Mouse: P.I. For Hire first burst onto the scene and instantly became viral around the time the first Mickey Mouse cartoon entered the public domain. Those who are used to fast-paced shooters will likely know how to avoid taking damage and what tactics are best against the enemies, while those more sleuthy gamers might uncover the secrets with ease.
However, there are some nuances to this FPS game that you should at least be aware of ahead of time. If you rush through, you might miss out on some useful power-ups or get crushed by an unexpected challenge. Here’s everything you need to know before starting Mouse PI For Hire, from ways to exploit the tougher enemies’ weaknesses to ensuring you don’t lock yourself out of hidden collectibles.
Never stand still
This may be a rather obvious tip, but it’s worth delving into what that means in the context of Mouse PI For Hire. As this shooter has far more in common with Doom and its more recent sequels, you’ll constantly be strafing, picking your shots, and not relying on cover to protect you from all incoming fire completely. You start with a short dash that uses a bit of stamina whenever you use it, but this can mitigate any shots from gun-wielding mice or escape from clusters of melee attackers.
While the abilities unlocked throughout the case are handy for navigating puzzle rooms, don’t forget that you can also use them in combat. Double jumping large gaps can put the distance between you and your foes, especially if you need to use the tail propeller to cross. Be especially aware of any snipers and where they teleport to, as standing out in the open will get you hit for a massive chunk of health.
The gun that’s best suited for the job
While you could wield the same gun throughout the entire campaign on lower difficulties with upgraded firearms, the more difficult ones require you to know which one is the best tool to use against your current enemies. Any regular foes with melee weapons or guns should go down to a few handgun shots or a short burst from your James gun, while the larger mobsters with shotguns may take a couple more rounds to go down. Shrews will normally go down in one hit, but those that throw explosives are surprisingly tanky, but will stop mid-throw from a well-placed shot or two from any regular firearm. Crocodiles and dogs are nimble, but you can deal with them however you wish.
That said, there are a couple of enemies you should use specific weapons against. For example, the largest mice goons are easily stunned by shotgun blasts, so time your shots to keep them from punching or charging at you. The snipers are a pain, but one Devarnisher blast will whittle down their health whilst you’re behind cover. The Devarnisher is also handy for any enemy with a shield, as it ignores their defenses. Finally, anything tanky or armored should be susceptible to the Loose Cannon’s blasts.
Barrels are there to go boom
Scattered across most rooms in Mouse PI For Hire are explosive barrels. You can lure enemies to them and fire your weapon at a distance, sure, but where’s the fun in that? Try picking up one of these barrels and lob it at faraway foes, or punt one with your foot to send it flying towards any oncomers.
The other thing to keep in mind is to look at the logos on each barrel to see its effect. In addition to the standard exploding barrel, you’ve got your fire barrels that burn the local area and turn enemies into ash, corrosive barrels that spread devarnisher, which deals damage over time, and snow barrels that freeze enemies in place, allowing you to kill them instantly with one shot or punch. Just don’t get too close to their explosions, as the effects of any of them are deadly to you, too.
Exploit cartoon physics
You know that trope in old cartoons where the bad guy would get squished by a piano and waddle away as flat as a pancake? If you look up occasionally, you may find your target is suspiciously placed underneath a girder or anvil that’s precariously suspended with a single rope. Shoot this, and it’ll fall, squashing everything close to it.
You can also use your speed to lay traps for large groups of approaching adversaries by walking in range of the heavy object, then shoot it down to crush a large cluster. This can be difficult to pull off, but if you can, it will make the most enemy-dense encounters significantly easier to handle.
Only use your cheddar when in a pinch
Mouse PI For Hire has two different types of healing items. The first are the various healing bottles scattered around each arena or along the main path, which can replenish your health up to the maximum of 100. You can also find up to 100 armor, which will protect you from all damage except devarnishing effects. This should be your primary healing method for both Rookie and Detective difficulty modes, as the amount of damage enemies deal is rarely more than they can handle.
However, if you’re playing Supersleuth or in the middle of a tough boss fight, you might want to stack up on cheese slices. You can hold up to nine at a time, and each one you eat heals you for 20 health points. If there are no healing items nearby or your health points are below 20, then you should take the hit and consume that cheddar.
