TheHeartPiece MOUSE: P.I. For Hire Review

The 1920s cartoon aesthetic and animation are undoubtedly the best parts of this game, but there’s plenty more to love. The maps are beautifully designed, the levels are wonderfully weird and original, and I personally loved the cheesy sense of humor (pun intended). BUT, the game definitely misses its mark in a few key areas: Enemy Variety: You are basically shooting the same six enemies over and over again. Sure, they look different in some levels—which I appreciate—but their behavior and weapons are exactly the same. If this were a 5-hour title it wouldn’t be so bad, but when it takes roughly 12 hours to roll the credits, the combat becomes incredibly repetitive. Weapon Balancing: There is a decent variety of guns, and a couple of them are genuinely fun and original. However, I always ended up defaulting to the same two because they were simply the most practical. Freezing an enemy, swapping weapons, and shattering them with a pistol is fun a few times, but it quickly becomes unsustainable when you have 20 other enemies rushing you. The "Detective" Element: This is a detective game (it’s even in the name), but you won't actually be doing much detective work. All the clues you collect are automatically pinned, and cases solve themselves. I get that this is primarily an FPS, but the missed potential still stings. The Money: Lots of the secrets and safes that you find along the way give you money, but there’s not much you can do with it: you can play a very basic card game, buy ammunition (even though there’s always plenty of it everywhere) and buy collectibles. I would have been happier getting the cash if I could do something a bit more useful with it. Verdict: Despite these flaws, I still recommend it. It’s definitely not the slam dunk I had hoped for, and there is a clear path for improvement in a potential sequel. But if you like old-school FPS games with a stellar aesthetic and straightforward mechanics, this is absolutely worth a look.