Combining traditional Thirties “rubber-hose” animation, retro gunplay, trendy mechanics and exploration, and a deeply weird setting, Mouse: P.I. For Rent is shaping as much as be a really uncommon deal with – however there’s extra to this sport than you may need realized from earlier trailers.
After asserting a March 19, 2026 launch date throughout at the moment’s ID@Xbox Showcase, we had been handled to a deep-dive on the sport, straight from the builders at Fumi Studios in Warsaw, Poland.
You possibly can watch the complete deep-dive above, or learn on to search out out the massive new particulars we discovered alongside the way in which:
“Extra Than Simply an Outdated-school Shooter”
If there’s one factor to remove from at the moment’s introduction, it’s that Mouse is excess of a retro shooter in even extra retro clothes. Whereas your core interplay is with the sport’s gunplay (extra on that later), it is a way more trendy sport than you may assume.
For a begin, your character – warfare veteran-turned-private investigator, Jack Pepper – doesn’t have only a single case to unravel. From the very starting, Jack’s introduced with three separate instances to unravel, every of which can take him throughout town of Mouseburg to unravel their secrets and techniques.
Every case could be taken on in any order, asking you not simply to take down the enemies in your manner, however to search out clues – whether or not these are bodily objects, data discovered by speaking to NPCs, or images you may take. Clues can then be taken to your workplace’s traditional string-adorned corkboard, and put in place to unlock new revelations and locations.
With 10 biomes to discover, every containing a number of ranges, that is very completely different to a Level A-to-Level B shooter.
The Hub
On the core of all that exploration is the sport’s hub world – set on the centre of Mouseburg, the hub comprises Jack’s workplace, his native pub, and a workshop the place he can improve his weaponry earlier than heading to the subsequent case. However there’s way more right here than a sequence of menus. NPCs may supply conversations, and a variety of minigames are on supply to supply completely different gameplay experiences, and even rewards of recent clues, or upgrades.
The most important of those minigames will take you throughout the whole sport – a traditional collectible card sport, themed round baseball, will see playing cards dropped throughout most of the ranges you’ll be combating via, letting you construct a deck and tackle more and more tough matches.
And when you’re prepared to depart, you’ll be able to leap in your automotive and make a journey throughout the attractive overworld map to your subsequent firefight.
Cartoon Fight
Mouse’s fight attracts on traditional shooters like DOOM, however with added touches that deliver it proper updated. With a philosophy of “difficult however truthful”, you’ll be pitted in opposition to hordes of enemies, accumulating weaponry that ranges from the anticipated (Tommy weapons, shotguns) to the gleefully insane (a mind in a jar that fires psychic waves).
Each gun comes with an alt-fire mode, and could be upgraded over the course of the sport, serving to issues keep recent. However beware – enemies themselves will see upgrades, too. As you progress, acquainted enemy varieties will begin to get their very own modifications – a tank-like enemy you will have mastered can begin coming outfitted with a forcefield, for instance, forcing you to vary you tried-and-true method.
Bosses may even throw in complete new mechanics, too – we noticed a ghost-like boss named the Third Spouse, which appears to require you to weaken her with a flashlight earlier than you can begin pumping lead.
Making the Previous the Future
And, after all, we have to speak about how this sport appears to be like. Whereas enivronments are rendered in 3D, each single character, enemy, and weapon has been painstakingly hand-drawn and animated to resemble traditional Thirties “rubber hose” animation. The way in which all the things on this planet bounces, stretches, and bends is a tribute to that particular fashion (even shotgun shells appear to bop of their chambers throughout a reload), and took an infinite quantity of labor from Fumi.
So as to add to the problem, the sport is fully black-and-white, which modified how Fumi approached conventional stage design. The place most video games use color to subtly information the participant, Fumi wanted to take that method with gentle, giving the whole sport a singular look from a participant’s perspective. Even right here, we’re seeing a tribute to traditional cartoons – interactable objects dance in place, ready so that you can discover them.
And to finish that tribute to the previous, we even discovered that Fumi has added customizable audio filters to the sport – you’ll be able to select to play with crisp, trendy sound results and music, or add degradation to assist it all the things sound as if it’s being performed off of old-school vinyl. The eye to element – and to how gamers may need to expertise it – is evident throughout all the things Fumi has touched.
Mouse: P.I for Rent involves Xbox Collection X|S on March 19, 2026.
MOUSE: P.I. For Rent
PlaySide
MOUSE: P.I. For Rent is an action-packed first-person shooter that pulls inspiration from the traditional cartoons of the Thirties. Its black and white rubber hose visuals are drawn by hand, body by body, delivering a putting classic aesthetic. Unravel layers of corruption with an exhilarating noir-fueled detective story, vigorous environments to discover, an authentic large band jazz soundtrack, and a fully-loaded arsenal of cartoon weapons and devastating power-ups.
DEADLY INVESTIGATIONS
Meet Non-public Investigator Jack Pepper, a former warfare hero-turned-detective in a world the place hazard lurks even within the smallest mouse gap. Uncover the reality when a easy lacking individuals case shortly escalates into a posh net of intrigue, with corruption, kidnapping and homicide all on the docket. Examine the seedy underbelly of Mouseburg, battle closely armed gangs and crooked cops, and uncover clues to disclose the conspiracy buried beneath the floor.
LOCK, LOAD & LAUGH
From crackling machine weapons to explosive firepower, every weapon in Pepper’s arsenal is designed to deploy continuous cartoon chaos. Arm your self with an array of traditional, creatively twisted and experimental firearms, and devour highly effective upgrades if you want that additional spinach-loaded punch! Deadly encounters and manic boss battles await on this boomer shooter-inspired, retro-vibed journey – and the denizens of Mouseburg by no means go down with out a combat.
A CITY OF SECRETS
Discover a various metropolis playground, from darkish streets to traditional movie studios, opulent opera buildings, toxic swamps and underground sewers. With a myriad of instances to unravel and collectibles to search out, Mouseburg is really a detective’s delight! Use each software at your disposal to wall-run, grapple-hook and double-jump via this unrelenting cartoon world.
FEATURES
– Black and white, hand-drawn rubber hose animation, impressed by cartoons of the Thirties
– Quick-paced FPS fight, the place fixed motion is vital
– An exciting single-player marketing campaign that unravels a posh net of crime and corruption
– Over 20 noir-infused ranges, teeming with mice, rats and shrews
– Totally-loaded arsenal of over a dozen distinctive weapons and gear – with a cartoon twist
– Devastating consumable power-ups, able to turning the tide of any battle
– Unlockable motion skills and Metroidvania-inspired stage traversal
– Authentic jazz soundtrack, that includes a giant band orchestral ensemble
