Mouse: P.I. for Hirewas announced in 2023, and based on everything we’ve seen atSummer Game Fest, it’scoming along nicely. As the hard-boiled Jack Pepper, you’ll follow a conspiracy in a rat-ridden town, while taking down tons of enemies in the process. All of this is while usingRoger Rabbitlogic, on top of some expansive FPS movement mechanics. There’s a reason this is on so many people’s radar: It stands out immediately.
It’s one thing to see the noir-flavored rubber house cartoon style in stills, but it’s even more impressive after watching it in person. We caught up withMaciej Krzemien, lead producer at Fumi Games, to see how they bagged Troy Baker for the lead role of Jack, and we got a demonstration of the game in the process.
It Turns Out The Team Knew Someone Who Knew Someone
In our hands-off demo, we were ushered into an early level of the game that took place in a theater. After sneaking in to investigate the disappearance of an old acquaintance, we uncovered a conspiracy to murder a political candidate. All the while, the cast of cartoony characters were chatting it up, whether it was voicelines from enemies, the hero, or a handful of NPCs. In addition to featuring a whole cast of voice actors throughout the game,playable protagonist Jack Pepper will be voiced byvideo game voiceover veteran Troy Baker. This was just recently announced during the opening ceremony for Summer Game Fest proper, and when talking to the team just a day after it was revealed, you could tell they were excited.
So, what led to getting Troy Baker?Someone knew someone who knew someone: it’s great when that works out. Krzemien explains:“So guys from Playside helped a lot with this. When we had the script locked, we had some ideas on who should be the voice of Jack, and we were throwing some ideas out, and someone said, ‘Hey, Troy Baker has an amazing range and does some cool things with his voice,’ but we thought it wasn’t possible. But someone from Playside said we know some people who know some people. It turns out Troy, he’s been following our game for a long time, he was very glad to jump in on the project. Hearing him in the booth, I love what he’s done with Jack’s voice, he basically is Jack.”
What Was The Inspiration Behind Mouse: P.I. for Hire?
Old School FPS Was Baked Into The DNA
The trailers forMouse: P.I. for Hireclearly show off the game’s violent side, but seeing it played for roughly 20 minutes gave me a lot more context for the vibe they’re going for.This game has gore galore, and my reaction to just how funny it was at times wasn’t lost on the team. Krzemien muses:“This is basically….it was like this from the get-go. This is our way of exaggerating those cartoons of the day, if you look at them, they were pretty violent. We wanted to crank it up a bit, exaggerated it…but it serves a comedic purpose. It’s not as gory as it could get.”
I also noticed some distinct inspirations from old school FPS games likeRise of the Triad, on top of a ton of other little references,many of which are comfortably located in the 1990s.I even saw a tinge ofStar Wars: Dark Forcesin the level design, with the combination of labyrinthine corridors and open spaces. With that said, the game might feel finefor folks who don’t normally partake in the “boomer shooter” FPS subgenre:“I would say the team at Fumi Games, we’ve been playing FPS games for the longest time, so like Rise of the Triad, it’s a good catch, but we were also looking at games like Metroid Prime, BioShock, the OG Doom, as well as Doom 2016. So I would say inspirations come from all over the place, but we still manage to give it our own flair, our own flavor to it. This is, honestly, an FPS game that I have never played before.”
He goes on to explainhow differentMouse: P.I. for Hireis from other games, noting:“So we saw the grappling hook in the demo. Movement plays a huge part in any FPS game, we didn’t want the game to feel grounded, we wanted the players to feel like they were in control. If you want to stay on the ground you can, but if you want to use the dashes, the double jump in combat, there are spots where you can do that. We always felt like giving those movement options to players was important.”
We want this to be a twisted reflection of the world back in that day.
Another thing that stood out to me inMouse: P.I For Hireis that the lore of the game was on full display. I didn’t expect to see newspaper headlines with lines of text on them, and Krzemien and the team are proud of how hard they worked to make their world stand out:“When it comes to why the lore is so expansive in the game, so it takes place in the 1930s, it’s a fictional world, but still the 1930s. We want this to be a twisted reflection of the world back in that day. It was very different, but very similar…it wouldn’t be complete if the story wasn’t well thought-out. We wanted this game to be about something. And it is. So we’re excited for the players to experience that. It’s not an empty shell, it’s a true noir story.”
