• A rubber-hose style first person shooter is on the way from Polish indie studio Fumi Games, and it is making quite a splash lately after releasing a first trailer.
• The game sees you take control of a Mickey Mouse-like protagonist and go on a killing spree through a city using tommy guns and hammers.
• There is no launch date set yet, and the game looks well into its development.

An upcoming first person shooter is taking the classic “rubber-hose” style of animation, immortalised in Disney’s “Steamboat Willie“, and turning up the gore to 100. The game is called Mouse, and it is being made by small indie studio based in Poland, Fumi Games.

The developer describes it as “a gritty, jazz-fueled shooter. With guns blazing and a retro rubber hose animation style, battle your way through a corrupt city full of crooks and danger. Inspired by classic FPS and noir films, MOUSE is the explosive shooter you’ve been waiting for.”

You can watch the first trailer below. It shows off the game’s FPS action and artstyle, but as you can plainly see from the missing background textures and placeholder text on screen, it is far from finished.

There is no release date set yet.

Mouse is being made on the Unity engine, and apart from the artstyle, which is seeing a renaissance in video gaming, especially with the recent success of Cuphead, we really like the little details. Like the flash of the muzzle on the weapons, the cartoon bullets flying towards you, the fact that headshots take off the heads of the paper doll enemies and the physics-based death animations.

It also reminds us of Bioshock, especially in the way you can cycle through your weapons and the UI elements that are currently up. According to the game’s Steam page, you will be able to massacre enemies with mid-century firearms and explosives like the Revolver, Tommy Gun, Hammer, Carcano (a bolt action sniper rifle), and Dynamite.

“Whether you prefer to run and gun, jump and dodge, or carefully plan your attacks, Mouse gives you the freedom to approach combat your way,” Fumi Games says of the gameplay.

Players will also use the “Fantastic-o-Matic” power up system, where you can upgrade your weapons and abilities to enhance your damage-dealing potential. This is another Bioshock-like feature, which basically puts vending machines across the city you will be playing in.

In terms of storyline, all we have gotten is hints. The dev says that “with every step you take, you’ll uncover more of the story and find yourself caught up in a web of deceit and murder.” And based on its cover image and noir themes, we’re looking at classic pulp detective tale.

But that doesn’t really matter. What matters in these types of FPS is gunplay, and from what we can see, it looks a bit loose and flowy. We’re hoping to get a tighter experience when we have hands on, and there’s more to Mouse than just an aesthetic gimmick.

We’re also hoping to see the game switch into a technicolour mode half way through, because we’re not looking forward to too many hours of black and white screen time.

Either way, Mouse is definitely a unique take on the genre, and welcome deviation from the Call of Duty’s and Fornite’s. Boomer shooters are coming back in a big way, and we recently begun counting down the days until the launch of Warhammer 40K: Boltgun.

Watch the trailer for that below.