Mouse: PI For Hire was one of my most anticipated games of the year, and for a really good reason. The moment I saw its presentation, emulating the rubberhose-style animations from the 1920s and 1930s, but in a first-person shooter perspective, I knew I had to get my hands on it. It was doing what Cuphead did years prior, but in an even more absurdist way: it was trying to immerse us into the world of an old cartoon. An old-school shooter with older-school visuals? Sounded like the kind of stuff I needed to play.

With it finally being out, it more than surpassed my expectations when it came to its pristine presentation. But in terms of gameplay? Hm… it’s a good game in that regard. Not amazing, not one of the best titles of the year, just largely fine.

I swear, if they ever decided to port Mouse: PI For Hire into VR, that’d be a masterpiece of immersion.

Mouse: PI For Hire is the story of a mouse detective called Jack Pepper, a former cop with a shady past (because it’s a noir, so it’s a mandatory part of your character building), now making a living as a private investigator. One who shoots first and occasionally asks questions later, if he can even bother to do so. Upon accepting a job regarding the disappearance of a stage magician, Jack starts unravelling a much bigger, much more serious conspiracy involving shady characters, politicians, crime lords, and so on. Y’know, your typical noir story. Just with mice.

There’s no denying that the game’s presentation is what makes it stand out the most. The visuals are outstanding; the folks at Fumi Games were able to transport the same kind of animation that turned Cuphead into a household name, but in a 3D environment. I suppose the solution was to use the same strategy as Paper Mario and Doom: environments are cel-shaded, but polygonal, but all characters are flat 2D drawings always facing your character’s point of view. Add in perfectly authentic rubberhose animations, as well as a complete lack of color (the entire game is in black and white, and that was a genius decision), and what you have here is one of the most artistically strong games I’ve played in years.

Look, Troy Baker does a good job voicing Jack Pepper. But it’s TOO good of a job. Too competent for a time when voice acting in cartoons was campy and amateurish.

The sound department is equally as stylish. It’s all jazz, with bebop drum solos and saxophones going haywire during combat sections. You can even add muffler and scratch vinyl effects, making the game feel even more like an old sport from back in the day. That being said, I wasn’t too much of a fan of the voice acting. It’s not that it was bad – on the contrary, the damn thing was incredibly competent. But maybe THAT was the reason… Troy Baker voices the protagonist, and in no moment was I sold about the character, it just sounded like “Troy Baker voicing a character”, if you know what I mean. Old cartoons like the sources of inspiration behind this game were a lot cheesier, and sounded a lot less professional. Maybe Mouse: PI For Hire should have gone for that route in specific.

Now, as for the gameplay, this is something where Mouse: PI For Hire does NOT stand out. But in no moment is it bad, clunky, poorly made, none of that jazz. The fact is that, well, behind the utterly amazing presentation, lies a game that is just fine and not very innovative with its mechanics, level design, combat, and so on. Even if the game presents itself as a noir-esque investigative story, Mouse: PI For Hire is still a pretty standard first-person shooter at its core. Yes, you have to piece up clues, solve the very occasional puzzle, and talk to a few NPCs, but for most of your playthrough, this is a basic retro-styled shooter… just not with the same frantic action or pacing these games usually have.

You’ll meet a wide assortment of amusing NPCs. Most of them aren’t sawed in half, by the way.

Most levels are comprised of corridors connecting an area where you will fight a series of enemies to the next. Enemies don’t usually flood the premises to attack you; considering the art style, one which easily muffles everything not immediately close to you, the combat isn’t suited for long-distance bullet exchanges. So a wave of two or three goons will attack you at a time, and you can then use your standard arsenal of weapons (or your fists) to get rid of them. I actually love the way they die – it’s bloody and gratuitous, sure, but there’s also a layer of innocent slapstick covering everything. But yeah, not frantic, or complicated. Quite basic, in fact.

So the overall gameplay loop is comprised of hopping in and out of these sections, solving minute (but admittedly fun) puzzles, and fighting a boss every now and then. Again, there is nothing wrong with the controls, nor is the experience buggy, but that’s pretty much it. What the game has to offer is, first and foremost, eye candy. The action never feels overly exciting, the amount of weapons at your disposal isn’t anything special, and there is a certain lack of oomph when it comes to its setpieces. Easygoing, competent, and whatnot, but in no moment did I feel like I was playing one of the most exciting shooters in recent memory.

Boss battles aren’t mechanically amazing, but are a nice addition.

Let me reiterate that, from a presentation standpoint, Mouse: PI For Hire is absolutely fantastic. It’s so good, in fact, that I’d go as far as to say that you should give it a go for its visuals and style alone. As a game itself, it’s also good, don’t get me wrong, but there’s nothing I haven’t seen before in other, more entertaining first-person shooters. It’s competently made, but bog standard, going through the motions with an easygoing but unmemorable gameplay loop. Still, it’s a game unlike anything else in the market. Only an indie like this would have been greenlit with such a premise, and I’m thankful for it.

Mouse: PI For Hire is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC and Switch 2.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Mouse: PI For Hire was provided by the publisher.