Mouse: P.I. For Hire Review

First Impressions

Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a rather unique game of this genre. At the core it’s a shooter, with hub areas, side missions and optional quests. But there’s much more to see as you scratch beneath the surface and play. It’s a fast-paced, stylish FPS with a visual style and identity not seen since the days of Cuphead, with gorgeous hand drawn characters that pop straight out of the screen as you blast you way through a fantastic variety of enemies.

All this, wrapped up in a vibrant cartoon accurate 1930s Noir city setting, just with a rodent population.

Plot

Private Investigator Jack Pepper is on the case.

Voiced in his best ‘Nicolas Cage’ gravelly tones by the always excellent vocal talent of Troy Baker, who delivers every line of dialogue with the authenticity of a 1930’s hard hitting gumshoe. Former P.O. now P.I. Jack is a mouse on a mission. Something stinks in the hazey, fog-covered city streets of Mouseburg, and it’s not just week old cheese.

Is he up to the challenge? You, ahum, cheddar believe it.

Gameplay Overview

From the moment you boot up the game, the 1930s aesthetic hits you with smooth jazz playing as you scroll though the rather lengthy pre-game Privacy Notice, End User Licence Agreement and T&Cs before pressing ‘A’ to get to the menu. Fortunately, you only have to do this once.

Your next menu presents you with ‘Language & Subtitles’ which allows you to select your preferred ‘Language’, switch the ‘Subtitles’ On/Off and the option to ‘Auto Skip Dialogue’ which, I expect, is for subsequent playthroughs (can’t see why you would on your first playthrough). After adjusting the edges of your screen to fit your gameplay experience, you’re finally into the final two menus with options of ‘Brightness’, ‘Contrast’ and ‘Gamma Correction’ with ‘Gameplay Mode’ next allowing you to select from four options which effect the look and sound of the game whilst in play. The first option of ‘Studio Cut’ presents a clean look for optimum graphical showcase of the world and its characters, ‘Director’s Cut’ adds a more authentic visual filter to fit the era and audio to match.

Next ‘Vintage Cut’ makes the game look even more dated with heavier filters and a very old-style audio tone. Finally, ‘Custom’ allows you to mix and match the settings to create your own, unique look and sounding experience. What I loved about this menu is that the presets show the effect it has on the game in realtime, by adjusting the settings and allowing the player to see how it will all look and sound during their gaming session.

Obviously, the settings can be changed at any time in the menus, but right from the get go, the game tries it’s best to immerse you into that old school 1930s cartoon feel. The last menu (phew), is the usual options for ‘Motion Sensitivity Mode’, again with four settings that effect such things as ‘Toggle Camera’, ‘Lens Distortion’ and ‘Head Bobbing’.

Final option at the very end asks if you’d like to opt in or out of the title capturing game data such as game crashes and error and such as you play via analytics for gameplay improvements and possible patch fixes. Which is a nice was for the developers to keep tweaking (or should that be squeaking) the game with updates and patches.

After all that, you’re eventually at the main menu and can actually start to play the game. The smooth jazz continues to play as you decide on ‘New Game, jumping back into yet another ‘Settings’ menu for additional gameplay tweaks such as controller sensitivity, aim assist and invert controller. What I found was unique tho, was the option to adjust settings for both standard controller and a mouse and keyboard binding configuration. A rare thing to find in a game but shows the commitment the developers had to allow gamers to play their title in their own best way possible. With the ‘Y’ button locking in your selections.

You also have an option of viewing the ‘Credits’ which is presented as something that resembles the end credits to a classic cartoon movie reel, with a rather upbeat soundtrack from what could only be described as from the ‘Betty Boop’ era, ending with the classic ‘THE END’ when you reach, well, the end.

Selecting ‘New Game’ starts Jack’s adventure on the mean streets of Mouseburg, with the option of three difficulty modes. ‘Rookie’ obviously for people who just want to enjoy the gameplay, story and world, ‘Detective’ for a balanced game experience for gamers who want some challenge and finally ‘Supersleuth’ for the hardcore shooter fan. The options aren’t just for show either, as all three have an impact on the game and it’s difficulty with the many enemies you’ll encounter through the levels.

The controls are mapped nicely by default, although I had to as always set my Y Axis to Inverted (Team Inverted as always for the win). However, I found as I started the game, that the controller sensitivity was very slick and required me to knock ‘Aim Acceleration’ down to ‘Low’ and ‘Controller Sensitivity’ for Horizontal and vertical movement down to 10 before the movement didn’t feel like I was moving on ice. So, make sure you use the intro level to not only familiarise yourself with the control scheme, but also to make sure the movement works at a pace comfortable to your style of play.

As a ‘shoot-‘em-up’ type of game, Mouse: P.I. is best described as somewhere between ‘Bioshock’ and ‘Doom’ in the fact it has open world elements, alongside linear and gunplay heavy sections. With the aforementioned hub areas and an unlockable map to explore. Many signs litter the levels that when interacted with, give hints, tips and control advice as you play.

Money as they say makes the world go around, and nowhere is this old saying more relevant than in Mouse: P.I. as everything in the world has a price tag. Upgrades to weapons and power up cost cash so grab as much as you can. Make sure you look everywhere and in every nook and cranny of each level for money, ammo and collectables before moving on as some parts of the level lock off as you progress. The rule of save once, save often definitely applies here.

