A murder has taken place in one of New York’s many dive bars. Four bodies, two very incriminating pieces of evidence, and a whole lot of blood. They sneak behind the pool table, turn on the jukebox, and throw limbs to distract the mob circling the area. Once they manage to get through the bar, they quickly take out the most important tool in their kit – a vacuum cleaner – and start cleaning up – what they came here for.

The funny thing about Serial Cleaners is that your predecessor has already had all the nasty fun, and you now have to sneakily clean up after him, wrapping up corpses, cleaning up blood pools, removing stray limbs, etc. Basically, you’re the one who sneaks into the club after the player guns down everyone in Hotline Miami.

Serial Cleaners is set on New Year’s Eve 1999, when four cleaners get together to reflect on their best jobs of the decade. In each of the game’s six chapters, you switch between the four chapters in any order as you tell the story, but occasionally the narrative focuses on one of them to get more background.

Finally, the story changes are set aside in favor of a fun twist that can lead to several different endings. Serial Cleaners’ story isn’t all that unique or new, but it’s anchored by a surprisingly well-developed and likeable cast of characters, including the openly mama’s boy Bob and the troubled psycho. There’s a lot to talk about at first. I could have done without Viper’s L33t language, though.

What immediately struck me was the huge change in art style for the sequel. The original game was simple and 2D, inspired by things like the 70s Incredibles end credits. The 2D aesthetic has been replaced with full 3D models and environments, a big improvement that seems necessary for the more physics-based gameplay this time around.

The overall mood has also changed from 70s pop to 90s grunge, giving Serial Cleaners a dark aesthetic that suits well with all the bloody murder scenes. Additionally, some of each character’s thoughts and actions appear on screen as visual doodles, such as a cartoon sketch of a cleaning lady walking around with a vacuum cleaner, which helps keep things from getting too dark. Gentle jazz also helps.

One of the first things you’ll notice about Serial Cleaners is that it’s slow, similar to other stealth games such as Hitman. In fact, Hitman is the easiest point of comparison to just see a bird’s-eye view without actually killing anything. In each level, you’re given a certain amount of bodies, blood, and evidence to dispose of, and you have to navigate the level while working your way through it bit by bit, dragging the bodies and evidence to your car, sucking up the blood (don’t ask me how that works) and having Scooby-Doo run through doors to avoid the police and gangs.

The four different cleaners give this sequel an edge over its predecessor, as each has their own unique abilities that keep things from getting boring. Psycho has a more aggressive style of dismembering corpses and throwing limbs, Ratty can use parkour to jump over fences, and Viper has his own hacking mechanic that allows him to create distractions or move through ventilation shafts.

Unfortunately, Bob, the best character, has the least interesting unique moveset, as he can slide around on a trail of blood, making him seem like the weakest link compared to the others, despite having the most interesting storyline. Luckily, the four Cleaners have the same basic moveset, so even if you don’t like Viper’s often-distracting playstyle, there’s plenty to get by with.

The stealth mechanics themselves are pretty simple, usually just relying on line of sight to make as little noise as possible around people, but it’s still fun to sneak around and manipulate the environment to your advantage. Serial Cleaners is pretty hard at first, but you’ll soon realize that there isn’t much of a penalty for being spotted or making what feel like small mistakes.

Aside from being chased and having to start again (which itself can be avoided by running or hiding), the police won’t do you much, even if you leave evidence or bodies in visible places. As someone who enjoyed playing the silent assassin, suit only, in Hitman, I find it disappointing that there isn’t much to stop you from inching your body closer to your target and running away if necessary. Combine this with an extensive memory system that seems to always be working when you’re doing something, and Serial Cleaner lacks bite.

Even without such a challenge, there’s some variety in the areas you go to. Serial Cleaners’ story is told in a unique way, with four characters talking about their greatest feats, meaning no two levels have the same feeling. There are a few that stink (Viper’s introductory mission springs to mind), but most of them are original and shake up the formula in interesting ways. Highlights include a claustrophobic family-run store with barely any room to move, a bloody sitcom set that hits way too close to home after recently watching Nope, and a drug-ridden dry cleaners on a cruise where enemies invade reality – and disappear from there while you’re cleaning, and words appear in the blood.

It’s just a shame there’s no scoring system or anything like level replay here, because it feels entirely designed to give players some kind of ranking based on how much blood they’ve mopped up, how little they’ve found, or how fast they were. Considering how well the mechanics fit it, and how games like Hitman have proven its worth, this is a missed opportunity.

Though the stealth system feels a little too forgiving and easy to get around, Serial Cleaners’ sordid story is still worth playing thanks to its likable cast, sense of style, varied levels, and satisfying core mechanics. Adventure.