Foul Play puts players in a theater where they must perform an epic journey as a British gentleman and please an ever engaging audience. In the world’s largest stage where slaying mummies, vampires or pirates is the main act, humor, however, is the interior of this overly familiar beat-em’-up game. There are features such as an interactive health-bar commonly known as the mood-o-meter, and the story makes Foul Play enjoyable. On the other hand, fewer gameplay elements and repetitiveness cause enough damage to hold it back. Whether playing alone or with friends, Foul Play is a bag of mixed reactions.

Daemon hunting is perhaps the most audacious profession to have, which Lord Dashforth and his rather insistent sidekick Mr. Scampwich narrate in a heroic journey of Foul Play. This beat-‘em-up themed story reflects good intentions and is mostly filled with hilarity. Instead of actual daemons, Dashforth encounters stage actors dressed up as bandits, werewolves, mummies or stagehands gesturing as phantoms. In most cases they are crushed and the audience applauds, while they overwhelm if Dashforth performs perfect combos. Before each play begins, Dashforth tells the audience about the incidents took place in his heroic journeys, and the stage background sceneries unfold accordingly. But this engaging thrill soon dries out with repetitive actions and rather easy combos.

The game consists of five acts and they are divided into twenty-two levels. However, gameplaystays the same in each level while only the enemy type changes. There are three different challenges in each level, completion unlocks a charm, adding an extra edge to the combos. If there’s any reason gamers need to replay a particular act, it has to be for the charms. Unlocking these charms requires players to perform combos with x amount of hits, and some charms require Dashforth to do a few rescuing. Gameplay can be described as a combination of these combos and how they are performed, which is measured by the mood-o-meter. When players take hits, instead of losing health, this meter starts to drop its bar and the audience immediately reacts with booing. On the other hand, when players perform a legendary combo or a perfect scene, without taking any hit, the audience applauds and even throw their hats in the air.

To break off the monotony, there are bonus rounds where Dashforth must take out as many enemies as possible within the given time. These levels are the ideal stages for testing combo skills, as players can expect to be swarmed with enemies. Once each level completes a new combo is unlocked consisting of new moves. These combos are rather easy to master but can be a little annoying to perform when time runs out or enemies disperse. Luckily, there is a Showstopper power that can be activated to double these combos, which can either be used to bring the audience back on their feet, or to maximize the points. As there’s a five-star meter system to judge the performance at the end of each act, maximizing points should be the ideal thing to do. The more the story progresses, performing combos and scoring points become rather simple, but evidently the mood-o-meter is being set accordingly. For instance, if the meter takes 50 hits to raise its bar at the earlier level, it takes 100 or even more during later levels.

Unfortunately, nothing much changes with the two-player co-op mode, with Mr. Scampwich joining in the action with Dashforth. Only this time there are more enemies to deal with, and the mood-o-meter measures performance of them both. It gets a little messy at times when surrounded by enemies, and sadly easy to lose a combo count when both players are trying to maximize their points. Having said that, in both single-player and multiplayer modes the most frustrating moment is when a combo is lost while it’s about to hit the perfect spot. And that happens when there’re no more enemies to smash. It’s easy to know when an enemy is about to hit with a marker appearing over his head, and thankfully, a timely block helps to continue the combo counts. There are hardly any levels where players have to sweat; even during boss fights. If not the combos, players can get past any level with simple button smashing.

Voice-overs and sound effects provide a nice theatric atmosphere, which without a doubt is praise worthy. The character designs and in-stage activities are rather dull. It’s clear that the intention was to deliver an amusing presentation, but it wears off as the game struggles to maintain a balance between realism and theatrics. Undoubtedly, it’s a difficult combination to deliver. But Foul Play fails to reach the standard which both Puppeteer and Battleblock Theater have delivered in the past. It’s honest to admit that Foul Play is a fun game to play, but only lasts till it ends. There’s nothing extraordinary in it to put me back in Battleblock’s shoes for replaying his stimulating adventures.

Sarwar Ron, NoobFeed (@SarwarRon)