MOUSE: P.I. For Hire Reviews
Mouse: P.I. The Hire shines thanks to its rubber-hose aesthetic, recreated with exceptional care, its vibrant jazz music, and frenetic combat that turns every encounter into a visual and auditory spectacle.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
With striking style, tight combat, and a stellar cast, Mouse: P.I. For Hire proves itself the big cheese of boomer shooters.
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a stylish and surprisingly fast-paced FPS that leans hard into its rubber hose noir identity while still delivering solid, movement-driven combat. The presentation, music, and voice work carry much of the experience, even when upgrades feel underwhelming.
As a shooter, Mouse P.I. For Hire, fits well with its decent arsenal of weapons for you to use. The level design is amazing with Tinsel Avenue probably being my favourite location, and driving around the overworld looks so damn good. Enemy variety keeps you engaged even if they don’t really require you to switch up for strategy, with the Devarnisher, literally melting most of them. There are plenty of Easter eggs, nods and references everywhere the player looks, showing just how much detail this game offers in the environments alone. Boss fights are fun and some offer a better challenge than just running around gunning. Although The final boss felt a little long but was still enjoyable in the end. And with all my cases closed, I would say that Mouse P.I. For Hire deserves the Thumb Culture Gold Award. I do wish that we could have replayed the levels, and maybe a beige and black art colouration was available in the settings.
From its beautiful hand-drawn animation and world, to its lovable cast of characters, to just the overall polish and love put into this game, the long wait we all had to endure to play this title was well worth it.
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire succeeds where many games with visually striking concepts fall short. It isn’t just visually original; it’s also a joy to play. The experience is driven by simply exceptional art direction, fast-paced and extremely satisfying gameplay, and a masterfully executed film noir atmosphere. This title from Fumi Games stands out as one of the most memorable and refreshing FPS games of the year. Admittedly, its investigation system takes a backseat more than one might have hoped, and the game drags a bit toward the end, but these flaws are minor compared to the overall quality of the experience.
Review in French | Read full review
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is a reminder that creativity often thrives when developers take risks. The visuals, gameplay, soundtrack, and story all work toward the same goal, blending old-school inspiration with modern ideas in a way that feels fresh rather than recycled.
By the time I saw Mouse: P.I. For Hire's credits, I was breathless. Breathless from the pulse-pounding, breakneck pace of the bloody, exhilarating combat. Breathless from the unpredictable revelations from the awesome story. And breathless from the ridiculously cool presentation of Mouse's world, through its wonderful art direction and fantastic, moody soundtrack. Mouse: P.I. For Hire is a masterclass in game design, and I'm here for whatever this team does next; which I genuinely hope is another Mouse game.
Mouse: P.I. for Hire completely captivated me. The game is fun and addictive, the kind where you play and barely notice the time passing, or only stop because you really need to do something else. The noir theme, the cartoonish visuals, the mystery story, and the frenetic action together create a delightful experience.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is considered an exceptional experience that succeeded in providing a unique blend between nostalgia and modern gameplay mechanics. The developer was able to craft a fun and addictive gameplay style, supported by excellent variety in weapons and deep upgrade systems that give the experience additional value. The game's greatest achievement lies in its stunning artistic direction; as it revived the aesthetics of 1930s classic cartoons with superb craftsmanship and merged them with dark Noir atmospheres to create a world unlike anything else. It is not just a shooter game, but a hand-drawn work of art that reflects great passion in execution, making it one of the most distinctive games in its category.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Mouse P.I. For Hire is an old style first person shooter. It sometimes takes a somewhat serious tone. The music and rubber hose cartoon art style manage to drag you through the game. A game that can certainly provide some entertainment for the right audience.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
