Axis Football 2020

It's a fun game that scratches the PC football itch, but it still has a long way to go. Firstly, I am blown away at how good this game is for being made by a small studio. That being said there are a few glaring issues that, if fixed, would make this game so much more enjoyable. 1) The AI is extremely bad. Watching two AI play against one another will really highlight the problem: decision making. The AI continually makes unrealistic decisions, some of which logically make sense but in a real game scenario would never happen, and some of which leave you scratching your head. An example of the former was when I was playing against one team which racked up several offensive penalties in a row close to their own goal line. They were backed all the way down to the 1 yard line for a 4th and 24 and still elected to go for it, in spite of only being down by a single field goal in the 4th quarter. An example of the latter was when I was observing two AI teams play against one another. The game was tied with under a minute to go in the 4th quarter and one team drove the ball all the way into the red zone. Their opponent made a 3rd down stop leading to the obvious decision of kicking a most-likely game-winning field goal on 4th down. Instead the offense opted to go for it on 4th and long which led to a sack and a turnover on downs. The other team subsequently threw a wide open hail mary pass to win the game. This leads me to the second problem. 2) Defense. This is the least fun part of this game and the most frustrating by far. Pass coverage is impossible to gauge as there seems to be little in the way of controlling when you intercept a pass vs when a tight completion is made. You can be standing on top of the receiver and they will still make a wild grab. Other times the AI corner will be a half yard away but will make an interception. When you do make an interception you are immediately tackled by virtue of the offensive player being right next to you, regardless of positioning. The AI also frequently blows zone and man coverage on long pass plays which is why the AI is so prone to throwing hail mary bombs when playing against itself; often one receiver will have a 10 or more yard lead on the nearest defender, leading to multiple 60+ yard touchdown passes per game. Finally there is the defensive line. It is boring to play D-line and next to impossible to do anything useful. As soon as you make contact with an offensive blocker, you are stuck to them like glue and unable to break free even when spamming the skill move buttons. I have found that occasionally doing so (and changing my defensive strategy to focusing on breaking blocks and stripping the ball) will allow me to slip by, but almost always the QB has enough time to throw the ball away or otherwise evade a sack. 3) General clunkiness. While catching on the run has been improved, there are still plenty of moments when an open receiver being led on a good pass will stop in their tracks or reverse their route to catch a ball, being immediately tackled. The run game is nearly impossible to play on offense as well, due to the fact that slipping tackles is extremely inconsistent and blockers usually are not present. When you do break free on a run, especially on a QB sneak, there is a huge chance you will end up fumbling the ball. I would love to see a few extra offensive features incorporated, including being able to cradle the ball for extra security when running, having a button with icon passing enabled that allows you to throw the ball away as the QB instead of being brought down for an easy sack or throwing a hasty pick, and maybe having a truck stick or similar option for when you can't break a tackle directly but that doesn't leave you immediately turning into a noodle when you touch a defender. 4) Customization opportunity. This game would thrive with the above fixes while also including some additional customizability. My biggest complaint is the inability to change team names and locations. If you do that, people can create whatever leagues they want to without the need for mods. I understand this flexibility is planned for a future Axis Football release so I very much look forward to that. Aside from these problems the game is extremely addicting. For far too long there have been no options for football games on PC and I believe Axis Football has a very good chance of breaking into that market in the main stream with their upcoming releases.

The Axis Football series was one I had no experience with, given most of my American football gaming experience was on consoles from the NES and SMS through the PS2/Xbox/GameCube. My favorite football titles include Tecmo Super Bowl (1st and 3rd in the series), Madden 04-06, NCAA Football 2003, Madden 97 & 98, NFL Gameday 2k series, NFL Blitz series, GridIron, & Mutant Football League. With a gamepad, football titles are much more tolerable on PC than attempting to play with keyboard & mouse. This game borrows a lot from the traditional Madden formula, except the NFL license (Madden has exclusive NFL rights) isn't present. If that's not a deal-breaker, then the game has quite a bit of depth (despite make-believe teams), fairly responsive controls, a decent-sized playbook, and everything else that's common in a new Madden release except it doesn't have predatory microtransactions or quite as many game types to participate in. Axis Football 2020 executes well on what it needed to so it could be a serviceable football title on PC. It's a bit pricey and not the best option available, but it definitely gets much worse. Pick it up on a sale, if you are interested!

multiplayer head to head when??

⠀⠀⠀⠀

basketball

I am drinking a nice cold glass of milk right now. Or, I wish I was. Typing instead of feeling the thick satisfying wave of fresh white milk crash into my throat is almost torture. Any time I spend away from drinking milk is a waste, just as well spent doing nothing at all. I love milk so much that I would say it is unreal, but milk is my reality. It is my one and only. If milk had a hand, I wouldn't take it into marriage because I would be too busy drinking it down like the thirsty little dairy sponge I am.

i just don't like it

I liked Axis Football 2017, too - more than I like 2020, so far. But, Axis Football 2017 was unstable after using it for awhile.

