Mouse: P.I. For Hire launched today and I’ve been waiting for this one since the tech demo went viral back in 2023. A 1930s cartoon noir FPS where you play as a hardboiled mouse detective voiced by Troy Baker, blasting your way through a city of crooked cops and gangster rats? With hand-drawn rubber hose animation and a jazz soundtrack? I didn’t know I needed this game until I saw it, and based on what reviewers are saying across the board, it’s the real deal.
The reviews are in and they’re strong. An 80 on Metacritic, 91% of critics recommending it on OpenCritic, and PC Gamer calling it the best shooter they’ve played in ages. At $29.99, it’s also absurdly well-priced for a 12 to 20 hour campaign. But there are a few things I wish I’d known before starting, and some quirks that could genuinely frustrate you if nobody warns you. So here’s everything.
Start on Supersleuth (Hard) Difficulty
This is the single most important tip I can give you, and every reviewer agrees on it. Mouse is too easy on the default difficulty. The game ships with three settings (an unnamed easy, Detective as the default, and Supersleuth as hard), and even on Supersleuth, TheGamer’s reviewer died fewer than five times across the entire campaign. TechRaptor described Supersleuth as feeling more like another game’s medium.
The problem isn’t just that enemies go down quickly. It’s that health, ammo, and armor pickups are everywhere. You’ll almost never run low on anything, which removes the tension that makes boomer shooters sing. On the default difficulty, combat becomes a shooting gallery instead of a challenge.
Starting on Supersleuth doesn’t make the game brutally hard. It makes it engaging. You’ll still feel powerful, you’ll still mow through rooms of enemies, but you’ll occasionally need to think about weapon selection and positioning. That’s the sweet spot. At least, that’s the consistent takeaway from every review I’ve read.
Levels Lock After Completion – Explore Everything First
This is the detail most likely to catch you off guard and it’s the kind of thing that could ruin your playthrough if you’re not careful. Once you finish a level, you can’t go back. There’s no level select at launch, and there’s no New Game+ that carries over your upgrades. If you miss a weapon schematic or collectible, it’s gone unless you have an earlier manual save or start a completely new game.
Use the optional Detective Brush tool (it shows footprints pointing toward the critical path) to identify where the main route is, then deliberately explore every branching path before following it. When you find a secret area, you’ll get a pop-up notification confirming it.
Save manually at typewriters. Save often. Save before you think you’re about to finish a level. Save before boss fights. The typewriter save system is your only safety net, and you’ll thank yourself for being aggressive with it.
All 11 Weapons (and the Ones Worth Prioritizing)
You carry every weapon simultaneously via a weapon wheel, with a quick-swap button for your last two. There’s no aim-down-sights. Everything is hip-fire, and every gun has unique cartoon death animations. Here’s the full arsenal:
The Micer – Your starting revolver (a pun on the Mauser). Surprisingly strong throughout the entire game. Shacknews called it one of the strongest starting weapons they’ve seen in a boomer shooter. The first upgrade gives it a burst-fire alt-fire that shreds at mid-range. Don’t sleep on it.
Boomstick -Pump-action shotgun. Upgrade it to get a charged stun shot that freezes enemies in place before you follow up. One of the most satisfying guns in the game, and the alt-fire changes how you use it entirely.
James Gun – The Tommy Gun. Named for obvious reasons. This thing has a drum magazine with a comically oversized plunger used to yank it free during reloads. Multiple reviewers flagged it as the most overpowered weapon in the game – you can apparently roll through virtually every encounter using nothing else. My recommendation? Use it, enjoy it, but force yourself to swap regularly. The game is more fun when you use everything.
Kiss Kiss – An explosive double-barrel shotgun that deals fire damage. Enemies hit by it burn to a pile of ash with blinking cartoon eyes. Excellent for crowd control and heavy enemies.
Loose Cannon -A literal pirate cannon that fires explosive cannonballs. Slow to fire but devastating in tight spaces. Great boss fight weapon.
D-Namite – Throwable TNT for environmental destruction and clearing groups.
Jar Head – A stun gun specifically useful against heavy brute enemies. Situational, but essential when you need it.
CLEAN-D (the Devarnisher) – This is the weapon everyone talks about. It fires acid that strips enemies’ ink off their bodies, leaving terrified crumbling skeletons rattling on the ground. The upgraded alt-fire turns it into an explosive grenade launcher that’s absurdly powerful. Arguably the most creative weapon in any FPS this year.
COOL-D – A freeze ray. Encases enemies in ice so you can shatter them with a kick. Extremely satisfying.
MIND-D — Fires brainwaves from a brain-in-a-jar that cause enemies to go insane until their heads explode. Peak cartoon energy.
You also have a melee kick (tied to a stamina meter, so you can’t spam it) and can interact with environmental weapons like explosive barrels, freezing barrels, falling pianos, and hanging anvils for classic cartoon kills.
