Cartoons bend the rules of death, so the end of all things becomes something amusing, un-scary, unpermanent. After playing a demo version of Mouse: PI for Hire, the upcoming first-person shooter with a black-and white, retro animation aesthetic, I think developer Fumi Games took issue with that. Death is ugly in Mouse: PI, as rats occasionally gurgle and choke on their own blood (or is it ink?), assuming you haven’t shot their heads clean off or burned them to death. These dramatic deaths form a weirdly gruesome contrast to the cutesy vibes of everything else in the game. But if the demo is anything to go by, contrasts are what define Mouse: PI.
As for why you’re killing a small town’s worth of rats, it’s for the greater good. Probably. Mouse: PI for Hire follows detective Jack Pepper (ha) as his search for an old friend drags him into dangerous corruption scandals and the mad fancies of a totally-not-deranged scientist. The demo version dropped me a bit further into that story, as Jack searches for a hidden laboratory and winds up getting ambushed by a bunch of thugs and robot versions of said scientist’s last girlfriend.
In the demo segment, at least, Mouse PI plays like a checklist of what to expect from modern action games:
- Hordes of enemies, most of whom aren’t that special or dangerous
- Somewhat basic environmental puzzles
- Secrets hidden just enough out of sight to make you search for them, but not in a way that requires much effort
The action is familiar and largely unthreatening, but Fumi Games’ dedication to recreating the vibes of early 20th century cartoons makes it distinct enough to never be boring. Moving through the lab feels like walking through a 1930s Disney cartoon, and the attention to detail in textures, line art, and character expressions is exquisite. Even the gun physics are straight out of retro cartoons, like the shotgun that bends from the force of its blasts and the pistol that sways in time to the music as if it has a will of its own. There’s a selection of more fantastical weapons, too, including an acid gun that melts enemies down to a surprised set of bones and then eventually just a pair of resentful eyes. At least the eyes don’t gurgle at you.
The demo’s boss fights (i.e.,the girlfriend robots) were much more demanding. Their punishing rhythms of attack required better timing and movement, and I needed to actually think about which weapons would work best. Tossing cartoon explosives into a mob of rats and demolishing the remnants with a cute little rifle is fine, but somewhat repetitive. Maybe that’ll change later in the game, when you have access to different weapons, but in this segment at least, I much preferred these more intricate encounters.
Mouse: PI for Hire‘s official description says it includes investigative elements and “a thrilling noir-fueled detective story,” which has me feeling slightly confused and a little leery. Confused that the demo section shows none of this and feels like going through the motions of your usual shooter game. (The point is showing the cartoony action, I know, but a little bit of the story would not go amiss either.) And leery, as the one bit of dialogue with another character is mostly just dragging out an unfunny joke for as long as possible. The character’s name is Igorrr, and the joke is arguing over how long to trill the “r”s at the end of his name. One mention, fine. Cartoons have silly humor that doesn’t land for everyone. Multiple times? Please stop.
At this point, I’m not convinced Mouse: PI for Hire leans far enough into its strengths. Less of your standard shooter stuff and more weird cartoonishness would probably have been the better choice here. But I’m still interested enough to check out the full version and see where Jack’s bizarre adventure takes him.
