1930s Disney Animation Inspires New Mickey Mouse-Esque First Person Shooter Game

First, it was announced that Winnie-the-Pooh will be starring as the bad guy in his own horror game, and now Mickey Mouse is up for the challenge in a vintage Disney-esque first-person shooter.
 
Unlike the upcoming Hundred Acre Wood, which plucks out the characters and elements of the story to fit into a horror game, Mouse by studio Fumi is only looking to the stylistic choices of early Disney as inspiration. Upon first glance, it’s hard not to see how the 1930s Steamboat Willie played a role in the design of the game, which is also entirely in black and white.
 
The noir shooter has you play as a detective mouse against a gang of mobster mice. While the trailer depicts the main character blasting their way through enemies, Fumi allows you to use stealth mode to get through. And just like Mickey’s ‘Mouse Ka Tool’, you’ll also receive a ‘Fantastic-o-Matic’ weapons upgrade system that lets you hone different skills, depending on how you wish to play.

The animation style remains fun and sort of lighthearted, with heads popping off in a cartoonish manner and enemies disintegrating into thin ash with shocked faces. However, the cartoonish edge adds its own charm to the violence and the jarring depiction of Mickey-inspired characters making their way through the story with a Tommy gun strapped to them.
 
Although, the mice in the game do look different enough to be distinguished from a certain famous mouse. That is, if you don’t look too closely at the face shape and gloves. With that, it’s not known how long the wait will be for its debut as the Steam listing only states that a released date is “to be announced soon.”

Ultimately, the animation style is highly reminiscent of Steamboat Willie and other “rubber hose” drawings of that era. It also draws on a similar vibe to a different game, Cuphead—a frustratingly tricky and equally fun platformer that also drew on old-timey Disney and Fleischer Studios art as inspiration for the hand-drawn and water-colored game. Indie titles like these, and even the upcoming Hundred Acre Wood, offer a little reprieve in the industry from high-budget franchises that bank on intense visuals to sell.

 
 
 
[via Engadget and TheGamer, screenshots via Fumi/Steam]