"Foul" may not have been the best title choice.

Foul Play has a killer narrative gimmick, in that the game's story is framed as a stage play; your goal, through combos and general combat flair, is to please an audience who cheers and boos appropriately. Characters chew the virtual wooden scenery, the scenery itself is moved about as the play proceeds, and occasional gaffes like actors forgetting their lines makes the aesthetic genuinely fun to be a part of.

But the combat itself is just too shallow. Well, not "just" too shallow -- it's also too dense. It would be one thing if I was just blithely beating up goons with quick attacks, power attacks, and counters, but the amount of enemies leaping around means that there's little opportunity to stop mashing buttons. Seriously -- my fingers were sore after finishing the first level.

Although I do like the game's "hook," Foul Play's sheer repetitiveness in combat has me uninterested in pressing on with it.

Progress: Finished Act 1.