Mouse: P.I. For Hire

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

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Review:

Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a First-Person Shooter released in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Set in a world stylized like old-fashioned “rubber hose” black-and-white cartoons peopled by anthropomorphic mice and other small critters, this game otherwise takes the tone of a hard-boiled detective story, with players in the role of said detective searching for a missing magician, though of course that’s just where things begin.

The most memorable thing about Mouse P.I. is going to be its presentation, which is set in a monochrome 3D world with its characters depicted using 2D characters animated in an old-timey style. On the one hand, this is a fairly unique take on the First-Person Shooter genre. However, on the other hand, I feel like they didn’t fully commit to the bit – characters look like cartoons absolutely dripping with style, but the world itself looks like a black-and-white version of the Toontown section of Disneyland, like a real place stylized to look like a cartoon rather than an actual cartoon.

This makes the joke of “it looks like a silly cartoon, but everything is violent and gritty” not hit nearly as hard, with real music from the period being depicted, and tongue-in-cheek “noir” dialogue voiced by veterans like Troy Baker and Fred Tatasciore, but I can’t help but feel like their talents are wasted here.

Then, when it comes to the gameplay, I feel like there’s very little that truly stands out here. Mouse: P.I. For Hire is mostly a pretty straightforward linear First-Person Shooter. There are occasional spots with hidden secrets, but there seems little reason to seek them out – the cash you earn in these spots isn’t all that necessary, mainly just used for a sub-par baseball-themed in-game card game, and to stock up on ammo in between levels. There’s also the thin premise of collecting clues to get to the next level, but this doesn’t really seem to factor into the gameplay.

With this being the case, you would hope that the First-Person Shooter gameplay itself is at least good, and it’s… fine. There’s not much to say about it, other than that there’s a stamina gauge for melee attacks, and regardless of what weapon you’re sporting you can always kick nearby enemies to stun them.

Unfortunately, the level design seems to depend far too much on players entering a room, followed by the door behind you slamming and a bunch of other doors opening to let in enemies. Take them out, move to the next area, then repeat. There’s little strategy, planning, or tactics that goes into this – melee enemies rush you, gunners shoot at you from a distance… this is almost “Boomer Shooter” territory in its simplicity, but those don’t tend to have the stop-start-stop-start level design that this game has. At the very least I give this game credit for supporting optional dynamic Mouse Mode, which works well… but then it doesn’t support gyroscopic motion controls.

In the end, I feel like if Mouse: P.I. For Hire didn’t have its unique theming and style, there wouldn’t be very much going for it, and it doesn’t even fully nail the style. It’s not a terrible First-Person Shooter, but neither is it a great one. If you’re tickled by this game’s aesthetic and premise, you might find it to be an amusing distraction, but I don’t feel like it truly lives up to its potential.

tl;dr – Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a First-Person Shooter set in a world stylized like old-fashioned “rubber hose animation” cartoons where players take the role of a hard-boiled anthropomorphic mouse detective. While the theming and presentation is unique, I feel like they don’t go far enough with it to truly make it work. In addition, the gameplay is linear and simple and doesn’t have enough going in its favor to stand on its own. This is a game you might find entertaining due to its unique theme, but it’s far from a great entry in the genre.

Grade: C

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