Mouse: P.I. For Hire is the answer to a question nobody was asking, but should’ve been: What if Steamboat Willie were a classic first-person shooter? That answer, as it turns out, is a delightful, whimsical adventure through a cartoon, noir-fueled environment, where people are mice and there’s a mystery afoot. All of that is slowly unraveled as you, a private investigator rodent, dive into the shady deals and discover clues to tie everything together. And even though the shooting element — what you’ll spend most of your time doing — doesn’t blow the roof off, the complete package makes this an innovative, rambunctious romp that you won’t forget in a hurry.
The story unfolds in the fictional town of Mouseburg, home to an ex-copper turned rent-a-P.I. named Jack Pepper. Looking into the unintended disappearance of a magician, a conspiracy of bent cops, shrew trafficking, and a murdered Tinseltown star sends Pepper to an opera, a riverboat party, the sewers, and more — each animated location teeming with character and personality. And cheese, because from your brie to your blue, there’s a hell of a lot of cheese puns.
Immediately, one thing makes Mouse: P.I. For Hire distinguishable from the crowd: the art style. The entire game is in greyscale, and every character, weapon, and otherwise interactable object is 2D, much like some of the earliest cartoons from the 1920s and ’30s. It’s striking, bold, and somehow, it works. There were pre-release concerns online around visibility of enemies and items of note with such a palette and artistic design, but after almost finishing the game, I haven’t encountered that issue once.
Troy Baker plays the protagonist and, as you’d expect from gaming’s most famous voice, every single line is delivered with outstanding gusto and authenticity. Combined with the hilarious writing, full of pop culture references, including one about 2012’s iconic “potion seller” video, it’s impossible to play without a permanent smile etched onto your face.
Most of Pepper’s time is spent blasting the heads off crooked cops, with the odd cultist thrown in for good measure, and the game shines as a wannabe boomer shooter. It doesn’t quite match the pace and fluidity of Quake, Doom, or to use modern examples, Dusk or Ultrakill. Very rarely are you presented with wide open areas where such pace would be functional; combat is usually in much more contained environments. I often found myself entering an area, then clicking on heads from afar without moving much, as opposed to how other games in the genre encourage constant motion.
For a game that is clearly incredibly clever in every aspect, from its writing and characters to levels and boss design, the weapons, especially early on, are a little basic. After all, three of the earliest weapons you’ll unlock include a standard pistol, shotgun, and a machine gun (called the James Gun, rather than a Tommy Gun, heh). There is the odd unique inclusion later down the line, not to mention the occasional scripted moment where Pepper will equip finger guns with unlimited ammo, but pushing the boat out a little further may have helped liven up the action.
It’s all thematic though, meant to fuel a playable cartoon where environmental interaction is rife. Classic slapstick comedy, such as pianos and anvils falling from the ceiling if you shoot the ropes hoisting them up, is found in a number of levels. Keep an eye out for “totally normal wall!” graffiti too, because it indicates that the surface is very much not a totally normal wall, and can in fact be destroyed with dynamite or explosive barrels.
You’re a detective, remember, so unlike traditional boomer shooters, there are plenty of breaks in the action. Whether it’s chatting with the odd non-hostile NPC, taking a breather to read one of the game’s many notes, or searching an area to ensure you haven’t missed any secrets, Mouse: P.I. For Hire rations the action out in chunks rather than encouraging you to go full steam ahead at all times.
New abilities are gradually unlocked as you progress, including a double jump, wall run, and gliding. These are more for exploration than combat though, and the game doesn’t shy away from hiding secrets. There are newspapers, comic strips, baseball cards that can be used in a minigame, and ultra-secret Jack Pepper replica figurines to hunt. With the movement tech available, they can be hidden everywhere and anywhere.
Such freedom in compact environments means you can often get higher than intended by the devs, although the line between what is “legit” and what would be considered out of bounds is blurry. In the level set in the film studio for a western, for example, I jumped atop a building, as I saw a collectible pulsating up there, begging to be picked up. Clearly I’m meant to go there, right?
I was right, but that was not the correct method. I triggered a set piece early, where the floor gave way beneath me (about five times in quick succession, in fact, one of the game’s amusing gags) and I fell into a cave full of enemies. I was supposed to be chasing a fraudulent bookkeeper though, and the path out of the cave led me right into his path, except I approached from behind. So he wouldn’t talk to me, and the path behind him — aka the way I should’ve approached from — was blocked by an invisible wall. I jumped over it though, because as it turns out, that was for an impending train crash, with enemies ready to pile out. This whole charade didn’t halt my progress, nor did I have to restart, but it does prove how easy it is to break Mouse: P.I. For Hire if you’re inclined to explore every nook and cranny.
There are a few other minor bugs — dynamite disappears after you throw it, the tutorial for the baseball card minigame appears every round, sound effects suddenly flip depending on where you’re standing in a room — but nothing gets in the way of how utterly delightful Mouse: P.I. For Hire is to play.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire isn’t flawless, and it certainly isn’t going to test your mettle as a challenging shooter (which, consequently, means it’s much more approachable for non-FPS players), but it’s worth playing for the vibes alone, even if the combat feels a little one-dimensional at times. From the fantastically groovy audio design in the jazzy soundtrack, sound effects, and voice acting across its diverse, larger-than-life characters, to the visually stunning rubber hose animation and hand-drawn levels, Fumi Games has outperformed all expectations. Everyone should play Mouse: P.I. For Hire, because it absolutely deserves to mouse its way into the awards rat race come the end of the year.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire will be released April 16 on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on PC using a prerelease download code provided by Playside. You can find additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.
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