Mouse: P.I. For Hire Review - A Black-and-White FPS Worth the Detour According to Gamerant

Fumi Games has pulled off no small feat with Mouse: P.I. For Hire, an FPS with retro charm that's still hard to pin down as an indie game. This title plunges us into the affairs of Jack Pepper, a rodent private detective hunting down a delinquent in a city gangrened by the turpitudes of crooked politicians and gangsters.

The black-and-white "rubber hose" aesthetic is drawn directly from Disney and Fleischer shorts of the 1930s, already immersing the player in a unique atmosphere that one would like to be memorable, and which, this time, doesn't rely on style alone: the dynamic and no-frills gameplay, which cuts through the drabness, comes as a surprise and a pleasure, according to the Gamerant author. It admittedly takes some time to adapt in order to unlock the double jump, but this too takes on an unexpected depth, as players' curiosity for finding coins and baseball cards, or strategic combat positions, is rewarded.

Here we should dwell on the immersive soundtrack propelled by narration with witty dialogue, or, in between, on the charismatic characters encountered throughout the twists and turns that, nevertheless, we don't experience in reverse, in an adventure lasting around fifteen hours during which no sense of fatigue ever sets in. The review states that the game's art design is admirable, just as the work's creative direction is bold.

The only blemish, the main criticism leveled, is of a narrative nature, as although substantial, the story contains a few elements of exploration that are too generic, combat, or a narrative that reeks of "déjà-vu" (pronounced the English way).

Despite this minor criticism, Mouse: P.I. For Hire remains a memorable shooter experience, one that doesn't seek to revolutionize, but simply to deliver a stunning noir detective plot, with endearing characters and an equally captivating world-atmosphere and animation, an indie title that fully deserves to be bought, still according to the Gamerant journalist.