Mouse: P.I. For Hire review – Rubber hose FPS

Modern art styles are great and all, but there’s something to be said for 1930s rubber hose animation. So-called because of the style’s propensity for spaghetti-like limbs that resemble a rubber hose, it’s been made famous by early Disney cartoons, Popeye the Sailor Man, Betty Boop and more. Mouse: P.I. For Hire apes that art style and brings it alive in video game format. It’s not the first to do so: Cuphead made a mighty fine attempt back in 2017. But Mouse P.I. For Hire takes things even further, presenting the game entirely in monochrome, just as if you’re watching an old cartoon from 1930.

It’s safe to say, then, that Mouse: P.I. For Hire is quite the visual spectacle. It’s unusual playing a game in black and white, but you soon get used to it, fully embracing the noir world you find yourself in. It fits tonally, too, with you taking control of Jack Pepper, a private investigator tasked with hunting down clues in a missing persons case. With gritty inner city locations, there’s a real sense of time and presence, which is wonderfully emphasised by its monochrome aesthetic.

As you’d expect from a game that apes old-fashioned cartoons, expression and personality are both very important here. Enemies glare at you with menace drawn on their faces, and even your vehicle jollily bobs from side to side as if it’s a sentient being itself. On your heads-up display, your health meter is visualised by a heart with a face, its expression signifying if you’re healthy (a happy heart) or injured (a sad, bandaged heart).

It’s in the animations of defeated enemies that Mouse: P.I. For Hire really comes alive, though. Blow someone up, and they’ll turn to a pile of dust, nothing left but a nervously flitting pair of eyes. Spray them with a toxic substance and they’ll melt away, leaving behind only a skeleton. Watching cartoon heads pop off as you land headshots or blast someone at close range with a shotgun is gleefully satisfying, too. I even managed to score the ultimate in cartoon death by dropping an anvil on someone’s head, of course flattening them like a pancake.

None of this would matter, though, if the gameplay didn’t hold up. Thankfully, Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a very enjoyable first person shooter, mixing in some light detective work, an entertaining narrative and plenty of exploration. Despite the name, you might be expecting more puzzling and investigative gameplay, but it takes a back seat to the gunplay. You’ll find clues as part of the narrative, and you’ll pin them to a detective board back in your office, but that’s about the extent of it. Don’t expect to piece things together yourself, because that’s not what Mouse P.I. For Hire is.

With a range of guns to choose from (you’ll unlock more as you progress through the game), you can take out enemies in whatever fashion you’re most comfortable with. The default pistol does a decent job, sure, but I’ve had more fun getting up close and personal with a shotgun. You could also opt for a gun that sprays a toxic substance over your assailants, or maybe the fast action of a tommy gun might be more your pace. You can switch between them on the fly, and other weapons are available too, like sticks of TNT – useful for blowing up walls to find hidden rooms, or thinning out approaching crowds of enemies.

There are multiple difficulty options, so you can make Mouse: P.I. For Hire a bit tougher if you like, but if you’re a hardcore first-person shooter fan, you may find the action here a little on the casual side. That’s fine for me, and it’s just the way I like it, but don’t expect an experience as rich or as deep as something like DOOM, because you won’t find it here.

What you will find, though, is a shooter absolutely brimming with character, with an art style that absolutely shines, and fits the format so well. While there’s the odd bit of puzzling to do as you explore the game’s linear environments, my only complaint is that I wish there was a bit more detective work. It’s a small niggle, though: if you go into Mouse: P.I. For Hire expecting a first-person shooter game, that’s what you’re going to get – and a jolly good one, at that.

This review of Mouse: P.I. For Hire is based on the PS5 version of the game, with a code provided by the publisher. It’s available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2 and PC.