Mouse: P.I. For Hire (2026)

So this game has been on my radar for a WHILE. I wasn't sure what the price was going to be in Canada, but I knew I'd be getting it day one anyway. When that day came and the price was a measly $39.99, I didn't hesitate for even a second. The purchase was made and the download begun.

After a little over two weeks I finally completed my first playthrough and I am thrilled to say that I had a GREAT time.

The core gameplay loop is insanely addictive, at least I found it to be. As someone who really digs "boomer shooters", this was exactly what the doctor ordered. Fast paced, relentless onslaughts of enemies, plenty of enemy variety, and nice large play spaces with plenty of secrets to run around in.

If you're someone who doesn't like something such as the classic Doom games, you might not jive with this as much as I did. The main story runs about 12-15 hours, so you may find it gets dry after only a short period.

As much as it was seeing the gameplay that officially sold me on the whole package, it was the art style that first caught my attention and boy, oh boy, it did NOT disappoint.

Every environment, character, and animation was lovingly crafted from scratch by REAL artists with a clear passion for this style. It's beautiful, simply beautiful.

The tone of the game is pretty much exactly what I wanted as well. It blends the "rubber hose" animation style, with an L.A. Noire-styled story and boomer shooter mechanics, while never taking itself too seriously.

The voice work was terrific too! Troy Baker was superb, as always, and the supporting cast brought these unique oddballs to life so well. The names, the dialogue, all of it, was meticulously written in a way that felt era appropriate, while also leaning heavily into the absurdity of the whole thing.

Now, unfortunately it is NOT perfect. Most of the humour didn't really work for me, the story wasn't all that interesting and overstayed its welcome, and with the game running as long as it does, you really start to notice the lack of a skill tree/upgrade paths. Plus some REALLY annoying, repetitive villain dialogue...my favourite (least) "STAHP BREAKIN MA SUBMA-REEEEEN"

All in all, I had a really good time with this game. For the price, I feel it was more than worth it. It won't be for everyone, but if you watch the launch trailer and think "yeah, this is for me" then it probably is. Just do your due diligence before paying the price of admission. It's simple, but delivers EXACTLY what it set out to do and is exactly what I WANTED it to be.

Mouse PI is a bit of a scattershot mess. On one hand, it is gorgeous, with great atmosphere and a very fun premise. On the other, weapon switches are slow and clumsy in order to fit in entire (albeit impressive) animations, halting the flow of combat, and movement (the most important part of a boomer shooter) often results in you getting stuck on poorly designed hitboxes, invisible walls, or unseen objects.

There's a lot to love, however I do feel this is another case of gamers' easily-excitable nature: wag something pretty before their eyes and they cannot help but fall in love, losing all critical-thinking in the process (as if they had much to start).

For every charming or enjoyable detail of the game, there is an equally nagging frustration. The double-jump is a welcome addition in a boomer shooter, however the gliding mechanic is quite poor and feels clunky to use; the baseball card mini-game is fun and fairly easy, however you're expected to invest far too much time into it in order to achieve any reward (each win is a single token, with 20 for a single unlock); swimming is a nice extra layer, however there is zero delineation between water you can traverse, and water that results in instant death, with the latter oft-times having ladders poking up from it, fooling you into believing you can swim in it; the art style and animations are gorgeous, but they are limited overall, and you will see the same repeated, verbatim, until the charm wears thin.

Mouse PI is a good game, but it is not an overwhelmingly good (or even great) game. My opinion of gamers is often quite low, as I do believe they are an audience with very little media literacy, object permanence or critical-thinking skills. And in cases like these, it shows how little of games outside the biggest and most popular most gamers actually play, because when Mouse PI achieves such an immense reputation so quickly, and is lauded to such degrees, it leaves you wondering what the hell these people play that lead to this looking like a masterpiece to them.