Why BioShock Fans Should Keep an Eye on Mouse

Highlights

Fumi Games’ upcoming FPS Mouse combines the cartoon aesthetics of Cuphead with the fast-paced combat of Doom.
Mouse’s noir design triggers a sense of nostalgia and may resonate with fans of BioShock due to its similar plot and themes of corrupt politicians and powerful city-states.
In addition to its unique animation style, Mouse incorporates slapstick cartoon elements and quirky power-ups that add to the game’s charm.

Indie game developer Fumi Games caught people’s attention with its upcoming FPS Mouse. Mouse is reminiscent of Cuphead‘s rubber hose animation with its cartoon aesthetics, with the character design and black-and-white world also heavily influenced by Disney classics, like Steamboat Willie. Meanwhile, the gameplay has been compared to Doom‘s fast-paced combat, which Fumi Games has also acknowledged.

Slated for a 2025 release, many players already have high expectations for Mouse. It’s not only a fresh take on the FPS genre, but its noir design also triggers a sense of nostalgia. Plus, if one looks closely at Mouse‘s gameplay trailer, they might notice some resemblance with another iconic FPS franchise: BioShock.

BioShock Fans May Resonate With Mouse

In Mouse, players will take the role of a private detective navigating a dangerous city teeming with gangsters, mobsters, and other evil entities. Armed with weapons and power-ups, his mission is to stop corrupt politicians from taking over the city. A scene in the gameplay trailer also shows a poster that reads “Forward to New America,” which features a uniformed mouse leader.

The plot of Mouse is similar to the first BioShock, which is set in the underwater city of Rapture led by the egotistic Andrew Ryan. His vision was to create a utopian city to avoid government oversight and scrutiny. But after a civil war broke out in Rapture, Ryan became increasingly controlling and ruthless toward the citizens.

It’s also possible that Fumi Games used the concept of American exceptionalism in Mouse, which is the belief that the United States is exemplary compared to other nations, often with the implication that it’s destined and entitled to play a positive role on the world stage. BioShock creator Ken Levine also used this concept to tell the story of BioShock Infinite, which is set in Columbia, a floating city-state that looks like an idealized version of America. Coincidentally, Mouse‘s protagonist is also a detective like BioShock Infinite‘s Booker DeWitt.

Fumi Games specializes in cartoon-style games. It’s also developing Galaxi Taxi, a story-driven action-adventure featuring ’90s-style animation.

The “Forward to New America” poster in Mouse‘s trailer could be a hint that the corrupt politicians want to create a “perfect” city with some form of authoritarian rule. Just like Rapture and Columbia, the city in Mouse might have fallen into disarray after gangs and criminals started terrorizing everyone. Plus, the beauty of playing a private detective means that players will uncover dark secrets as they progress through the story.

Amid the possible political discourse that Mouse may offer, the cartoon animation and antics will make the experience all the more unique. Apart from using a revolver and machine gun to eliminate foes, Fumi Games also incorporates slapstick cartoon elements, like punching enemies and crushing them with a suspended piano. There’s even an ability where the protagonist can shoot bullets out of his fingers, so it will be interesting to see what other abilities players can get in the game.

Meanwhile, they can also consume different food items, like a can of spinach a la Popeye, a block of cheese, and even smoke a cigar to either replenish their health or give them power-ups. These are just scratching the surface of Mouse‘s plot and gameplay mechanics. Although it doesn’t seem to have Plasmid-like abilities just like in BioShock, Mouse‘s special power-ups add to the game’s quirkiness.

With more than a year or so left before Mouse‘s planned release, Fumi Games still has a lot of time to perfect the gameplay and story elements, especially since it uses 1930s rubber hose animation models for the entire game. Perhaps the developer can even introduce new characters and villains that will complete Mouse‘s universe in the coming months. It will be a long wait before players can get their hands on Mouse, but hopefully, it will be worth it, especially for gamers waiting on a BioShock sequel.