Image: Press Kit
The B.A.N.G. Upgrade System
Weapon upgrades are earned through blueprint schematics hidden in secret areas throughout levels. You take these blueprints back to Tammy Tumbler’s workshop in the hub area between missions. Each weapon has two upgrade tiers. The first tier is critical because it unlocks an alt-fire mode that fundamentally changes how the weapon works. The second tier provides stat improvements.
Because levels lock permanently and schematics are missable, hunting for secrets isn’t just a completionist activity. It directly affects your combat options. If you skip exploration, you’ll be stuck with base-level weapons for longer than you want to be.
Image: Press Kit
Boss Fights Are the Highlight
The regular combat is fun but straightforward. Boss fights are where Mouse seems to genuinely shine based on review coverage. No two bosses use the same mechanics. Reviewers describe a recurring robot named Robo-Betty (the game plays a comedic rule-of-three bit with her, escalating the fight each time), a minigun-wielding alligator, an opera singer in a burning theater, and encounters that mix in entirely unexpected mechanics. One boss fight actually incorporates a card game.
The bosses aren’t impossibly hard, but they require you to change your approach. You can’t just hold the trigger and strafe. Pay attention to the arena, because TechRaptor and TheGamer both noted that some arenas are more dangerous than the bosses themselves. Environmental awareness matters.
Movement Abilities Unlock Gradually
You don’t start with your full movement kit. Throughout the campaign, you unlock a dash, double jump, wall-run, grapple hook, and a tail-helicopter glide (yes, really). This gives the game a light Metroidvania feel, where new traversal options open up previously inaccessible areas within levels.
The grapple hook can be finicky (Worthplaying noted that you sometimes need to be higher than expected for the prompt to register), so give yourself some patience with it, especially in the final level.
The Hub Area Is Worth Your Time
Between missions, you return to a hub with Jack’s office, Tammy’s workshop, a general store, and a bar. The office has a murder board where clues you’ve collected are pinned (though the game connects them for you automatically rather than letting you do the detective work yourself). The bar features a baseball card battler mini-game that reviewers describe as surprisingly addictive.
Spend your collected cash on baseball cards, newspapers, and comic panels at the store. Talk to NPCs for optional side quests that add narrative depth and sometimes rewards. The hub is also where the overworld map lives (a gorgeous animated top-down view where you drive between locations).
A Few Things to Know Before Buying
Platforms and price: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. $29.99 standard, $39.99 Digital Deluxe on Steam (mousethegame.com has the full edition breakdown). Physical editions arrive July 10. Xbox supports Play Anywhere.
Length: 12 to 20 hours depending on exploration pace. The campaign is longer than most boomer shooters, which is both a strength and, according to some reviewers, occasionally a weakness in the final act where pacing can slow.
Single-player only. No co-op, no multiplayer.
Performance: For reference, one reviewer tested it on a 7900XT – same GPU I run – and hit 120+ FPS at 4K without breaking a sweat.
The honest downside: Enemy variety is limited. Many enemy types are visual reskins of the same basic behaviors: melee rushers, ranged gunners, snipers that teleport, shield carriers, flying enemies, and heavy brutes. You’ll see variations on these throughout the whole campaign. The art style keeps encounters feeling fresh longer than they otherwise would, but if you’re expecting DOOM Eternal-level enemy diversity, temper expectations.
The moment I saw the Devarnisher gameplay in the trailers — watching an enemy’s ink peel off his body while his skeleton just stood there rattling on the floor, I knew this was going to be something special. For $30 this is a day-one buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is Mouse: P.I. For Hire?
The main campaign runs 12 to 20 hours depending on how thoroughly you explore. Focused players will finish closer to 12 hours, while completionists hunting every secret and collectible will approach 20.
Can you replay levels in Mouse: P.I. For Hire?
Not at launch. Levels lock after completion and there’s no level select or New Game+. Your only option is to load an earlier manual save or start a new campaign. This is the most important reason to explore thoroughly on your first visit and save frequently.
What’s the best difficulty for Mouse: P.I. For Hire?
Supersleuth (hard). The game is generously stocked with health and ammo, making the default difficulty too easy for anyone with FPS experience. Even on Supersleuth, most reviewers found it manageable with only a handful of deaths across the entire campaign.
How many weapons are in Mouse: P.I. For Hire?
11 firearms plus fists and a kick. The lineup includes the Micer (revolver), Boomstick (shotgun), James Gun (Tommy Gun), Kiss Kiss (explosive double-barrel), Loose Cannon (pirate cannon), D-Namite (TNT), Jar Head (stun gun), Devarnisher (acid/ink stripper), COOL-D (freeze ray), and MIND-D (brainwave gun). Each has two upgrade tiers unlocked via hidden blueprint schematics.
Is Mouse: P.I. For Hire on Game Pass?
No. Mouse is not available on Xbox Game Pass or PlayStation Plus at launch. It’s a $29.99 purchase on all platforms.
