There’s no shortage of boomer shooters out there for those looking for some retro-style first-person action: Cultic, Ion Fury, Prodeus, and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, just to name a few. Yet only one of these nostalgic shooters meshes the genre’s arcade sensibilities with the black-and-white rubber-hose visuals of cartoons from the 1920s and ’30s and the unmistakable trappings of film noir.
Originally released as a tech demo that quickly went viral in 2023, Mouse: P.I. For Hire is now a fully-fledged game–one that oozes style and doesn’t lack substance either. It’s both familiar and incredibly niche at the same time; an endlessly charming game that I found a joy to simply behold, even before the cartoon bullets started flying.
Unsurprisingly for a game about furry rodents, Mouse: P.I. is all too fond of cheese-based puns and wordplay, so it makes sense that you should slip into the stylish trenchcoat of one Jack Pepper. The titular P.I. is a former war hero-turned-private dick working on a missing-persons case. As is par for the course, the investigation quickly spirals out of control, escalating into a complex web of intrigue and corruption that spreads to every sleazy corner of the city of Mouseburg.
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