Mouse: P.I. for Hire Review

The game "Mouse PI for Hire" attempts to fuse a hard-boiled detective mystery with a fast-paced retro-styled first-person shooter (FPS), drawing inspiration from classic noir films and novels, as well as 1930s cartoons. However, despite understanding the aesthetic and tropes, the game struggles with thematic coherence, often contradicting its narrative aspirations with its actual gameplay. The story follows Jack Pepper, a private eye in a world populated by mice, who is hired by Wanda Fuller of the Mouseberg Herald to investigate a missing magician. This quickly escalates into a larger conspiracy involving an attempted assassination of a mayoral candidate and racially motivated violence between larger mice and smaller shrews. The narrative includes the expected twists and turns of a detective story, making it "solid enough." A significant issue highlighted is the game's excessive referential humor. Everything in the mouse-filled world revolves around cheese, from villains being "cheese leggers" to sultry voices described as "Gorgon Zola becante slapped on a mozzarella platter." While initially charming, this constant barrage of cheese-related puns and references to old cartoons or the fact that it's a video game becomes tiresome. Examples include a steamboat named Willie, power-ups that are reference-heavy, and a boss fight in the sewers against a literal alligator. The voice actors, led by Troy Baker, perform admirably, but the constant need for mouse references, cheesy one-liners, or callbacks to other media prevents anything in the game from simply existing without a joke. This incessant joking makes it difficult to care about the story or its characters, as the game constantly reminds the player of "other better things." Despite these narrative shortcomings, the shooting mechanics are described as "decent." The game is categorized as a "boomer shooter," reminiscent of old-school FPS games like Doom or Quake. Players start with a pistol and Jack's fists, eventually acquiring weapons like a shotgun, dynamite, a Tommy gun (referred to as a "James gun"), and unique items like the "Dev Varnisher," which shoots a substance that melts enemies. Jack's movement includes a double jump, dash, a spinning tail for hovering, and a slide, providing "stylish moves." The game's visual presentation is praised as "absolutely gorgeous," featuring a black and white mix of sprite work and 3D models for everything from reload animations to conversations. However, even the shooting has issues. Weapons can feel weak, particularly the shotgun, which has the "audio kick of a pop gun," creating a disconnect between the sound and the violent visual effect. Enemies frequently spawn from skull-marked doors that cannot be entered, limiting the sense of place within levels. The game also overuses the trope of locking players in a room to fight waves of enemies. While not "gamebreaking," the combat, though "fundamentally good enough," can feel like "being at a show that's never quite bad enough to leave." Health items are generous on normal difficulty, reducing the challenge. The game includes secrets like newspapers, weapon upgrade schematics, and baseball cards, hidden behind fragile walls or in locked safes that Jack can open with his tail, which doubles as a lockpick. These lock-picking mini-games vary in difficulty, some being time-limited or requiring a specific number of moves, while others are "so easy you could probably solve them by letting an actual mouse run across your keyboard." After each level, players return to a hub area containing Jack's office, a bar, a store, and a weapon upgrade shop. A highlight is the baseball card mini-game at the bar, where players switch between pitching and batting, using cards to score runs. Less enjoyable is the detective aspect, as the player never truly gets to "do" detective work. Clues are simply pinned to Jack's case board, and he automatically knows where to go, eliminating the need for player investigation. A major criticism is the "ludonarrative dissonance." Jack Pepper, a private investigator, commits mass murder, often killing more people in a single mission than classic noir detectives do in entire careers. The game portrays him as a "down on his luck, everyman PI," despite his actions. For example, he breaks into a police station and slaughters officers en masse without apparent consequence. In another scenario, he inadvertently burns down an opera house to save a mayoral candidate, then fights and shoots an opera singer, with the game offering no explanation or consequence for her fate. The reviewer argues that while noir can be violent, the violence usually serves a purpose and has consequences for the characters. In "Mouse PI for Hire," violence is "just entertainment," which weakens the overall concept. The game's attempt to be a "goofy Looney Tunes FPS" clashes with its narrative aspirations of being an important, clue-gathering detective story. The game focuses on character motivations and plot, but Jack's actions as a mass murderer contradict his portrayal as a struggling PI in debt. The constant references and jokes further undermine any attempts at serious storytelling. In conclusion, "Mouse PI for Hire" successfully captures the aesthetics of 1930s cartoons and detective stories and offers an "amusing boomer shooter" experience. However, the haphazard marriage of noir storytelling tropes and shooter gameplay creates uncomfortable contradictions that weaken both aspects. The writing's overreliance on references becomes "painful to sit through at times." While the FPS gameplay is solid enough for those who want to "blast some cartoon mice and not think about it too hard," deeper consideration reveals "seams where desperate ideas have been fused together," which no amount of noir aesthetic can conceal.