Axis Football 2019 Review - A Solid Alternative to Madden

[Steve_OS]

Nowadays, there’s plenty of healthy alternatives to the top sports games in the industry. And whether...

Written By: Josh Houtz

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[drugsbunny]

I, too thirst for a football game that will break this madden stronghold. EA’s mediocre attempts to move the needle has almost push me out of the video game market altogether. To say that this game is a healthy alternative to madden is both false and misleading. This game is trash at best. *Not worth the time it takes to download. If they made NCAA football backwards compatible, it would probably pursue madden in sales right now..

[servo75]

How customizable is the game, in terms of not only team names, cities, and uniforms, but league structure and sizes, schedules, number of games, etc.?

[RetroDee4Three]

Quote: Originally Posted by drugsbunny

I, too thirst for a football game that will break this madden stronghold. EA’s mediocre attempts to move the needle has almost push me out of the video game market altogether. To say that this game is a healthy alternative to madden is both false and misleading. This game is trash at best. *Not worth the time it takes to download. If they made NCAA football backwards compatible, it would probably pursue madden in sales right now..

"This game is trash at best"

This is one of the most toxic statements that people make when giving "feedback". Its right in line with:

"The game is garbage"
"The player movement is trash"
"Nobody will buy this"
"Nobody cares about that mode"
Etc etc

We have to be better about giving feedback. This game isn't "trash" to many people, a lot of positives exist in this game customization wise, franchise wise, soundtrack wise, etc. Using context when making critiques is vital, including the size of the dev team, money they have to use on the project, licensing obstacles, etc etc.

Proper feedback would look like:

"This game is not for me, and will not appeal to a larger audience unless they fix some of the robotic and stiff animations, smooth things out in general, and add more animations. Gameplay is vital, including the first impression when someone initially gets hands on the sticks. Axis falls short here. Catching animations where the receiver doesn't animate, the ball just "attaches" to him (early 90s Madden like), tackles that look far from organic and lack physics, offensive and defensive line intelligence that doesnt mimic the real sport, etc. For most, gameplay is still #1 most important in regards to enjoyment, and staying power (continuing to play for a longer period of time). For Axis 2020, gameplay should be the ultimate focus, it's where the majority of time should be spent.

While the franchise mode is robust, the customization endless, and commentary acceptable, it has many on field issues that hold it back from being a competitor. Some of this is obviously because of the size of the development team, and money they can use in the project, but that doesnt change the fact that it needs to feel good on the sticks, and look smoother on the field animation wise. It looks like they spent 90% of the development cycle on making franchise mode and customization more robust, and only 10% on the on field improvements. I wish they had gone in vice versa, and spent more time on the gameplay front."

Saying something is "trash" or "garbage" and leaving it at that, doesnt help anybody, not the average person reading it, or the developers who may have eyes on it. "This game is trash" tells the developers one thing, that you dont like it. It doesn't target what you dont like about it, what you would like to see improve, or anything else for that matter

That example feedback above is mine. I am a basketball gamer 99% of the time, and I see the "this is trash" feedback constantly, and it's super frustrating and toxic. I had someone tell me that "Nobody plays with retro teams" and "MyLeague is dead, everybody plays online now, nobody cares about it". Those statements are as toxic and failing in context as much as a blanket statement of "This game is trash".

This was your comment on the NBA 2K20 patch thread:

"How do you have a patch this big and only leave us with ambiguous information like "many more fixes"?"

You are upset because they used a blanket statement like "many more fixes" because that didnt help you understand what fixes were implemented in the game. That is no different than you saying "The game is trash", and leaving it at that. 2K team stating "many more fixes" didnt help you, and your statement saying the game was trash doesnt help the developers. It's a two way street, we have to do our part as well.

We can do better than that. Help the developers and help the average person reading through, otherwise what is the point of commenting?

You can also state the game is not for you, as opposed to saying its trash. Not everybody is going to provide the same amount of detail, and the number of bullet points will be different depending on the person. But the "this is trash" stuff has to go.

[RetroDee4Three]

Lastly, I want to point something else out.

Think about how many people go onto youtube and watch gameplay footage of Axis in order to gauge if they will buy. Thousands upon thousands. A LOT of people will not buy based on how the game looks animation wise, how the on field action looks and flows, etc. First impression is not just important for those who have hands on the sticks, but for those VIEWING the game before buying.

