Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “How would Doom 93 look if it were made in the style of a noir Steamboat Willie?” No? Just me? Well, thankfully, the team over at Fumi Games apparently asked themselves a similar question and decided to make MOUSE: P.I. For Hire a boomer shooter in the style of a noir Steamboat Willie. Ahead of its April 14 release date, MonsterVine was able to go hands-on with MOUSE: P.I. For Hire for roughly forty minutes. Within that time, not only did I get closer to cracking a case wide open, but I also fought hordes of robots, shot a lot of guns, and, of course, heard a lot of puns.
The core of any Boomer Shooter is its guns, and I’m happy to report that MOUSE: P.I. For Hire has a wide range of them, and each one does something a bit different. Granted, there wasn’t that big of a rotation to look through, but it had all of the standards you’d come to expect from the genre. There was the Pistol, a slow and steady but reliable. The Machine Gun, which did its job whenever you needed to kill a lot of things fast, and the iconic Shotgun, dynamites, and your first as melee. All of the guns were fun in their own way, but none of them compared to the Ink weapon. What it basically did was drain any enemy of all its color and strip it down to its skeleton, causing it to die shortly after.
That last part right there was one of the many reasons I loved this game as much as I did because it didn’t take itself too seriously. You don’t have to look too far to find examples of it, either. The Steamboat Willie inspiration is clear, and it takes that style and adds a noir filter. This creates a lot of fun dynamics that I didn’t know were possible until then.
All of the enemies have these unapologetically cartoonish ideal animations that give the game so much charm. This is only elevated when you also realise that most, if not all, of the enemies are in this hybrid 2D/3D style. Each time I reloaded a gun, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. This was especially true whenever the shotgun was empty. Instead of doing a traditional animation of placing one bullet at a time, as you’d usually see, the main character would just grab a bunch of bullets and jam them down the barrel at once. Then, just like that, the gun would be ready to use in the next fight.
A lot of the guns had a rubbery feel, too. Thanks to the artstyle of it, because every time I’d move around or shoot, they would move freely in different directions. This just added to the chaotic charm that I came to love while playing through it. But it wasn’t just the guns and animations that made me smile; it was the enemies I was thrown up against and the music that was also playing.
During my time with MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, I was looking for a girl who had gone missing, and while searching for clues, I eventually found myself in a scientist’s lab. Once I got inside, I was greeted by an army of killer mouse robots. I could only imagine what The Simpsons felt like when they got stuck in Itchy & Scratchy Land in Season 6, Episode 4. What was great, too, was that the bosses I fought were all just as fun, too, and did something a bit different. At the end of the evil scientist’s lab, I found a robotic version of the woman I was looking for. Even though these songs are grim, they feel like it. A lot of the music was very upbeat and chaotic. While fighting this robot, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh at how over-the-top it was and how perfectly it captured the mood.
By the time I was done exploring that lab of robot mice, I was given a chance to drive around the city and see everything it had to offer. Even though nearly all of it was locked, it was nice to drive around the city with the top down and see everything the full game has to offer. To be perfectly honest, I was impressed by the number of locations you’ll be able to visit in-game, even though only one other spot was available to me in the build I was playing.
Something that is extremely important to mention is that not all of the game will have you running and gunning. There’s going to be plenty of moments filled with downtime that’ll allow you to get to know Jack (the protagonist) and everyone around him. Even when I was blasting my way through enemies, he was giving all sorts of one-liners that gave me a good idea of how much of a goofball he is. By the time I got to the final act, I saw a bit more of his personal life.
What was funny is that it plays into the trope of an old man who doesn’t want to admit he has a soft spot. It adds this charm to him, but it also pays homage to many classic noir films your parents may have seen growing up. On the topic of paying respect, something I quickly noticed is the number of references thrown into the game. You don’t even have to look too far to find a lot of them, either, but some can be more subtle than others. When the game isn’t paying homage to what came before, it’s throwing a lot of puns your way. Comedy can always be a hit or miss thing when it’s a core part of the game, but it was something I never got tired of. This was probably because MOUSE: P.I. For Hire makes a point of addressing how annoying it can be when a game includes too many jokes for their own sake.
By the time I had reached the tail end of the build, I was presented with one of my favorite features of the game. This was putting all the pieces together to solve the case. It reminded me a lot of Alan Wake 2’s system, which involved you putting two and two together with all the evidence you had. Granted, it wasn’t as complex as Alan Wake 2, but it was still fun nonetheless. As soon as I had solved one case, another one came walking right into my office in true noir fashion. But before I got to the bottom of that one, my time with MOUSE: P.I. For Hire came to an end.
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a Steamboat Willie-Inspired Boomer Shooter With Style
Admittedly, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire has been a game I’ve been looking forward to since I saw gameplay at last year’s Summer Game Fest. It’s a refreshing take on the Boomer Shooter genre, and it’s fun in its purest form. As you might expect, I am beyond excited for its full release next month on April 14. Mouse: P.I. For Hire is scheduled to come out in 2025 and will be playable on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
