Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a game I’ve been eagerly anticipating since its initial reveal, and can you blame me? You show me a noir shooter with a rubber hose style, and you’ve got my attention. Now was the wait worth it, or is the game too cheesy for its own good? Well, to put it simply, it’s pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire throws you deep into a noir mystery with a trio of cases that detective Jack Pepper will work on throughout the game. If you’ve consumed any sort of noir media, then you’ll be pretty familiar with these plot tropes of a dead actress, a missing magician, and a collection of kidnappings. Throughout the game, you’ll bounce between all three major cases as new clues are revealed and you start to realize they might be more connected than you initially thought.
Mouseburg is full of mystery and danger around every corner, and boy, the places you’ll go will have you wondering where you might possibly go next. From burning opera houses, cultist lairs, and even the lab of a mad scientist, Mouse: P.I. always has something new to show you, and what I love is that despite all the zones sharing (mostly) the same enemy types, they at least get a visual change appropriate to the level they’re in, which keeps things fresh.
As Jack Pepper, you’ll be able to explore Mouseburg as you take on cases to solve the three mysteries, while also being able to fulfill tasks by your friends, like finding some mystery meat for the bar owner at your detective office. The levels in the game are shockingly sprawling, with secrets to find and shortcuts to unlock as you explore; if you scope out what might seem like a hidden path, there’s a good chance you might find a safe with gold or a collectible down it. And all this while a delightful 30s-inspired jazz soundtrack fills your ears.
Mouse: P.I.’s gunplay plays things fast and loose, as death can come surprisingly quick if you’re not scurrying around during a gunfight and making smart use of the environment. I’m a sucker for a good shooter, and I feel like two key ingredients for making a shooter click are a healthy variety of weapons and encouragement to keep moving; Mouse: P.I. nails both. Not only are there a dozen upgradeable guns to play around with, but each also features an alternate fire mode and is gorgeously animated in that wonderful rubber-hose style.
Seeing your Tommy gun twist and flex as you fire it is just endlessly delightful. But on top of that, I love how the game is constantly encouraging you to move around during fights, with enemies that really put the pressure on you and environmental tools to fight with. You might find an anvil hanging precariously that you can shoot at to drop on unsuspecting enemies, or various barrels you can throw at enemies, like one that causes them to melt like the Dip in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Mouse: P.I. isn’t doing anything particularly groundbreaking with its combat, but what it does do, it does incredibly well, with visual flair on top of it.
If there’s one quibble to be had with the game, it’s that its in-game card game can feel a bit unfairly stacked against you. The game features a card game simply called Baseball, where you’ll play two rounds, once as the batter and once as the pitcher, and you’ll play player cards hoping to score points and win. It’s a simple enough concept: if your player card’s batting/pitching number is higher than the other person’s, you win. The issue is, your deck feels weirdly weak compared to the NPC you play against till you collect a significant amount of hidden cards scattered around levels. It’s a fun game in theory, that feels very unfun till you have enough cards to even the playing field with the computer player.
Great
The Final Word
There’s a lot to love with Mouse: P.I. For Hire, from its frenetic gunfights to its endearing characters and wonderful rubber hose animation. If you’re looking for a shooter that’s likely to entertain, I can’t recommend this one enough.