Axis falls incredibly short here, which you can see by looking at any of the comment sections on the various YouTube gaming videos. It not only needs to play better, it needs to be more visually acceptable animation/football wise in order the appeal to a much larger audience.

I honestly have faith that the devs are reading all the feedback, and will dive into improving the gameplay for Axis 2020. It takes longer to get things right with a small dev team, and limited technology, so the fact that it's been "years" without a drastic improvement doesnt surprise me. But now that they have great bones customization wise, franchise mode wise, etc, they can build off that and focus more on gameplay.

Good luck, devs!

[servo75]

Quote: Originally Posted by RetroDee4Three

"This game is trash at best" This is one of the most toxic statements that people make when giving "feedback". Its right in line with: "The game is garbage" "The player movement is trash" "Nobody will buy this" "Nobody cares about that mode" Etc etc We have to be better about giving feedback. This game isn't "trash" to many people, a lot of positives exist in this game customization wise, franchise wise, soundtrack wise, etc. Using context when making critiques is vital, including the size of the dev team, money they have to use on the project, licensing obstacles, etc etc. Proper feedback would look like: "This game is not for me, and will not appeal to a larger audience unless they fix some of the robotic and stiff animations, smooth things out in general, and add more animations. Gameplay is vital, including the first impression when someone initially gets hands on the sticks. Axis falls short here. Catching animations where the receiver doesn't animate, the ball just "attaches" to him (early 90s Madden like), tackles that look far from organic and lack physics, offensive and defensive line intelligence that doesnt mimic the real sport, etc. For most, gameplay is still #1 most important in regards to enjoyment, and staying power (continuing to play for a longer period of time). For Axis 2020, gameplay should be the ultimate focus, it's where the majority of time should be spent. While the franchise mode is robust, the customization endless, and commentary acceptable, it has many on field issues that hold it back from being a competitor. Some of this is obviously because of the size of the development team, and money they can use in the project, but that doesnt change the fact that it needs to feel good on the sticks, and look smoother on the field animation wise. It looks like they spent 90% of the development cycle on making franchise mode and customization more robust, and only 10% on the on field improvements. I wish they had gone in vice versa, and spent more time on the gameplay front." Saying something is "trash" or "garbage" and leaving it at that, doesnt help anybody, not the average person reading it, or the developers who may have eyes on it. "This game is trash" tells the developers one thing, that you dont like it. It doesn't target what you dont like about it, what you would like to see improve, or anything else for that matter That example feedback above is mine. I am a basketball gamer 99% of the time, and I see the "this is trash" feedback constantly, and it's super frustrating and toxic. I had someone tell me that "Nobody plays with retro teams" and "MyLeague is dead, everybody plays online now, nobody cares about it". Those statements are as toxic and failing in context as much as a blanket statement of "This game is trash". This was your comment on the NBA 2K20 patch thread: "How do you have a patch this big and only leave us with ambiguous information like "many more fixes"?" You are upset because they used a blanket statement like "many more fixes" because that didnt help you understand what fixes were implemented in the game. That is no different than you saying "The game is trash", and leaving it at that. 2K team stating "many more fixes" didnt help you, and your statement saying the game was trash doesnt help the developers. It's a two way street, we have to do our part as well. We can do better than that. Help the developers and help the average person reading through, otherwise what is the point of commenting? You can also state the game is not for you, as opposed to saying its trash. Not everybody is going to provide the same amount of detail, and the number of bullet points will be different depending on the person. But the "this is trash" stuff has to go.

