Mouse P.I for Hire is cheesy and fresh

By Izayah Morgan Editorial Staff Mouse P.I for Hire was my most anticipated game of the year - yes, that’s with the presumption that GTA VI comes out this year. To me, I missed that old rubberhouse animation and was itching for a Doom-like shooter to fill my time. To me it could not launch at a better time as nothing else came out around its April 16 release. It being developed by a small indie studio made me even more excited. Mouse P.I sees you take on the role of a mouse who is a private detective named Jack Pepper (Troy Baker), who absolutely killed this role. I let you see if you can get the pun. Mouse P.I has you take on levels to collect evidence for your active cases. Each level is filled with secret coins, newspapers and baseball cards which are used for a very fun Mini Game. Each level is fully packed with things to do and when you return to your base of operations after each level you can spend your acquired resources adequately. Another big highlight for the game was the music by game composer and adaptive music designer Patryk Scelina. He brought a theme of the old school noir and succeeds on every level. Not one miss. A benefit I was surprised to see was the amount of customization and accessibility available in the in game settings. Especially being on console (PS5) I was surprised to see the numerous options on how my game looks and plays. I was most excited for the voice acting on display and wasn’t disappointed. It was obvious to me that Troy Baker as Jack Pepper was going to be a performance worthy of multiple Game Awards - and I was right. However other standouts were Carmyn Grimes as Tammy Tumbler, who was very Gen Z coded, and Frank Todaro as Cornelius Stilton. The comedy was also another standout point for me. Knowing when to be light hearted but also serious when it needs to be. The cheese puns were also great but I am known for my corny humor. To me the most surprising part was the game's larger political themes. I won’t get into spoilers, but the game deals with government corruption, racism, and police brutality in clever and overtly clear ways. The game does a lot right and with the way things look they are taking criticism very seriously and that's a great thing to see. One thing I would like expansion on is the weapon upgrades, for what's there they are great, but limited - I want more of them. I also would like to see a feature implemented that allows for easier replaying of levels and a system to see what you missed in each level. Lastly, I would like to see improvements to the way you drive your car around the city of Mouseburg. It feels slow and I think some upgrades to the car or even just an optional boost would be great. Overall Mouse P.I for Hire was a fun ride and full of stand out moments. I wish it could have lasted even an hour longer. Rating: A- “Too gouda to be true”