It’s rare these days that you get a first-person shooter that feels genuinely different. Taking a chance on something unique can be a scary proposition, but it can also produce something special. Enter Mouse: P.I. For Hire.
STORY
The narrative follows protagonist Jack Pepper, a investigator that is a cliché of every old time detective rolled into one. That isn’t a negative at all by the way. It plays superbly into the games humour. You start off by looking into the disappearance of a magician and former friend, with things branching off into more cases further down the line.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire isn’t going to win any awards for its narrative, but that’s not to say it’s bad. It does a good job of furnishing the gameplay and keeping things ticking over, and is often the perfect vehicle for multiple cheese related puns. Would I have liked to see deeper investigation mechanics? Sure. But that isn’t what the game is.
GAMEPLAY
Going in, everyone knew how good the game looked. The question was, could the gameplay match it. I’m pleased to report that the answer is a resounding yes. Movement is fast and crisp, with a dash feature that really helps keep the pace up during gunfights. This is complemented by additional moves you pick up like double jump and tail spin that really add variety and verticality to not only platforming, but combat. At times it really does feel like you are playing a cartoon version of DOOM, albeit with a little less depth.
There is some nice options in terms of firearms as well. Starting with a pistol, you’ll soon expand to the excellent Boomstick pump-action shotgun, the hilariously named ‘James Gun’ tommy gun along with other special weapons like the Turpentine Gun that basically melts your foes. Ammo capacity limits cleverly force you to experiment with different weapons, which I really appreciated. When overwhelmed with enemies I did default to the shotgun though. Popping heads is hugely satisfying.
While the bulk of your game time will be combat focused, clearing rooms of enemies, there is also some really cool bits of downtime. Jack’s office map is a street featuring a shop, an upgrade workshop, a bar and you guessed it, Jack’s office. Here you can talk to NPC’s, advancing the story and picking up the odd side mission. Clues picked up during levels can be placed on your investigation board as well.
Weapon upgrading is achieved by collecting weapon schematics during your travels and bringing them back to the workshop. Each schematic is essentially an upgrade point, rather than them corresponding to a specific upgrade. This allows you to pick and choose which weapons you want to improve.
I’d also like to give a special mention to the lockpicking in the game. The idea behind it is very simple: your tail goes into the barrel and acts almost like a game of old school snake. You need to pop all the pins and make it out the other side. Sometimes you only have a certain number of moves, others you are timed. It never became too taxing, but I always enjoyed it.
GRAPHICS & AUDIO
To put it mildly, Mouse: P.I. For Hire is absolutely gorgeous. The rubber-hose animation is jaw dropping from start to finish. The black and white palette really pops and the film grain aesthetic just adds that little bit of perfection. The world is 3D, while NPC’s and enemies are drawn in 2D and always adjust so you are facing them straight on.
I was blown away with all aspects of the visuals. Comparisons to Cuphead are inevitable, but this is on a different level of scope. Equipped guns bounce around as you explore areas and the animations in the combat compliment the gameplay so well. Locations you visit are varied and always well detailed. The only negative I can think of is that standard enemy design is a little limited. The designs themselves are brilliant, but we could have done with more of them.
The audio is another highlight. A soundtrack that fits the time period and mood of the game to a T. The voice acting across the board is fun and well delivered. I saw a few eye rolls when Troy Baker was announced as Jack Pepper. Look I get it, he’s in a lot of games. But that doesn’t stop his performance here being excellent.
PERFORMANCE
This is yet another area where the game knocks it out of the park. Our review on PS5 was conducted in performance mode, which clocked in at 120fps with a resolution of 1600p. Should you wish to switch to quality mode, you’ll get 60fps at a resolution of 2160p. I didn’t encounter any bugs, frame rate drops or graphical issues, which is beyond rare these days.
VALUE
Clocking in around a fifteen hours and with a price tag of £24.99, it represents great value for money. You could argue there isn’t much replay value, but when the product on offer is such high quality people will return to it for second and third playthroughs down the line.
TROPHIES
It’s a fun list that covers all the bases. Upgrading weapons, collecting various trinkets and a splash of combat related objectives. No difficulty requirements also allow you to drop things down if you need to smash through an area or get some assistance with combat.
OVERALL
You’ve probably gathered by now that I am blown away by what developer Fumi Games has pulled off here with Mouse: P.I. For Hire. So often games come along with a unique style and lack the gameplay chops to back it up, but here we have DOOM style combat with weapons that feel great to use, flawless performance and great audio, all wrapped up one of the best art styles in recent memory. A triumph.
-Mark