Safes can often be found on every level happily bouncing away begging to be opened for the goodies inside. Normally containing cash to buy those important upgrades to your weapons and other collectables. Interacting with a safe, opens up a smart little ‘tail picking’ minigame were Jack uses his tail to push the lock’s tumblers in an effort to open the safe. Careful, however as these get increasingly more challenging and difficult as the game goes on, with one-way segments and even a strict time limit on some safes too. Failure to pick the lock successfully also locks the safe and its contents permanently. So have a backup save file handy.

Weapons can be found in game or bought from a gunsmith in the main hub area. A character called ‘Tammy Tumbler’, who is a friend of Jacks is also found and can help him upgrade his many weapons. Assuming you’ve found the relevant schematic first tho. Jack starts the game with his trusty pistol and one-two Popeye style punch and kick for when ammo is low (with even a classic wind up power uppercut for close quarters). But as the game goes on, more weapons with clever names such as the ‘Boomstick’ for the shotgun, ‘James Gun’ for the tommy gun and ‘Loose Cannon’ for the rocket launcher are added to his arsenal. And trust me, with the many enemies you’ll encounter, from mobs, grunts, armoured henchmen, crooked cops and boss encounters, you’ll going to need every last one of them.

Some areas require you to find a switch to unlock the door to the next area, using platforming segments, whilst some require you to kill all enemies to proceed. These areas can be frantic gunfights as Jack is often out gunned but never outclassed. Oh also, fall damage is a thing too in this shooter which was a surprise, so bear that in mind when bouncing around the levels looking for switches and levers. Fortunately, there’s usually many health tonics to be found, but knowing when to use them is important to survive.

Jack’s Office can be visited between missions and has a Crime Wall you to view active cases and clues. Finding clues by talking to NPS, finding notes throughout the levels and watching cutscenes can be placed on the board to work out the plot of the case and, more importantly, were to go next. This leads onto the open world rubber hosed map screen which allows you to openly explore and revisit areas in a semi ‘Metroidvania’ style design. Often some segments of the city are locked (quite literally, as they have a big padlock and chains on them), until later in the story and cases. Only unlocking to move the story forward, although there’s a few hidden surprises to be found if you explore. This also opens up the possibility for new rodent based DLC in the future too.

Presentation

The whole look and general vibe leans heavily into the 1930s American Probation era. Jack narrates his adventure like a proper downtrodden P.I. narrating his thoughts and cracking wise in the many situations he encounters.

Everything in this world is so animated, like the classic cartoons that it’s trying to emulate. And despite the only colours being black, white and shades of grey, everything is visually well thought out and smart. Items of interest and collectables are shown in a different shade of white that allows it to stand out from the scenery so it’s not easily missed.

The voice acting is top notch and nicely written, with plenty of cheesy dialogue (no pun intended honest). There’s even dialogue options with some of the NPCS to gain additional intel to help Jack with his cases. The rubber hose style fits the game brilliantly and each game level has you shooting, platforming, collecting clues and taking photos for your investigation board back at Jack’s office to progress onto the next.

Jack himself is beautifully animated with a voice over to match his personality and Private Investigator demour. But every other character, enemy and NPC is well thought out and animated. Movement, shooting, reloading, heck even switching between weapons and fisticuffs is shown with small thoughtful animation details too. Right down to a classic ‘Please Stand By’ test screen on some of the monitors you find.

Enemies clutch their chests when shot, or their head explodes cartoon style with a headshot. If you blow one up with an explosive barrel, they become a little pile of ash with eyes. Small touches like this really sells the game to me and the world these characters inhabit.

Comic book collectables, newspapers, figurines, secret areas to find for schematics and additional money litter the levels for you to find for you 100% the level gamers like myself. Adding to the replay value.

Weapons mechanics are tight and pack a good amount of punch, looking like something straight out of ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ as even the ammo counter is animated with bullets with faces and personality. Jack’s health is naturally shown as a big heart with a face showing how healthy he is or close to death.

The Bottom Line

Laden with wit, charm and a fantastic look and aesthetic feel to the whole thing. The game oozes a charming style of art not seen in this day and age and from the get-go had me hooked. Plenty of gun blazing action, mixed in with scene stealing gameplay and a wide array of well voiced supporting characters. And although, by the writing of this review I hadn’t finished the whole game, I’m certainly stocking with it til the very end to experience it all.

FumiHQ have done a fantastic job with this world and the characters within it and I for one are now looking forward to what game and genre they turn their hands to for their next release.

If you’re a fan of FPS games, or just a fan of fun period, then I can highly recommend Mouse: P.I. It reminds me of why I loved gaming from the get-go, you get a full gaming experience for your money. No in game storefront, no paid cosmetics, no microtransactions whatsoever included. Just a full game, well-polished, and complete. Despite what other reviews have said, in the modern age, that is not only a rarity, but a breath of fresh air to this old gamer. Heck, I was struggling to find points for ‘The Bad’ segment of this review because there’s nothing actually wrong with the game, so I had to do some personal nitpicking just to think of some.

For only £ 24.99 English Pounds on the Xbox Store at launch, this title is an absolute bargain for what you get.

But enough of me praising the heck out of this game, just go and buy it already. Trust me, you shan’t be disappointed and we need to support more games like this that push creativity, imagination and fun more than ever for the gaming community.