When I took a look at Mouse: P.I. For Hire back in June, I really liked what I saw, but I was definitely left wanting more. I had been following the game for a while, so I was already on board, but watching someone else play an FPS is only so much fun. I needed to get my hands on it to truly understand what it was doing.
Thankfully, the team at Fumi Games and PlaySide gave me the chance to try a small demo of Mouse: P.I. For Hire and, as the title of this article suggests, it feels like a true classic in every sense of the term. It is a raucous FPS that genuinely feels like a callback to PC classics such as DOOM, Quake and even Half-Life, while still incorporating modern design sensibilities.
Taking place in an underground laboratory, Detective Jack Pepper searches for clues about the whereabouts of his missing friend, Steve. Things quickly take a turn for the weird and the worse as cultists and deadly robots begin attacking Jack, forcing him to fight for his life and the case. The demo gave me a solid feel for the combat, which is challenging, approachable and incredibly fun.
As I mentioned, it is reminiscent of old-school first-person shooters with fast, fluid movement, while still giving players a strong sense of control and precision. Each new area feels like a mini combat arena, providing plenty of room to move, take cover and outmanoeuvre opponents. Jack himself is versatile, able to dash and double-jump, and bullets are fairly easy to avoid, so even gamers who are not FPS aficionados should have a good time playing Mouse: P.I. For Hire.
And the demo also gave me a solid sense of the variety the game has on offer. While I said in my initial preview that the Opera House level looked to have more freedom of approach—leaning more into the elements of an Immersive Sim—this was a far more straightforward experience, giving players a more varied experience that doesn’t always involve higher degrees of creative thinking.
“The more I get to see and experience Mouse: P.I. For Hire, the more eager I am to finally get to play the whole thing.”
What’s more, there’s a lot more creativity and humour on display from the Digital Preview. While it was present in a lot of the dialogue that featured silly little quips and a couple of references to old Hammer Horror films, even the weapons themselves have received a bit of a comedic update. The standard pistol—very clearly a Mauser—is named “Micer,” (I mean…Mouser was right there, but maybe Nintendo would’ve had a problem with it?). The shotgun is named “Boomstick,” and my personal favourite was the Tommy Gun, hilariously named “James Gun.”
But what’s still the standout for Mouse: P.I. For Hire is its visuals. It seems strange to me that, for as long as “Billboarding” has been utilized in 3D shooters, not a lot of games have thought to utilize the mechanic to create a cartoon world. To this end, Mouse: P.I. For Hire does a great job of having characters look flat, but feel totally fleshed out. Actually experiencing it in action, you get a real sense for the game’s cartoonish sense of speed and chaos, and the animation work on enemies, weapons, and environments is just stellar.
The more I get to see and experience Mouse: P.I. For Hire, the more eager I am to finally get to play the whole thing. There is so much ingenuity, fun and genuine creativity on display that it’s sure to go down as an instant classic. If this doesn’t prove what I’ve been saying for years—that the Indie scene is vastly more interesting than the “AAA” one—then I don’t know what does.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire launches for Nintendo Switch & Switch 2, PlayStation 5, PC (Microsoft Windows), and Xbox Series X|S on April 16th, 2026.
