MOUSE: P.I. For Hire Review — Cheesed to Beat You

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is an old-fashioned shooter with an even more old-fashioned aesthetic: mimicking the style of 1920s animation, better known as “rubberhose.” MOUSE: P.I. For Hire stands out from other titles in the genre for its unique, hand-animated enemies and black-and-white panache. It is no surprise that the game drew in so much attention, and after giving it a try myself, I can certainly say that it deserves its Overwhelmingly Positive Steam rating. However, I can also confidently say that it might be a little overhyped, and while it is a perfectly fine game, there is a bit more sizzle than there is steak on the plate here.

Mechanically speaking, it didn’t take long for me to realize that MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is essentially DOOM. Falling into a category lovingly dubbed by gamers as “boomer shooters,” MOUSE: P.I. For Hire plays almost identically to old-school shooters like DOOM and Quake. It is a popular genre, and there is of course no problem in imitating it, but I will say that I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that the title plays almost identically to these classics; there is very little, if any, deviation from the formula that makes any meaningful impact on how you play the game.

This, of course, isn’t too much of a problem if you are a fan of said formula, because MOUSE: P.I. For Hire does a great job of executing on the genre’s mechanics. The shooting feels good, the movement is excellent, and the level design is great, featuring levels that feel much longer than they actually are with twists, turns, and fun surprises here and there to keep things fresh.

This isn’t a bad choice of genre for the game either, as I feel like the simplicity of the gameplay and straightforward level design allows them to do a lot more with the concept than some other genres might. Again, it’s not very inventive or interesting on its own, and I would question if the game would be nearly as memorable if not for its unique visuals.

One area the game could use some work on is in difficulty and gun variety. Even on the hardest difficulty, MOUSE: P.I. For Hire was a walk in the park, with plentiful health, armor, and ammo littered throughout the levels. Certain weapons, such as my favorite, the De-Varnisher, kind of make the others useless, as they can reliably and quickly kill enemies, and there is no shortage of ammunition. There is very little, if any, benefit to switching to other weapons, so you can just stick with your favorite or the most powerful guns throughout.

Where the mechanics do deviate, such as the lockpicking minigame (which is very unique, albeit trivial in difficulty) and the card games, are interesting, but make little to no impact on the gameplay itself.

The game has a ton of levels, which is nice, but as far as I could find there was no replay feature. This means if you missed secrets or anything in a level you wanted to collect, you would have to start a new game and play through the whole thing again, hoping you don’t forget a second time.

It is clear from the solid, albeit somewhat flawed and unoriginal gameplay, that MOUSE: P.I. For Hire really wants to hook you on its aesthetic. And it is a great one: the 2D animation is excellent, the areas where they used 3D models (namely the terrain) don’t clash, and the designs are pretty phenomenal. The game and its artists understand the genre they are parodying, making it stand out far more than other attempts to do the same thing, such as Bad Cheese, and making the experience all the more memorable.

However, the writing doesn’t quite hold up to the same level of scrutiny as the art. The character dialogue in the game fluctuates between perfectly fine and distracting, and much of it feels shockingly modern in its verbiage and tone. This clash really makes it hard to believe that you’re playing as a detective in a rubberhose cartoon, and I feel like it wouldn’t have been very hard to write the script in “Good American” or Trans-Atlantic speech.

There is a lot to love in MOUSE: P.I. For Hire. The art is incredible, the animation even more so, and the artists clearly understood the cartoon genre they were parodying, making for great visual gags and an immersive feeling. The gameplay is a solid take on the boomer shooter genre, albeit one that does very little to reinvent itself or differentiate from others. The difficulty could be tweaked a bit, and the game clearly wants you to focus on its style over its substance, but it isn’t like the substance is totally missing to begin with. For the price, I don’t think many would complain about their experience with MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, though they may find it starts to overstay its welcome later on.

Also, this is just a personal question from me to the developers: Why is the main pistol, modeled after the Broomhandle Mauser, called the Micer rather than the Mouser? Was that a bit too low-hanging fruit for you?

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire was reviewed on the PC. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is available on Steam.