A hesitant thumbs up. The last football game I purchased was Madden 2004. So, it's been a while since I've played. This game is definitely not Madden. But it can be maddening. Here's my conclusions: [b]MODS:[/b] The game can easily be modified. I changed one of the generic teams that came with the game and put together a squad of rednecks led by Ricky Bobby. The stats for an entire team can be quickly and easily modified in Excel. Likewise, custom uniforms, team logos, and field logos can be easily made by tweaking the appropriate files in Photoshop or Gimp. Customizing the player stats in the Roster file to make a super-strong offense was what made playing the game worthwhile. At this time, I have 20 hours of game playing time; most of that is with my crew of rednecks. You can then take this custom team into Franchise mode. [b]FRANCHISE:[/b] I played one season, but supposedly this is the game's strong point, especially if you just do Coach or Spectate mode. If building and managing a team on a shoe-string budget over a period of years sounds fun to you, then you may enjoy this quite a bit. I was disappointed that the game required me to release all my QB's at the end of the first season with no option to sign them back on. So, you'll have to deal with the computer making random contract decisions for you. Maybe there's a way around that. I don't know. It was difficult figuring out how to navigate the post-season events in a way that would not wreck my team. I’ll probably try this again at some point. In Franchise mode, the league is divided into three tiers. You’re placed in the bottom one, and the “Superbowl,” if you make it, is between you and a random opponent. Each tier has its own playoffs and Superbowl. I don’t like the tier system. But it’s not a deal-breaker for me. [b]---PLAYABILITY---[/b] This game is not Madden. Not even close. [b]PASSING:[/b] Passes are nearly impossible to complete. Using the NFL mod, I played a game with Green Bay and, even with Aaron Rodgers as my QB against a C+ defense, I completed 4 of 17 passes, 0 TD, 1 INT, 50 passing YD. Passes seem to be completed on a random basis. You're more likely to hit your guy in the chest with the ball than for him to catch it. Also, defenders travel faster than the ball when it is thrown. So, a guy who is open when you throw the ball will suddenly have two or three defenders on top of him, breaking up the pass or intercepting it. The computer, on the other hand, even with a C-rated QB, will complete 50-60% of passes. With my beefed up Ricky Bobby redneck crew, I can hit 50-60% pass completions. [b]RUNNING:[/b] Running up the middle is nearly impossible. If you don't lose yardage, sometimes you can get one or two yards, but not more than that. A toss to the strong or weak side is where it's at if you've got a RB with decent speed. No option for QB sneaks that I could find. Defenders can tackle you even if they are being blocked. Being within a few yards of a defender usually results in an automatic tackle. Offensively, the game is not much fun with an unmodified team. First downs are rare. I spend most of my time punting the ball. Granted, I'm not great at the game, but I have a feeling that even someone who is really good at it doesn't do nearly as well as they would in Madden. [b]DEFENSE:[/b] Defensively, things are good. An average defensive line can stop the run and, as mentioned above, tackling is easy. The result is a low thrill game in which the defense of every team (whether good or mediocre) dominates. Sacking is fun and I can usually get two or three sacks in a game with the player I'm controlling. [b]PLAY CALLING:[/b] Usually goes smoothly except on 4th down. Will the computer punt, kick a field goal, or go for a first down? No clue! You won’t be told until you choose your play. There have been countless times that I’ve sent out my punt return crew only to find that the computer is going for a first down, which they usually get unless I call a timeout and send my defense back on the field. [b]GRAPHICS & PLAYER MOVEMENT:[/b] Graphics are nothing amazing, but they’re good enough for me. The player movements are funny. Many “tackles” are two players coming within a close distance and simultaneously falling in different directions. The motions are a bit clunky, but that’s not a big deal. I understand this is low budget, and the programmers are doing their best with the time they have. [b]CONCLUSION[/b] I wouldn't have lasted 20 hours with this game if it wasn't so fun to customize. Creating a team with a stellar offense is the only way to make this game interesting. But your special team won't last in Franchise mode since the computer will take away your star players at the end of the first season. There are probably people who enjoy the thrill of playing a game that is this difficult, but I'm not one of them. I’ll give it a thumbs up since I have to choose something. I also haven’t gotten into the second season in Franchise mode. Maybe that would turn out to be fun once I get the hang of it. It’s not a terrible game, but the playability needs major work, especially on the offense. I've left the review open to comments in case anyone with experience has tips to share.

This game is not worth anyone's money. It is janky in all the wrong ways, and plays like the flash game it was based off of. This should be either marked down significantly or free.