After 10 hours of Mouse: P.I. For Hire, the noir shooter with 1930s-style animation flair from developer Fumi Games and PlaySide Studios, I might be done. While an initial hands-on look back during GDC 2026 had me excited to check out the full release, I've become increasingly exhausted by slogging through the same enemies over and over – it looks great in motion at first, but once you see past the magic the fatigue sets in.
On the surface, all signs point to Mouse: P.I. For Hire being Extremely My Shit™. The snazzy animated style and art direction drips off every corner and angle, and sometimes quite literally given there's a weapon that devarnishes enemies. I grew up on Doom and Heretic and other classic boomer shooters that Mouse: P.I. For Hire ostensibly takes several pages from. I like a good pun or bit of wordplay, as well as the odd reference here and there, and the game is absolutely full of them.