MOUSE: P.I. for Hire is a game that stands out for its stunning art direction and distinctive identity, capable of making a lasting impression from the very first minute. Its gameplay, while solid and enjoyable, complements the overall experience well, only occasionally falling short of the variety its powerful visual presentation suggests. Even so, it manages to hold its own with remarkable ease thanks to its pacing and personality. It's a game that shines particularly brightly for how it looks and feels, rather than for any attempt to reinvent the genre.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Laden with wit, charm and a fantastic look and aesthetic feel to the whole thing. The game oozes a charming style of art not seen in this day and age and from the get-go had me hooked. Plenty of gun blazing action, mixed in with scene stealing gameplay and a wide array of well voiced supporting characters. And although, by the writing of this review I hadn’t finished the whole game, I’m certainly stocking with it til the very end to experience it all. FumiHQ have done a fantastic job with this world and the characters within it and I for one are now looking forward to what game and genre they turn their hands to for their next release. If you’re a fan of FPS games, or just a fan of fun period, then I can highly recommend Mouse: P.I. It reminds me of why I loved gaming from the get-go, you get a full gaming experience for your money. No in game storefront, no paid cosmetics, no microtransactions whatsoever included. Just a full game, well-polished, and complete. Despite what other reviews have said, in the modern age, that is not only a rarity, but a breath of fresh air to this old gamer. Heck, I was struggling to find points for ‘The Bad’ segment of this review because there’s nothing actually wrong with the game, so I had to do some personal nitpicking just to think of some. For only £ 24.99 English Pounds on the Xbox Store at launch, this title is an absolute bargain for what you get. But enough of me praising the heck out of this game, just go and buy it already. Trust me, you shan’t be disappointed and we need to support more games like this that push creativity, imagination and fun more than ever for the gaming community.
Mouse: P.I. for Hire is a very strong debut from Fumi Games. Despite a few issues with pacing and combat, it offers a solid story, phenomenal visuals, and a highly atmospheric soundtrack. If you enjoy noir-style games and boomer shooters, you’re sure to love this game.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Mouse P.I. For Hire is a ridiculous good time, with solid level design, good-to-great voice performances and an art style I will not shut up about. Gunplay is hit and miss, mostly hit, and the pop culture references can be a bit too much sometimes, but if anyone were to ask if they should play Mouse? Well, that’d be the easiest yes of the year.
MOUSE: P.I. for Hire is not a game that goes unnoticed. Not for its striking visual identity, rooted in early animation aesthetics, nor for the assured way it blends noir sensibilities with the FPS framework. Above all, however, it stands out for its identity. In a landscape often defined by predictability, Fumi Games delivers a title that dares to experiment and, more often than not, succeeds in its ambition: to offer something distinct, recognisable, and distinctly authored. In today’s video game industry, that is no small feat.
Mouse: PI for Hire isn’t revolutionary, but to be honest, it doesn’t even try to be. It doesn’t aim to stand out for its substance, but rather for its style, and it actually succeeds very well in this: the artistic and visual style is distinctive and captivating, transforming the game into a nostalgic cartoon that we threw ourselves into headfirst. The result isn’t outstanding, partly due to a somewhat outdated structure in gaming terms, but in our view it deserves credit for Fumi Games’ courage in at least attempting to forge an artistic identity, with a fine result.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Mouse: P.I. for Hire is a fun and visually appealing shooter, but it doesn't offer anything groundbreaking or memorable in terms of plot or gameplay. With a few additions and changes to the pacing, the end result could have been a hit like Cuphead.
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Mouse P.I. For Hire excels in its genre and has not only a well-executed story, but a fantastic cast of characters to boot, brought to life with some often superb vocal performances. The gunplay and action is damn fun, and accompanied by a great soundtrack, it gives this game not only a fun and unique vibe, but an experience that is oozing with character.
MOUSE: P.I. For Hire does well because it knows what it wants to be. It doesn't try to follow trends or change the way old styles are done. Instead, it works on putting together well-known ideas in a way that feels new. It's clear that some things could be done better. There aren't enough good ways to look into things; it's too simple to move forward, and some parts slowly lose their strength.