Foul Play

EurogamerDan Whitehead

Limited is really the word that sums up Foul Play. It's a difficult game to dislike, thanks to its whimsical tone, but it doesn't do much in gameplay terms to win your affections. It isn't a complete disaster, but nor does it prove itself essential in a genre already well stocked with games that are deeper, funnier or just slicker in design. It's simply not that interesting, original or polished, its best features relegated to surface detail while the genre basics are distractingly undercooked. There are simply too many other games that do the same thing but much better. All the ironic top hat...

Capsule ComputersJoshua Moris

8.5/10

No summary available

IGNRichard Corbett

8.1/10

Foul Play is a fantastic looking, beautifully written brawler with a great gimmick that goes much deeper than simply putting an audience in the foreground and renaming the health meter. It’s long enough to tell a fun story, but not too long that it wears out its welcome. Backing up that gleeful imagination with a mechanic that encourages good rather than simply energetic play makes for a rare treat that both novice and veteran brawlers can enjoy while it lasts.

NoobFeedSarwar Ron

70/100

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 noth...

Press StartEwan Roxburgh

6/10

Foul Play is a rather curious little side-scrolling brawler developed by the independent studio Mediatonic, originally released onto PC and Xbox 360 in 2013, but now freshly ported to PlayStation 4 and PS Vita. It’s a neat, value-for-money package with an ingenious concept, but sadly doesn’t quite hit the mark.<img decoding="async" data-attachment-id="24043" data-permalink="https://press-start.com.au/reviews/2016/02/29/foul-play-review/attachment/banner_0000_story-2/" data-orig-file="https://press-start.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Banner_0000_STORY1.jpg" data-orig-size="2000,160" data-co...

GameSpewDavid Brooks

6/10

Foul Play has nice ideas and has been put together well by a team who are obviously huge fans of the genre. Unfortunately, there’s just too much repetition and too little variety for it to be much more than a throw-away, five hour experience. It quickly becomes tiresome, repeating the same objectives and defeating the same enemies by mashing the same buttons with no real pay-off for style, despite publisher Devolver Digital’s promise that the game “rewards performance over pummeling” when it does precisely the opposite. The theatre setting is the most intriguing part of this game and the Plati...

GameSpotBritton Peele

6/10

It's hardly foul, but good ideas and charming animations aren't enough to save Foul Play from repetition.

Pure XboxKen Barnes

6/10

Foul Play plays the parts of both comedy and tragedy equally well. Funny, slick, and easy on the eyes, the game sure looks the part, but there’s simply not enough variety to the gameplay. Fun for a quick blast through, but you’ll be thinking about leaving well before the final curtain falls.