[Phobia]

So it's been a while, a good long while since I've been able to give my initial impressions of a different football title. I want to say a quick congrats to Axis Games, you have done a tremendous job.

Thoughts & ramblings...

The off-the-field management sim aspect is top notch and will keep the game engaging for hundreds of hours. This alone when compared alongside management sims like OOTP and FM2020, it's refreshing to finally have that in a PC football title. Coincide that alongside true "gameplay" and it's worth the $30 price tag.

Now this ties into one of my major complaints. When you choose, key word here, choose to attempt a feeling of in control gameplay, it blinks as a bright red flashing Suspicious! sign when you feel merely a spectator. It's not that I find an issue with what visually appears on the field, it's the perception of "Madden-ish" style of gameplay. Make no mistake, you can impact the play, but much of what plays out is rating number crunching in the background. This could be argued Madden does the same exact thing but it feels much heavier here.

A few obvious standouts. Running up the middle is very limited, juke or spin, choose your weapon. The vast majority of the time it feels like your only option is to the hold stick up and hope the RNG plays into your favor to break a tackle. What about calling the perfect counter defensive coverage, the DB is directly in front the receiver on a curl but the receiver manages to catch the ball. It makes you feel like the action on the field is not being dictated by on-field interactions.

This is completely acceptable in OOTP when you see a shortstop miss a ball right at him and you get a glorious text box explaining in detail what happened.

"Nick Ahmed sprints to his right, sliding to cradle a fast moving grounder! The ball takes an unexpected hop leaving Ahmed whiffing at air for an easy single to first."

You feel engaged in the game.....but different. This is where Axis Football stumbles. You're left loving the off-the-field but wishing on-the-field was a bit more refined.

Overall, people who love broadcast cam, coach mode franchise will be extremely happy. For those of us who like to play the game plus managed the off-the-field, it will be a mixed bag of feelings.

My simple rating: The foundation is laid for something special.