Jazz, Justice, and Cartoons: Mouse: P.I. for Hire Review
Old-school shooters meet 1930s charm: The case you won't want to close.
Growing up, my brother and I would be at our grandfather’s place always watching old TV shows in his room through VHS tapes he owned. From Looney Tunes shorts with characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, or Wile E. Coyote, to watching Tom & Jerry episodes with our mom (she loves that show). Those shows would always have our attention from the way they’d be ready to embarrass another character, to making sure they lock in with the song they’re singing no matter how goofy they were looking, or to just being in an outrageous situation trying to chase someone down. To this day we remember scenes like the back of our hands.
So for a very long time, we never thought that there would be a game that would sort of recreate that feeling of enjoying those old shows until Cuphead came out. Although it was only one game, they did it in the best way possible and it was amazing to experience. For a while that was the only game to give us that feeling and we wondered if there was ever going to be another game similar to it - a game that has the charm to tap into the nostalgia of old cartoons and not a cheap knock-off. We honestly didn’t know how that would be done, but we ended up getting a unique project that spun its own take of those kinds of hand drawn, rubber hose animations and exaggerating vibes which was Mouse: P.I. for Hire.
We were so hyped for it after seeing the announcement trailer that we didn’t want to see anything else about it until it was released to avoid spoiling ourselves. After playing it, the game was a welcome surprise with its classic Noir take of being a private investigator solving cases to its hilarious cheese puns. The game is not without a few faults but its style was so great that it makes you forget. We also want to say thank you to Fumi Games for the review code and giving us a chance to experience their art and creation to share with you all!
The Beat Behind the Bullets
The first thing that catches your attention as soon as you start Mouse P.I. for Hire is the music. It draws you in with its swanky Noir Jazz vibe, especially during the opening level. You’re thrown into an intense chasing scene trying to catch the culprit and the instruments have you bopping your head while weaving through bullets at the same time, at the exact speed the beat is going. The music reminded us of episodes from Tom and Jerry’s “Solid Serenade”, where Tom tries to swoon a cat he fell in love with at first sight, or the Looney Tunes “Three Little Bops” episode, a jazzy rendition of The Three Little Pigs. The scenes from both shows reflect the vibe Mouse P.I. for Hire imbues throughout the game - because you know they were going crazy with the songs! The music effortlessly shifts from when you’re exploring the different areas, to fighting off waves of mobsters, and takes it up a notch when you’re facing the bosses. It’s like a song-and-dance shoot ‘em up where you’re dodging bullets and shooting back.
You play as Jack Pepper, voiced by Troy Baker, who delivers a phenomenal performance that perfectly captures the Noir detective aesthetic. Jack is hired by a woman named Wanda, who works for the local newspaper company Mouseburg Herald, to investigate a missing friend of Jack’s named Steve Bandelle who vanished during the middle of his performance. People thought at first it was a joke as he’s a magician, but he never came back which made the situation extremely serious. Although that is the main case of the game, the story expands to you doing different assignments.
These span from side gigs like helping out to capture a photo of an opera during your investigation, to randomly finding strong evidence to another big case. When you find evidence, you place the clues you found on a board to see where to go from there. You can get additional clues from the locals of Mouseburg like the bartender John Brown, an old and close friend of Jack, who has heard rumors from drunk conversations, to Tammy who heard things through the cheese holes. New characters come through to your office or even at the bar to give you some extra information, and I love those conversations the most. The banter and personality clashes are so good, especially because the voice acting for every character is incredible!
The Streets of Mouseburg
There’s a small, nice area in Mouseburg where your office is located, and let me tell you, it’s such an interesting (and a tad bit corny) place for a detective to be. While the hub is small, it’s full of interactions and sights. You can grab the local newspaper from the paperboy, trade juicy information with Wanda, or play an addicting card game for tokens. The characters you meet have a lot of charm. Take Tammy for example: she shows you how to upgrade weapons, but she really loves it when you take the time to capture photos for her that catch her interest during your travels investigating; Like that Opera Theater that shouldn’t be engulfed in flames (though she did appreciate it!).
Wanda is more than just a contact for tips, she serves as a crucial ally, helping you navigate town and supporting you with your investigations. If you’re not in the mood for detective work, you can always take a quick breather and play the baseball card game at the bar. If you win, you earn tokens to stack up for a special item. Plus, you can buy cards in the shop or find them as collectibles in levels to have a better chance at winning the next game. It’s a simple distraction, but hitting that home run and stopping your opponent from doing the same is a fun pastime that can get addicting really fast.
That isn’t the only place you’ll be spending your time. Once you start jumping into your cases, the world literally opens up. You can drive around Mouseburg in your car as you navigate the map to find your next level. Each case you complete unlocks a new area, and each one is wackier than the last. The variety is impressive. You might find yourself in an underground lab dungeon where you’re fighting robots with a sad backstory, or even at a movie set where you’re planted right in the middle of a scene and essentially forced to star in your own P.I. film.
Packing Heat
Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty! The game plays and feels a lot like old-school shooters from the 90s in all the best ways. The movement feels just right, and the variety of weapons is amazing, especially given the number of enemies they throw at you at any given moment. Just from that alone, I already know the mobsters have been money laundering for a good minute. I love the weapons you get to use like the Devarnisher, which shoots acid and melts enemies (it’s one of my ideal ways to clear a room), or the nice but simple James Gun. It is a definite call-out to one of my favorite directors, James Gunn, and it works like a classic Tommy Gun where you can just spray and pray.
