Mouse: PI for Rent is loads deeper than I initially assumed. When the sport first caught buzz in Could 2023 with an early teaser populated by placeholder property, I didn’t perceive the hype. The artwork model was undoubtedly cool — Mouse is a black-and-white first-person shooter impressed by Nineteen Thirties rubber hose cartoons, that includes bipedal rodents dressed like mobsters — however with none details about the gameplay loop, mechanics or narrative route, I remained unmoved.
After seeing Mouse in motion at Summer Game Fest 2025, think about me movin’. Mouse is mechanically nuanced and absolutely voice-acted, starring Troy Baker as the protagonist, and it has extra to supply than shock-value cartoon violence. It is a clue-gathering, photo-snapping, girlfriend-avenging, noir detective simulator that occurs to star a bunch of slick-talking mice and rats, and I’m absolutely into it.
In a non-public session at SGF, Fumi Video games CEO Mateusz Michalak and lead producer Maciek Krzemien performed by the sport’s third degree, Gumshoe within the Opera, and mentioned their intentions with the sport. Krzemien mentioned the staff didn’t wish to merely lean on the artwork model on the expense of gameplay, and so they targeted on constructing a wealthy world with layered mechanics. Since that preliminary teaser got here out, they’ve been fleshing out characters, drawing property by hand, implementing puzzles and secrets and techniques, and tweaking particular person weapons in order that they really feel good.
In Gumshoe within the Opera, the protagonist Jack Pepper is investigating his girlfriend’s homicide and he’s backstage on the theater, on the lookout for a good friend who is likely to be concerned. Baker makes for a high quality Nineteen Thirties non-public eye, with a deep voice and a Boardwalk Empire twang. The supporting characters are voiced, too, and so they are likely to have a higher-pitched, henchman model of gangster converse. Mousey, you can say.
Pepper fills up a 16-slot weapon wheel as he finds new weapons and instruments, together with a flashlight, dynamite, Tommy gun, hookshot, pistol, shotgun and a turpentine blaster. The turpentine gun is ridiculous in one of the simplest ways — because the characters on this world are cartoons, it melts their pores and skin away prefer it’s paint after which dissolves their skeletons. Killing enemies with a standard gun leaves them mendacity in swimming pools of black blood, generally with lacking heads, and the sport’s environments have destructible components. The combination of mature violence and traditional cartoon artwork is surprisingly joyful, and it appears Fumi received the steadiness good.
Most enemies in Mouse take just a few hits earlier than happening, however headshots are a factor and a well-aimed blast can undoubtedly flatten a mobster (mouse-ster?) in a single blow. I didn’t get an opportunity to play the sport myself, however now that I’m absolutely seated on the Mouse hype practice, I’m curious to really feel the gunplay firsthand. I’ve a way it’s going to be tougher than Krzemien made it appear.
The preview was roughly half capturing motion, half investigation and exploring. When he’s not in a firefight, Pepper climbs by vents and sneaks round backstage, amassing corked well being pots, a espresso cup and weapons alongside the best way. The espresso cup turns Pepper’s hand right into a finger gun, which he makes use of to quickly pew pew pew his approach by enemies. He learns methods to double-jump and is ready to backtrack by the extent with this new capacity, choosing up further provides and a hidden buying and selling card — for the card-based minigame, after all. A lockpick mechanic has gamers snake their well past spikes to finish a small maze contained in the lock. In a single second, Pepper takes a photograph of somebody by a small window and it’s saved for later, hinting at a bigger clue-organizing mechanic. Krzemien mentioned that after this part, Pepper will return to his workplace to piece collectively the proof.
There are numerous layers to Mouse: PI for Rent. Perhaps it’s my fault for being stunned by the depth on this sport or the care being proven by builders at Fumi, however no less than now, I lastly get it. Mouse is because of hit Steam, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox Sequence X/S and Swap this 12 months, printed by PlaySide.
