Mouse: P.I. for Hire is not only a detective story — which is one of my favourite types of stories — but it is also completely hand-drawn with the old-fashioned rubber hose animation style (think Mickey Mouse from the 1920s). Here’s the interesting overlap from the same era: it’s also a noir detective story. Which means it’s completely in black and white, and also kind of dark. In fact, the game allows you to add those grit/film grain filters on top of it when you first start playing. It’s a game that clearly cares a lot about style.
It’s been quite some time since I watched a noir detective movie, which is a direct inspiration for this game; but if I remember correctly, it has a certain brooding, sort of doomed quality to it. I also remember the narrator being very serious and very whiny. But in Mouse P.I., all of these characters are mice, the story is set in Mouseberg, and there is at least one cheese pun per sentence of dialogue. So the difference is quite apparent and jarring. It might just be the general writing style of the game that’s thrown me, but I’m not convinced that cheesy dialogue and comedy in general works well in noir. Here’s one particularly inciting sentence from the game (for me): “I don’t have a degree, but I do have a pedigree in gun shooting”. Not even Troy Baker, who voices the lead character — Jack Pepper — could make this sentence sound non-cringey and cool. I just have no words. I learnt a few hours in that I onlyhad to tune out Jack’s quips if I wanted to enjoy the game. That’s just me though. Maybe everyone else loves cheesy dialogues.
That said, I am enjoying the gameplay overall. I haven’t really played any shooter-style games of this variety apart from Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D years and years ago. And this game is a lot more fast paced and interesting. For people who may be new to shooter games, the gameplay involves Jack Pepper going to various locations, opening doors to rooms, and fighting away hordes of approaching enemies with guns. There’s a crosshair bang in the centre of the screen and it plays exactly like how you’d expect a first person shooter to play. The game even caters to different shooting styles. We initially start with a “micer” which upon reading is an imitation of Mauser pistols. But there are also shotguns, rapid-fire weapons, and a “devarnisher” that lobs acid to melt enemies.
I’m also obsessed with pick ups in games and horde shooters always have them. In this game too, it’s almost luck of the draw that you get more of your favourite gun’s ammo and that propels you through the next big room of enemies bouncing in. I am also enjoying the variety in the boss battles. They’re largely very easy to get through, which is a huge plus. It really kind of makes me rush through large chunks of the game in a single sitting.
One of my top side quests in videogames in general are in-game boardgames. Every good videogame should have one. This has a version of a baseball card game, which I’m very unfamiliar with because I do not understand baseball. Baseball cards are found in “secret locations” in each new map. These are then used when you play the games in a pub next to Jack’s office. There are also secret “blueprints” hidden in locations, which later help you upgrade weapons and such.
I wish there’s more I can tell you about the story — but for me, it’s at best an average crime thriller with some really fun stylistic elements. It’s also super fast paced and easy to finis within a weekend. The music is really a sign of the times, and you can almost imagine a juke box with a vinyl player stuck on to it constantly playing the music you hear around you. It’s a fun game if you’re looking for something that’s not too challenging, and aren’t deterred by the idea of completely black and white video.
I played this on the PS5, but it’s also available for the PC, Nintendo, and Xbox.