Combat is made even better by the abilities you gain along the way. You learn some from people, like the Old Rat Stuntman who teaches you to double-jump, and other times you pick up abilities that’ll show themselves through funny signs and posters tutorials that call back to old shows, art and games like The Jeffersons show, The Scream painting, and Duck Hunt (called target-d in the game, can’t have them get sued by Nintendo now). It’s all very engaging and goofy, especially because the enemy sprites face toward you like in old 90s games, and you can see them doing their best to catch up with all your movements!
On top of your abilities, you occasionally find consumables in certain levels for even more mayhem. I honestly wish these were available more often, maybe every time you reached a certain kill count. The variety of these consumables is something I really enjoyed. They range from the classic Popeye’s spinach, which gives you powerful arms to knock out enemies with a single punch, to drinking a perfectly brewed coffee that makes it so you don’t even need a physical gun anymore. Your hand literally turns into one, firing staggering bullets that take enemies down instantly.
What I love is that the game isn’t purely about shooting enemies and moving forward. Weapons and abilities are also essential for figuring out how to navigate the level or find hidden collectibles. You can use the Loose Cannon or TNT to break through obvious fake walls, or use your tail to grapple onto hooks and hover, spinning it fast to reach hard-to-access places. That’s just a glimpse of the unique things you can do in this game, and it gets pretty wild in the later levels as you encounter new enemies and unlock a constant flow of new weapons/abilities.
The boss battles are the real show-stoppers. They come out at times you wouldn’t expect, though it becomes obvious when you are about to face one because there will be a multitude of ammo and healing items scattered around. I love encountering the bosses because their entrances are fun to witness. They are definitely difficult, and some guns just do not deal as much damage as others depending on the boss. However, you can utilize barrels to cause massive damage, or just go crazy switching between the different weapons in your arsenal.
Earlier I mentioned weapon upgrades, which provide additional ammo and damage. The best thing that helps against these boss battles are the alternative fire modes; you can shoot a strong blob of acid, fire a triple shot with your handgun, or even charge up the shotgun for a powerful blast. Sometimes they throw extra enemies at you, like crocodiles when you are fighting Vic Gatore in the sewers, or a set of three robots that shoot wild lasers that you have to weave around or try to box you up. These boss battles test if you’re really about that life while pushing your skills to the limit and forcing you to adapt under pressure.
A Beautiful Monochrome World
Beyond the boss fights, the world itself feels incredibly alive. Animals are just sitting around, chilling, even while you’re fighting for your life or going about your business at the office. Something you may have noticed from the screenshots or videos in this article is that the game is fully in black and white. I worried I might get bored of that look, but the art style in Mouse: P.I. for Hire is beautiful. The shading isn’t distracting, and the way enemies die is goofy and perfectly on-brand. They stay knocked out flat and dazed, or if they turn to dust from fire, they look at you with these hilarious, sad eyes.
The environmental interactions add a lot, too. Freezing enemies with a canister keeps them in place until you can shoot or kick them, which feels like a classic gag from Wile E. Coyote failing to catch the Road Runner. I love seeing characters just living their lives, like shopping at a store or sleeping in peace, as it makes the world feel real. Even while driving around the map, you’ll see funny details, like a creepy guy hiding in the background trying not to get caught. The environmental storytelling is great as well; one moment that stuck with me was seeing police corruption, where they were beating up every mouse they saw. It proves the game can tackle serious themes while keeping that classic cartoon charm.
I mentioned weapons and collectibles earlier, but I have to highlight the inspecting animations. Whenever you find a new weapon or a bobble-head, your character takes a moment to look it over, which makes grabbing new gear feel so satisfying. Jack even tickles the bobble-heads that look like him and they’ll actually laugh! Plus, you can see all the ones you’ve collected displayed in your office, kind of like how you do in Fallout 3 collecting the Vault-Boy. The attention to detail extends to your weapons as well. Whenever you get a new gun or upgrade an attachment, you get a satisfying, old-school sound effect as the part pops into place, and you can see Jack checking out all the ins and outs of the mechanism.
The Stale Crumbs
Despite how much the game gets right, it isn’t without a few hiccups. My biggest frustration involves the safes. If you fail the puzzle, run out of time, or accidentally back out, the safe stays shut forever unless you reload an old save. There have been times when I’m doing my best to analyze how to start and time is running out or I hit a spike moving too fast and it ruins the whole thing for me where I have to reload. Sometimes it has you close to the area the safe is at, other times you have to go around recollecting everything you collected because it’s an autosave that was only available.
It’s the same with certain side-jobs: if you miss an item, you’re out of luck until you replay the entire level or start a new run. Because of this, I strongly urge anyone trying to get 100% completion to make multiple manual saves throughout your playthrough. Trust me, you don’t want to get stuck and realize you have no game save to go back to, or you will be cooked trying to fix it or having to start another playthrough. I do wish the game was more forgiving to players wanting to do that.
Beyond those game design choices, there were a few minor glitches, though thankfully not many. In Tammy’s shop, I kept falling through the floor the first time I entered, forcing me to jump immediately upon entry to avoid that invisible hole. It feels like a sick Looney Tunes gag because the floor remains empty even when I return from other levels.
And in one of the levels, I could not manually save because there were enemies stuck inside the cages and even though I got in the room where the cell key was supposed to be, it never spawned until I got further into the level and went back. I was so scared to encounter another safe because if I messed up I would’ve been cooked trying to reload my save. Thankfully none of these things were game breaking to the point where I couldn’t play - so after figuring out how to get past those issues, I was back to having fun.
Case Closed
All in all, Mouse: P.I. for Hire is a wonderful game to experience. Even if you’ve never played a shooter before, it is easy to get into and features a fun story to explore. It was a wild ride joining Jack Pepper for his cases, and I loved the game’s amazing 1930s noir style and humor. With so many games out this year, this is definitely one you have to take a chance on. We give Mouse: P.I. for Hire an 8 Gouda cheese out of 10 🧀.