Mouse PI For Hire Switch 2 Review

Mouse PI For Hire Switch 2 Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2

I got a nose for reviews, but usually the games find me first, and when I first saw Mouse PI For Hire, it walked onto my Switch 2’s SD Card like trouble in heels. Developed by the Polish studio, Fumi Games, I hoped it would have critical acclaim… Hope’s a dangerous thing to carry in this line of work. It seems to have cheesed some people off, maybe it’s the noir setting, maybe it’s the cheese puns, but some scores just swing that way, I suppose. That’s the problem with this town, sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the cheese. Who am I to dissa-brie? I’m Detective Sarge, from the What’s It Like Agency. Grab your Tommy gun, put on your trenchcoat, and let’s see if things are really black and white as we review Mouse PI for Hire for Nintendo Switch 2.

Mouse PI for Hire puts you in the black-and-white boots of war hero turned detective, Jack Pepper, as he dives deep into the underbelly of Mouseberg. What starts as a search for a missing magician quickly spirals into a web of organised crime, politics, corruption, and murder. It’s a surprisingly deep narrative that fully commits to its 1930s noir inspirations. The game nails its setting and overall vibe, supported by a strong cast of characters that grow more compelling as the conspiracy escalates.

The game plays out as a first-person shooter that feels part BioShock and part classic boomer shooter. Controls are slick and responsive, making gunplay feel satisfying, while character interactions and story moments break up the action without slowing things down. Between shootouts and set-piece encounters, there’s a solid mix of platforming and puzzles to keep both your reflexes and your brain engaged. Many of these revolve around Jack’s abilities, which are gradually introduced as you progress. These include tail-based lockpicking, a grappling tail, and even using your tail like a helicopter to glide across gaps. If you lose your way, a detective brush can be used to help guide you forward.

Boss fights are where the game shifts away from its BioShock-like moments and leans more into bullet hell boomer shooter action, with big sequences full of dodging bullets and repeated attack patterns. They add a fresh take on the gunplay, with some bosses acting as simple bullet sponges, while others play out more like arena-style obstacle courses, dodging lasers and projectiles as you fight to survive.

Between levels, you’ll return to your detective agency to piece together each case. These segments are fairly hands-off, usually involving placing photos on a corkboard while Jack fills in the details and points you toward the next objective. While the corkboard helps you visualise each case, a good detective also works his informants and contacts, sending you down to the bar to talk to NPC’s for more information, which adds an extra layer of exposition and helps flesh out the wider story. It’s a simple system, but it works well. It keeps the pacing brisk, and I found myself consistently engaged without any real downtime.

A lot of that engagement comes from the 1930s rubber hose style aesthetic inspired by the cartoons of that era. The world of Mouseberg and its surrounds are rendered in a black-and-white 3D engine, full of detail and tropes from that period. The characters themselves, as well as your weapons and UI, are 2D cartoons that are incredibly well animated. It’s a very striking visual feast for your eyes, and while at first I worried it would be a gimmick, due to the varied environments and set pieces it rarely outstays its welcome. These characters are also brought to life by stellar voice acting, particularly Troy Baker, who brings Jack Pepper to life with an old-timey accent so thick you could almost cut through his words with a knife. The supporting cast also manages to put on outstanding performances, which all goes towards bringing the world of Mouseberg to life.

Backing up the gorgeous visuals and stellar voice acting is a simply phenomenal soundtrack in the form of a classic big brass band that picks up when the action gets heavy, and ends with a clash of cymbals when it’s over. In between these moments, gentle woodwinds, classic horns and saxophones add ominous tones to the atmosphere, fully absorbing you into this incredible world.

So far, you don’t need to be a detective to see that I’m showering Mouse PI for Hire with praise. But unfortunately, at least on the Nintendo Switch 2, the performance casts a shadow on this otherwise stellar title. The game targets 60fps, but swings wildly between 30 and 60 frames throughout in performance mode, causing the game to appear to stutter for a fair amount of the experience. I ran a few tests on frame rates, and even indoor environments seem to struggle to stay close to 60fps in performance mode. If you switch to quality mode, the game does have a more consistent, if somewhat lower frame rate, hovering closer to 38fps and not fluctuating anywhere near as badly as performance mode, giving a smoother overall appearance. Outside of frame rates, my playthrough had a fair few bugs. Guns would make the firing noise despite being empty, speech sometimes dropped out of sync with cutscenes, and the game even crashed to the home screen. It’s not a disaster, but it was a bit of a disappointment that these issues were happening, especially considering the amount of effort that has gone into the world-building here. I even had a crash the second I defeated a boss, forcing me to restart the game and fight the boss all over again.

For my mouse detective’s sleuthing into the accessibility options, I’m pleased to report there are a fair few options here to help with your investigation. These include visual options like field of view, clearing distortion and grain filters, and reducing screen shake. There are also audio options like being able to isolate audio sources and change equalisation settings, as well as control options such as sensitivity adjustments, control remapping, and Joy-Con mouse mode. It’s great to see a wide range of accessibility options in Mouse PI for Hire. As always, I recommend doing further research to find out if Mouse PI for Hire suits your accessibility needs.

At just under $44 AUD, Mouse PI for Hire is really great value. There’s an ample campaign here, and bugs aside, the rest of the production quality made me feel like I was playing a AAA studio title. The campaign will take you about 10–12 hours to roll credits, even longer for someone who wants to find all the secrets and collectibles.

Mouse PI for Hire is a fantastic game, an ambitious tribute to the 1930s era of both detective noir films, rubber hose cartoons, and classic shooters like Doom. Thankfully, it nails all three in a slick production that will make you feel like you’ve gone back in time. Sure, a bit of extra polish could have pushed this title into certified exceptional territory, but even then, there’s an amazing game here that’s clearly built with love. It honours the genres it pays tribute to by bringing them back to life in this fantastic shooter. The case isn’t perfect, and neither is the city. But in this line of work, you don’t always get clean endings, just great stories.

So, What’s it Like? Mouse PI for Hire is like Doom, crossed with the visual style of Cuphead, and a bit of LA Noire.

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