I mentioned, I think it was in the Madden 20 bugs and glitches thread, that as a programmer myself (though not a game dev), I cut a lot of slack on AI issues since I can't possibly imagine how difficult it is to simulate human AI using 1s and 0s. To that end, the people who know real football the best will never, can never be completely satisfied because to make AI think exactly like humans requires someone above human intelligence to design it. But things like the user interface, missing features, little things that seem to go wrong year after year, penalties not being called that should, that's unacceptable in a game that costs $60 and that they've had 30 years to work on, things that make you wonder why half the dev team hasn't been fired. It's clear to me that the things that ARE working well in Madden are just a result of coasting, that they need fresh blood, maybe people who give a damn. But let's put the cards on the table, at the risk of making a political statement and I don't care who this offends... when you have an exclusive deal to produce NFL licensed content, you really lose all incentive for improvement. Axis, with all its faults, I think when you consider the fact that it hasn't been out long, and has a team and budget a fraction of the size EA can throw at it, looks pretty damn good and with the new college game Maximum Football. Just think - a small company with three employees, all part-time, they're making EA look like chumps, I'd be embarassed to work there. Sure Axis is not as good but given their limited resources and budget it's making the EA team look bad. I think in a fair environment, the good devs would command more money to avoid them jumping ship to places like Access, and the other half would have been canned long ago. I used to work in the education field, and saw the same thing - the worst professors were the tenured ones. Most of them little more than dead weight. I'm sure the Madden devs have some professional pride, but there's nothing like the incentive that free market non-monopoly competition gives you.

[RetroDee4Three]

Quote: Originally Posted by servo75

I mentioned, I think it was in the Madden 20 bugs and glitches thread, that as a programmer myself (though not a game dev), I cut a lot of slack on AI issues since I can't possibly imagine how difficult it is to simulate human AI using 1s and 0s. To that end, the people who know real football the best will never, can never be completely satisfied because to make AI think exactly like humans requires someone above human intelligence to design it. But things like the user interface, missing features, little things that seem to go wrong year after year, penalties not being called that should, that's unacceptable in a game that costs $60 and that they've had 30 years to work on, things that make you wonder why half the dev team hasn't been fired. It's clear to me that the things that ARE working well in Madden are just a result of coasting, that they need fresh blood, maybe people who give a damn. But let's put the cards on the table, at the risk of making a political statement and I don't care who this offends... when you have an exclusive deal to produce NFL licensed content, you really lose all incentive for improvement. Axis, with all its faults, I think when you consider the fact that it hasn't been out long, and has a team and budget a fraction of the size EA can throw at it, looks pretty damn good and with the new college game Maximum Football. Just think - a small company with three employees, all part-time, they're making EA look like chumps, I'd be embarassed to work there. Sure Axis is not as good but given their limited resources and budget it's making the EA team look bad. I think in a fair environment, the good devs would command more money to avoid them jumping ship to places like Access, and the other half would have been canned long ago. I used to work in the education field, and saw the same thing - the worst professors were the tenured ones. Most of them little more than dead weight. I'm sure the Madden devs have some professional pride, but there's nothing like the incentive that free market non-monopoly competition gives you.

Oh 100%, small dev team, doing it for the love of the sport (both cases, Maximum and Axis). Its vital that we give detailed feedback to these folks in a constructive way, without using blanket statements and insults like "this is trash" or "this game is trash" or "the gameplay is trash". They need feedback they can work off of.

I find It incredibly impressive (what both Axis and Maximum has done) but the critiques still stand, and the gameplay stuff animation wise needs to be smoothed out in order to appeal to a larger audience and for them to gain more of the marketshare in the football gaming space.

I think if they spend the large majority of the time over the next year working on the gameplay, the ON FIELD action, I think you will see the best Axis Football yet in 2020.

[redwo1f]

Quote: Originally Posted by RetroDee4Three

I think if they spend the large majority of the time over the next year working on the gameplay, the ON FIELD action, I think you will see the best Axis Football yet in 2020.

Well they absolutely have to, tbh. They spent the last two editions focusing more on franchise (and this latest edition almost it's entirely) - and the game has not progressed that well at all, all things being considered, with on the field gameplay (which is the bread and butter of a non-text based football sim) - and that is my major issue with the axis franchise. I do acknowledge that each edition has seen improvement on-field - but when it is a major area of weakness, the proper focus has not been on it, imho. I have been following, owing, and supporting from '16 onward. Yes, they have a small development team, and yes they are very responsive and a good crew - but when you lack resources/finances/etc. etc. you really have to be efficient and very smart with where they are placed.

Axis Football 2019 is what it is -- nothing is going to change that now and they will be moving on to the next version's development cycle imminently. At least the team has acknowledged that gameplay is weak and it will be the main and top priority focus for 2020. --so maybe the coming edition will be the one that I can actually keep playing for the year.