Mouse P.I. For Hire Videogame : First Impressions

Mouse P.I. For Hire Videogame : First Impressions

So we like the smaller game design scene. Not because it is about being edgy and sticking it to the man and the corporates. I’m just a bit bored of seeing every big name game that comes out being so photorealistic that they all seem to merge together into some kind of similar looking ray traced and perfectly rendered machine. While on the other side, it is absolutely fair to argue that we don’t need yet another indie darling with 8 bit graphics, the fact we have so much graphical power available but sometimes the most homogenous imagination to use it is nothing short of frustrating. To the point that when something like Cuphead comes along we all ooh and aah and declare people to be clever. So when I first saw the screenshots for Mouse P.I. for hire, I had to see if I could get my hands on a copy to play it, because of how it looked. I just wanted to see if it would play in such a gobsmacking fashion. The fact that we’ve had so many FPS games but no one thought about creating a literal cartoon FPS is frankly baffling.

Monotone Curiosity

Look at the screenshots for yourself and tell me you aren’t instantly interested in how this game will look when hurtling at full speed with guns blazing. Then please continue to read on to find out if that’s actually the case. The story revolves around the 1930s and war hero turned Private Investigator Jack Pepper, who after getting involved in a missing person’s case finds themselves embroiled in a situation that starts to head deep into the underbelly of the city and unlocks a myriad of a conspiracy that will shake the entire city to its very core. Or something like that. Troy Baker steps up to voice Jack Pepper and so if that isn’t a good start then I’m not sure what to say. I always thought it would be funnier as I was playing to have it more like high pitched radio announcer kind of voice instead of the stereotypical gravel based gumshoe. You can’t really complain about the performance here because its Troy Baker. Maybe I should shut up.

Mouse P.I. doesn’t just try to do things differently with the art style, it genuinely tries to make the tail(tale?) of Pepper a genuine adventure, with a hub for upgrading your equipment, an office for piecing together clues and a full map to explore. Levels aren’t dished out as the result of a generously animated cut scene. you’ll normally need to take to your car to traverse the city and head to the next destination, a touch that I found reminiscent of exploring the map in Cuphead or even old school Super Mario World. If gives you a break from the constant corridor navigation, and strafing for dollars that you can all too become accustomed too in these kind of games.

There’s a story to be told, and with it a level of interactivity, because after all you are playing in a cartoon world and Fumi games seems determined to make you want to explore every nook and cranny that they have built in the world. Something that opens up as the game progresses and you unlock additional skills, like the double jump, which then allows you further exploration opportunities within the main hub level, and its worth being nosy as there are hidden trophies and trinkets aplenty in the game. I appreciate this isn’t just bouncing from one level to another, and within the levels you’ll normally find a character or two that aren’t to be perforated with bullets but chatted with to find out another layer to the story, or where you’re meant to be going, and it provides a welcome break from the slightly arduous task of playing the main shooter.

First Impression Shooter

Regardless of how wonderful this entire set and story looks, and trust me when I say it looks wonderful, and is like living a early Disney animation, it needs to deliver. In this regards, Mouse does, with a few caveats. Movement through the level is slick and there’s little to no noticeable slow down on the Steamdeck, even when the game is full on busy. The gunplay for the most part feels solid and like it connects to the characters when it hits. The range of weapons on offer at the beginning are a little bit overly standard for a game with so much imagination behind the helm, but this is made up in later levels with the introduction of some Roger Rabbit inspired devices.

My concerns for Mouse P.I. come from two main areas. The grunts that you have to take out in a level can occasionally feel like bullet sponges, taking slightly more ammo to take down than you feel they should, and most of them move at such a pace that often you are running backwards around a level trying to get enough space to take them out, which can leave you being surrounded. This wouldn’t be to much of an issue if it wasn’t for the second issue, which is the lack of ammo in some of the more busier levels. There were far too many times for my liking when I had to resort to running around the level, kicking enemies away from me as they took swipes at me in return, and for me it robbed the game of a little bit of the cartoon fun. If there’s pianos strung up in the air waiting to be dropped for comedy gold, I wondered why Jack didn’t have some kind of interesting back up over repeatedly kicking enemies away, or simply there wasn’t the need to have limited ammo in the first place. Overall it didn’t ruin the experience. It knocked off a few of the sparkles of joy that general floated about the castle as you play.

So, overall Mouse P.I. offers something unique and for that there will be players who will jump in to see what the fuss is all about. It performs well in terms of how it looks and runs. The overall story is interesting and doesn’t require the brain of a detective to understand and has its share of annoying gameplay niggles that keep it from being a must own. It’s worthwhile checking out just to see someone trying a game style that is a unique take on the often tired and samey FPS genre. It’s not a classic and it is entertaining and fun. For a lot of you, that will be enough to give it a spin about the room.