can pick up and throw the chair and some garbage. The ability to pet our dog Dexter is always a plus in any game, and something I look for. However, that's all you can do. He doesn't follow you around the house, you can't feed him, or call him, and when you throw the ball for him, he just stands there. Does he miss Elena?
As the story continues, rooms of the house will change, the back patio door will open and close between chapters (you can't open it otherwise). "Dad's Man Cave" serves as our office where we leave an electronic trail of the jobs we've done, but don't worry about that...I'm sure it's fine.
What I gather from Big Jim is he makes a BIG, violent mess. If you don't mind the sight of blood, the gore is minimal. The bodies are not dismembered and there's no sinew gag to deal with. If blood does bother you, but you're still interested in playing, there is an option to put the blood into "safe" mode which gives it that "under black light glow" instead of a deep red. You'll still track footprints through it, but they'll be a more palatable color. It's also incredibly useful for those of us with visual disabilities by highlighting what otherwise would be hard to see.
There is a skill tree to unlock additional tools and extra buckets and mops to help make cleaning easier. Unlike other simulators that have an infinite on-demand water source, this game requires one, and for the water to be changed periodically. It can be frustrating to leave the bucket under the water spigot and run back and forth, but it only takes ~10x of accidentally dumping over the dirty mop water, causing an even bigger mess, for you to realize, it's the only safe place for it. Take my advice. Or do better than I did, I'm not here to tell you how to play. No matter where the bucket is, you will need to frequent it. Often! Or face the bloody consequences.
Overall, the game is an interesting concept that I enjoyed. I love to watch other people play horror games, but personally do not enjoy playing them. This game allows for a horror genre feel without the stress of being hunted. One of my favorite features is finding tapes on location and being able to collect an entire playlist to enjoy while you work. Not every song will be your favorite (I'm looking at you Holy Wota), but I'm Ready to Die by LULU Suicide is the track I could play on repeat. If there was a way to organize the tracks by genre I didn't use it, and even then I only recall you could categorize the songs but it wouldn't only play that genre. Definitely not a deal breaker though.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Dark and ominous graphics fit the horror theme. LOTS of blood, but I have no stomach for gore, but this game is fine for me.
Collect tapes from different chapters and select a track to zone out to while cleaning, or turn music off and enjoy the sounds of sponge cleaning and water spraying...also picking up and tossing bodies if that's your thing.
Controller supported although I used a keyboard. Movement is easy, but I wish holding objects had more control. I've broken many bottles with a clunky pressure washer.
After 45 hours of gameplay, I finally realized I could turn the blood to "safe mode" which highlights it in infra-red instead of the deep red color it is otherwise. This makes it much easier to see, where the Cleaner Sense only lasts seconds which can make it very hard to see. I'm not sure if that's geared towards people who don't like blood since it mentions it specifically, or if its for visual disabilities, but whatever works. There is also an option of clicking an item instead of holding to pick up. Be careful with that kind of power around a dirty water bucket though.
Despite the theme of the game, you are in stress free working conditions, rare jump scares, and no enemies to evade. Frustration is your biggest concern, and that includes finishing a long and multi-level chapter only to find out you've missed 2 tapes, evidence, and found no secrets.
PROS / CONS
- Unique idea for a simulator
- pet interaction
- blood safe mode
- Accessibility could be better for vision
- easily spill water and break bottles
