Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a hugely distinctive first‑person shooter that delivers a focused single‑player campaign built around its unique, hand‑drawn noir aesthetic and fast, movement‑driven combat. Everything in the game is presented in a 1930’s rubber‑hose animation style, drawn frame by frame, which gives Mouse: P.I. For Hire a look and feel that stands apart from almost anything else you might pick up today.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire is set mainly in the city of Mouseburg, which is in itself a stylised 1934 metropolis populated by anthropomorphic rodents. We play the game as Jack Pepper, a private investigator voiced by Troy Baker, whose missing person’s case quickly expands into a larger conspiracy involving organised crime, political corruption and almost every other film-noir trope that you could imagine. Think Who Framed Roger Rabbit but without the colouring in (or the presence of Bob Hoskins) and you won’t be far wrong.
The campaign spans more than twenty levels, each with its own environment and pacing. Pepper moves through film studios, opera houses, industrial districts, swamps, tunnels and rooftops, with each location offering a different mix of exploration and combat. The structure is old-school in that it is linear but varied, and while levels are designed to be completed in sequence, they also contain optional secrets and collectibles that reward players who love to explore.
Combat is built around speed and mobility. As you progress, Pepper will unlock abilities such as double‑jumping, wall‑running, sliding and using a grapple‑hook, which gradually turn the game into a more vertical and fluid shooter. The weapon selection includes quite a few guns to choose from, ranging from period‑appropriate revolvers and Tommy guns to exaggerated cartoon‑style weapons that I won’t spoil. Each one has its own hand‑drawn animations and behaviour, and the game encourages you to keep moving, repositioning and chaining abilities together to stay ahead of increasingly tough enemies.
Combat can be challenging at times, with Pepper’s weapons all having some drawback such as the speed at which you can fire them, the small magazine or whatever else, and I found that this meant I was often changing weapons and falling back to melee mid-firefight. I say this in a good way, because I enjoyed the variety and challenge. On the downside, combat doesn’t have much “weight” so whilst it functions well, it doesn’t always feel amazing.
Between firefights, the Mouse: P.I. For Hire slows down for investigative sections. These involve searching environments for clues, interacting with objects and piecing together the details of the case. They’re straightforward, but they help break up the action and reinforce the noir tone. The presentation supports this throughout: the soundtrack is a full big‑band jazz score, shifting between moody ambience and energetic brass depending on what’s happening on screen, and the voice acting carries the detective‑story framing without slipping into parody.
On Xbox Series X, Mouse: P.I. For Hire benefits from pretty strong performance that meant I had no major issues. While the developer hasn’t published specific framerate or resolution targets, the Series X version loads quickly, runs smoothly and presents the fantastic art cleanly. The black‑and‑white palette remains sharp and readable, and the stylised visuals scale well to higher resolutions. Controls are responsive, and the movement abilities feel completely natural as Pepper’s arsenal of moves expands.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire is entirely single‑player which is perhaps a bit disappointing, even though it’s debatable whether I’d play anything other than cooperative even if I had the chance. There are no multiplayer modes, no co‑op features and no live‑service elements. It is a self‑contained campaign with a defined beginning, middle and end, supported by optional secrets and replayable levels for players who want to revisit earlier stages with a fuller set of abilities. I think this ultimately is for the better, thanks to the strong focus on story development and the tight level design.
Taken strictly at face value, Mouse: P.I. For Hire on Xbox Series X is a hand‑drawn noir shooter with a 1930’s detective setting, a 20‑plus‑level campaign, fast movement‑based combat, a varied weapon roster, a jazz soundtrack, full voice acting and stable performance on modern hardware. There’s already a lot to like there, but when you put it all together and consider the benefit of how unique it is, then Mouse: P.I. For Hire elevates itself to deliver a focused single‑player experience built around distinctive art style and enjoyable, highly kinetic action.
Mouse: P.I. for Hire is available now for PC, as well as select Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch consoles.