Channel your inner rodent
What are mice famous for? Scurrying in tight spaces. Luckily for you, crawling through every vent and leaping into the rafters has the potential to uncover secrets. If a vent has multiple directions you can go in, edge one way first a little and see if it leads to a dead end and some cash, a comic, a baseball card, or a newspaper clipping.
Searching high or low at all times allows you not to miss anything. One particularly useful tool is the propeller skill, which allows you to hover briefly and gives an initial boost to your current height after a double jump, making some otherwise too-high ledges reachable. Some of the game’s best-kept secrets are up high, so you’ll want to always be on the lookout for ways up. Having a height advantage also means that melee attackers will only be able to throw easy-to-dodge pies, so it’s a useful combat trick as well.
Save the game before opening every lock or safe
The lockpicking minigame is a relatively simple process conceptually. You use the directional keys to navigate your tail through a maze, nudging each of the pins upward while dodging the spikes. Once you’ve got every pin and made it to the end, the seal will crack open, allowing you to collect any plunder inside, ranging from schematics for upgrades to the Mouse: P.I. For Hire Secret Collectibles.
However, there is a significant catch with any lock with a time limit, usually reserved for the black safes. If you should take too long or hit a spike, it will jam permanently, ensuring its contents are forever a mystery. The only way to mitigate the risk is to find the nearest typewriter and save before attempting to pick the lock. If you’re going for a full completionist run, this is required to ensure you succeed.
Save at your office after every level
If you are looking to get all the schematics, all ten of the aforementioned secret collectibles, all 38 newspapers, all 41 cards (including those exclusively from shops), and all 29 comics, then you’ll need to make sure you keep at least one save before every level. Since leaving a level figuratively locks the door behind you and throws away the key, you’re unable to recover any clues or hidden items you might have missed. Yes, even the clues are missable items, though not finding them does not affect the story’s conclusion.
The reason we’re saying the office is where you should manually add checkpoints to your progress is so you can start at the beginning of the next area without missing early pickups. You have 50 slots for your save files, and trust us, you’re gonna need all of them. There are 24 of them in total, with some collectibles and Side Jobs found in more than one place in a single mission. That is a lot of save files, particularly if you’re also keeping one in case you come across a difficult boss fight, but there are ample for one playthrough. This can also be handy for completionists who are missing the Mouse: P.I. For Hire Quint’s Delight achievement, as it’s probably the most missable one of the lot.
Leave no stone unturned for Side Jobs
Occasionally, one of the NPCs will ask you to do them a favor. This could be anything from locating a note from Wanda’s Tinseltown contact to finding a can of putrid fish in the docks or cooking a questionable burger in the smoldering remains of a fire for John Brown. You’ll likely find many of the Side Job items along the main path, but a handful of them are a little more discreetly hidden away.
It’s worth completing these Side Jobs when you can, as your reward for finishing them is a big wad of cash. If you’re trying to get any comics or newspapers that you missed in a level, or attempting to build out your baseball card collection so that it’s full of plays, then you’ll need as much dough as you can muster. If you need to know which missions have Side Jobs and where you can find each of the clients, our Mouse: P.I. For Hire mission list has everything you need.
Mouse: P.I. For Hire Baseball card game tips
One of the many collectibles you’ll gather in Mouse PI For Hire is the many baseball cards. Unlike the comics or newspapers, these are actually used for something: the minigame you can play at John’s bar or at any Roadhouse. Firstly, we recommend playing toward the end of the game, before you start the Jack Squat mission, as this is the point of no return. You’ll need a good deal of cash to play, as each successful game raises the cost to play. You’ll also have the best selection of batters and pitchers available, as well as a bunch of tactics cards to augment your turns.
While playing, the main thing to remember is this: no matter if you are pitching or batting, the cards you play require that you beat your opponent with both your numbers. The white numbers indicate if the batter hit the ball or not, while the shielded numbers show how far the current batter runs. Even though you may hit the ball by beating the first number, you may get caught out if the shield number is not beaten. Ties for batting are decided via a coin flip, but the fielding team will win tiebreaks for running.
