Mickey Mouse and the cartoons from his golden age are so timeless that they’re still influencing things today. In terms of video games, games like Cuphead and Bendy and The Ink Machine made big splashes after embracing those aesthetics with different gameplay styles.

Mouse: P.I. For Hire looks to do the same by mixing rubber hose cartoons with fun fps gameplay, an enjoyable story and a likeable cast of characters. Although it’s a bit on the easy side, I do think the game lives up to the hype many have had for it since it was announced a few years back.

Story

The game follows Jack Pepper, a war hero and former cop turned private detective. While working a seemingly small case involving a magician that disappeared, the magician turns out to be his old friend Steven Bandel. While trying to find out whether Steven is alive or dead, Jack ends up in over his head as his investigation leads him into a massive conspiracy involving kidnapping, murder, political espionage and science experiments. Undeterred however, Jack works to get to the bottom of everything.

Pros

When Mouse: P.I. For Hire was first announced, it’s black and white old school cartoon aesthetic caught people’s eyes immediately. Mouse: P.I. For Hire makes you feel like you are playing through an old cartoon with a mix of 2d character designs and 2.5d backdrops. The different characters all move like old rubber hose cartoons did, often bouncing and lively with their movements and expressions.

Even the game’s HUD has an unusual degree of charm to it. Your gun’s ammo laughs as you take enemies down and your health bar changes expression based on how hurt you are. During combat is when the animation shines the most, particularly due to how expressive and humorous the death animations of the enemies are. Their heads pop like a bubble of ink if you shoot them in the head, become filled with holes or even fully turn into ash if they burn but their eyes will still be looking at you like they would in an old cartoon.

The animation being good is backed up by the fact that Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a well made DOOM- style shooter. The game controls well, moves at a good pace during combat and Jack unlocks a good amount of weapons and abilities as things go on. Weapons range from cartoon versions of pistols, machine guns and shotguns to more outlandish weapons like acid launchers and a gun that shoots brainwaves. The game also features an upgrade system which not only does things like increase ammo count and damage but adds extra abilities. These range from giving the boomstick a charge shot and piercing abilities to turning the pistol into a burst fire weapon.

Jack also gains a number of abilities throughout the game. He starts off being able to dash around but also gains other abilities such as being able to double jump, run on walls and use his tail as both a helicopter and grappling hook. He also has super abilities when he eats certain items such as eating a hot pepper which increases his speed and adds fire damage to all weapons or eating spinach and paying homage to Popeye the sailor.

The game’s enemies come in big waves like this type of shooter tends to do and there’s a decent amount of enemy variety as well. Enemies work together to take you down with some charging you with melee weapons and others pelting you with machine guns. There are also enemies like snipers who will teleport if you get too close to them.

Also adding to the gameplay is that the game’s levels are large and has a good amount of exploration involved. Mouse: P.I. For Hire isn’t a very short game, probably taking 20 hours or more to do everything and maybe 13-15 to do the main story. There’s plenty of secrets to find such as blueprints which are used for weapon upgrades, collectible plush dolls of Jack as well various cash pick ups which can buy ammo before entering a level or different cards for the baseball card mini game. There’s also a number of side quests that NPCs can give you before going to a new level. For a game that’s only launching at 30 USD, Mouse does have a good amount of content going for it.

Mouse P.I. For Hire also features a solid story with an enjoyable cast of characters. The game does go over some pretty deep topics such as racism and classism. This is mostly presented in the form of the shrews. The shrews are small and often viewed as being lower than mice. They often take on the most demeaning jobs and it seems like the city and world is either looking to exploit them or beat them down. As the game goes on, you do actually feel sorry for the little guys as you see them throughout the levels.

Being that this is a detective story of old times, there are a couple of good murder and kidnapping mysteries throughout the story as well. Another aspect that keeps the story enjoyable is that although it’s often serious in tone, it’s also quite funny due to the game never forgetting that it’s a rubber hose cartoon, as well as a video game. These can range from moments when a character tells Jack that physics don’t matter to him and he can double jump or visiting a museum that pokes fun at various video game tropes. Mouse: P.I. For Hire does a good job at blending seriousness and humor within its writing.

This is also helped by a likeable cast of characters and excellent voice work from the cast. Jack is a classic hardboiled detective in the vein of characters like Columbo and Dick Tracy. Troy Baker does a great job as always bringing the character to life as his personality of a hard edged war veteran who genuinely does want to help people out but, does wonder if he’s actually making a difference.

The game has a great supporting cast overall such as Wanda Fuller, a reporter and friend that works with Jack on his cases and John Brown a shrew that runs the bar that Jack frequents who serves as a bit of comic relief. I’d say my two favorite characters throughout the story were Tammy Tumbler, a young woman who’s like an adopted daughter to Jack. She handled upgrading his weapons. She’s sassy and witty but is the most upbeat character in the game and is always willing to help Jack out. Cornelius Stilton is the other standout among the supporting cast. He’s a politician who served with Jack in the war and he’s legitimately a good man who wants what’s best for everyone. He personally comes to Jack with the plight that the shrews face in the game and he also helps keep Jack focused by ensuring him that what he’s doing is making a difference.

Mouse: P.I. For Hire also features a good soundtrack done in big band Disney style. It’s especially great as they get more intense during the fire fights. It feels like you’re playing through a big firefight in an old mob movie or cop film.

Cons

So one downside for Mouse: P.I. For Hire is that up until a little past halfway through the game, it perhaps feels too easy for some time. Although the combat is very fun, I never felt like I was really in danger of dying even after trying the harder difficulty.

I also didn’t really like the puzzle solving. The game will have you unlock safes throughout the levels as well as some doors and they weren’t hard but just kind of boring and repetitive due to how easy they were.

Mouse: P.I. For Hire also unfortunately doesn’t really give you enough time with all the weapons as a couple are unlocked very late in the game. Levels are also  locked off completely once you beat them and there’s no level select after beating the game. So if you miss any collectables you’ll have to start a new game all together to get them. Although this can certainly be fixed in an update, it does hurt the game’s replay value.

Also, while the game’s protagonist and supporting cast are great, the game’s villains didn’t really get enough time to shine. They’re taken out after you’ve seen them maybe 2 or 3 times and it’s unfortunate since like the rest of the cast, they’re voice acted well and do have good personalities from the brief time we get with them.

Final Thoughts

Mouse: P. I. For Hire is a great send up to old cartoons and detective stories as well as being a pretty good old-school style fps. There’s a lot to like here with its fun Gunplay, solid story and characters, funny animations and good soundtrack. Although it’s difficulty may not be enough for hardcore fans of the genre and some things hurt it’s replay value, it’s a great package overall.

Reviewed on PS5. Mouse: P.I. For Hire releases on 16th April 2026 across PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

A thank you to Fumi Games and Playside studios for a review code for the game.