Mouse PI a cheesy noir adventure

In the current day that we live in, there are copies of games, or games that play similar to other games. I am sure you have noticed the recent trend of Souls-like games being treated as a blueprint for what players want out of a game. However, most games copy from others without realizing that charm is what drives most players to the original idea and the newer ideas as well.

Playing a Souls-like is cool, but if it has the same dark and gothic atmosphere, then I can simply go back to playing Demon Souls or Bloodborne. With that said, I just recently beat Mouse Private Investigator, which is simply a boomer shooter like Doom, only it is dressed in the style of old black-and-white noir from the 1930s. More specifically, it focuses on cartoon styles used back in the day that were similar to the first cartoons of Mickey Mouse.

Objects move and bounce with joy, and your bullets have faces and reactions as in-game icons. This is what I mean when I say charm has to be added, because otherwise this would just be a boomer shooter with a black-and-white paint job.

Your main character is Jack Pepper, an obvious nod to one of the greatest cheeses of all time, Pepper Jack. Personally, I like Gouda cheese, and guess what Jack does. In fact, any cheese references that you want in this game will probably be mentioned. Yes, even blue cheese. There are so many cheesy jokes and lines in this game that it is impossible not to feel like you are in the world of Mouseburg.

Jack is a grizzled war veteran who later becomes a private detective for his own reasons. Because of this, there is a strong connection to the character, as we already have an idea of who he is and how self-aware he is to the world around him. This world is dark, and not because of the black-and-white style, but because in general it brings a realistic tone that most people will be familiar with in their own world: police brutality, missing people, corrupt politicians, and corrupt leaders. All of these are just the tip of the iceberg for what Jack has to discover in order to get to the bottom of what is truly going on in Mouseburg.

Gameplay

The game does not hold your hand, but at the same time it does not allow you to get totally lost in the weeds. I am not really a detective or crime-solving gamer myself, so I was wondering how exactly the game would progress in terms of resolving a lead to unlock the next mission, or figuring out who to talk to and track down.

Thankfully, this did not require me to drag and drop, compare clues, or find similarities between them. If you play through the game normally, Jack uses his own deductive reasoning without the player having to think too hard about a world that is not technically real.

However, I can imagine for some people this is what they were looking for in terms of feeling like a real detective and using problem-solving skills to find new leads. I can imagine this is probably not the main focus of the game, as the developers were likely more focused on visual appeal and keeping players engaged with character charm rather than spending hours looking at a board with red (or grey) string everywhere.

Weapons

The weapons in this game are typical guns you can find in almost any shooter. Again, what makes them amazing is the amount of charm in the animations and the overall design of the guns themselves.

Nothing says fun like a reload animation that shows Jack taking a fistful of shotgun shells and cramming them into the chamber in the most absurd way possible, only for the gun to work perfectly fine.

The game has automatic weapons, single-fire weapons, and of course melee weapons to make you think on the fly and save ammo resources like a real detective.

Disappointments

After beating the game, my first disappointment (that I honestly knew might happen) is that the game does not have a true endgame that would satisfy most players.

What I mean is that usually there is something meaningful that happens after you beat a game to completion. Not to say that I expected a full New Game Plus, but a big part of me hoped that I would be able to either:

• Backtrack a few missions to search for collectibles.
• Return to a hub world such as Mouseburg to play cards.

My final disappointment is that I truly wish there was a car-chase level that works like a rail shooter. This did not even occur to me until I looked at promotional art for the game itself. There is an image of characters such as Jack Pepper, Veronica, and various bosses you fight during the campaign. Right beneath it, there is an image of a crew of mice in a vehicle being pursued by what is clearly the Mouseburg police.

Because of this, I expected the game to shift from classic black-and-white boomer shooter gameplay into at least one rail-shooter chase sequence that breaks from the usual 3D platforming loop. That never happens, and it makes me wonder about the world-building side of the developer vision. Did they have an idea for a chase level and scrap it, or is that image simply there to depict the era?

Either way, I saw a chance for a great gameplay moment and was left feeling like the game could have used a little more time in the oven.

Not having much to do after the story is complete is common in games, but being soft-locked to a save right before the final boss does not make me want to replay that boss. I wanted to go back and explore Mouseburg, or at least replay levels with newly discovered weapons.

This hits harder because my weapon wheel is missing the ray gun.

The ray gun can only be acquired by obtaining 20 coins, which can be found by either playing the card game or discovering secret locations. As someone who focused on the story and not card missions, I assumed that mini-game would remain available. On my last save, it was not, so I could not go back and earn those coins.

That makes the endgame less satisfying since there is basically nothing left to do except uninstall.

Overall, Mouse PI brings a satisfying playthrough for players who want to traverse levels and talk in a deep, scratchy voice while sipping fondue. If you are here for a linear story that pulls you into a world with characters you grow to like over time, I am sure you will find something great here.

This game made me explore so much that I often found glitches, bugs, and shortcuts that were probably never expected.