Body of Evidence Review

Body of Evidence is a clean up game just like House Flipper or Viscera Cleanup Detail, except you are a “cleaner” who deals with dead bodies and blood.

At the main menu I couldn't focus on the wording very well as the writing is slightly blurry which doesn't help that I wear glasses to see better. The first level “The Phone” starts by giving you a note and a voiceover, which gives you the story. Once you start the actual level there is a ringing phone, and you would think that the starting level is a tutorial, but it didn't tell me what to do, how to move or pick up anything. Until I worked out how to pick up a brush.

As I moved about and answered the phone it told me to go grab the body. I had to press every button until I picked up the body. I dragged it over to a green area, but I noticed a timer in the right corner of the screen, which I wasn’t told about. It’s in every level, so you need to plan ahead so you don't fail.

Body of Evidence looks very dark and there is no option in-game to turn the brightness up, so I had to turn the brightness up on my Switch. The game is like House Flipper but with more blood, and the levels are black and white which gives it a noir look. It makes the blood stand out in bright red stains, along with any items that you need to pick up like a brush, broom, etc.

However, it does get very frustrating at times with the timer running down. Having to work out where to clean up next and in some levels disposing of the body became very challenging. At one point I was trying to fit a body into a container and tried lifting it in all different ways which, spent most of my time trying and I failed the level. Moving around when carrying bodies is very slow, and there’s not even an option to run. There is also a lockpicking mini-game, with the icon moving across the screen and you have to press the button at the right time - while the level timer is still running down.

The music doesn’t help things, as it’s repetitive jazz. Having to retry levels a lot means I had to listen to it too much. I had to keep the sound down unless I was listening to the voiceover, because I could barely read the on-screen text.

Body of Evidence isn’t just frustrating. There are also some bugs, such as one that caused my brush and broom to disappear when I restarted the level.

Since I usually enjoy games that have you cleaning up places, I had high hopes for Body of Evidence. It’s too bad that it’s just too frustrating to be any fun. It’s out on Xbox One, soon to be on Steam, and of course, Switch, but I can’t recommend it.