Axis Football 2015 Review (PC)

[FaceMask]

Quote: Originally Posted by jyoung

We grade every game we review on the same scale, because the history of gaming has repeatedly proved that good games can come from small companies (Super Mega Baseball, The Golf Club, OlliOlli, Wrestling Revolution 3D), just as easily as bad games can come from large companies (NBA Live 14, NHL 15, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, WWE 2K15). Most consumers do not care how many employees or how much money it took to make a game. Consumers generally only care about which games are worth their money, and which ones are not. And since the primary purpose of any product review is to aid and educate consumers, we take that same stance. On a scale where Rory McIlroy PGA Tour is a 5, and NBA Live 14 is a 3.5, Axis Football 2015 could fit nowhere else but the 2.5 it was justly given. The game in its current state is simply nowhere close to the standards that gamers expect of any 11 vs. 11 football title (big or small) released in 2015. Madden 08 is mentioned because it is a superior product in the same genre on the same platform as Axis Football 2015. We will always present alternatives to our readers in any review where the game we are writing about is not worth recommending.

Still, the scaling is completely different, two different universes in fact, that's the point that can't be escaped. You're mentioning AAA games and mid-to-high level indies with far bigger teams and far bigger budgets than Axis is working with.

Consumers don't care because consumers generally don't know. Knowing wouldn't make them like the game any more or less, but I'm certain if they know Madden is made by a massive team of people, and Axis was made by essentially one guy, they would understand how unequal the comparison is.

I get where you're coming from, it's just not coming from a fair place.

[Hooe]

What's a reasonable alternative to the absolute scale, though? I'm not the reviewer, but to me the idea of applying some sort of bonus to the game's score or pulling punches in the text of the reviewer's opinion based on the game's budget, team size, or sympathy for the developer on a personal level strikes me as disingenuous.

A reviewer's purpose is to assess the quality of a video game amidst other available options and make a recommendation to the consumer. No video game exists in a vacuum. If the reviewer feels this game doesn't begin to compare to other options, he's perfectly justified in saying as much. If the reviewer isn't honest with how he feels about the game or withholds that opinion, he's not serving the readers well at-best and deliberately misleading them at-worst.

"Fair" simply is not an object in this scenario; other football video games are already out there in the wild and not going away. The onus is on the game developer to produce a quality game, not on media to give out a participation award to anyone who feels like making a game.

[timisone]

I hope nothing but the best for this game. No buy till bugs are gone and franchise is in the game.

[Fist Of Kings]

A moddable football game where I have complete control is something I've wanted for a long time. The guy that made the game has a lot of good ideas...but the $20 price tag for a game lacking so much.

I'm not trying to bash the creator, but with the game lacking in even basic football elements like breaking tackles, basic ol/dl interactions(from the clips I've seen, the qb didn't even need to scramble because it looks like the dl isn't capable of generating pressure)how can he justify the price? I think more people would support the game and hopefully help it grow if it were $5 bucks.

I think that is fair with it's dated graphics, lacking features, and basic gameplay elements.

[jake53]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

What's a reasonable alternative to the absolute scale, though? I'm not the reviewer, but to me the idea of applying some sort of bonus to the game's score or pulling punches in the text of the reviewer's opinion based on the game's budget, team size, or sympathy for the developer on a personal level strikes me as disingenuous. A reviewer's purpose is to assess the quality of a video game amidst other available options and make a recommendation to the consumer. No video game exists in a vacuum. If the reviewer feels this game doesn't begin to compare to other options, he's perfectly justified in saying as much. If the reviewer isn't honest with how he feels about the game or withholds that opinion, he's not serving the readers well at-best and deliberately misleading them at-worst. "Fair" simply is not an object in this scenario; other football video games are already out there in the wild and not going away. The onus is on the game developer to produce a quality game, not on media to give out a participation award to anyone who feels like making a game.

I feel like it's disingenuous to compare a game that is being priced at $20 that is essentially in early access to a $60 AAA title, even if you're comparing it to a game from 2008.

I'm not saying this game deserves a 10, because it has it's fair share of problems... But the developers listen to what we want and they implement change as quickly as they can. These developers are worth supporting and a fairer review on a site filled with the prime audience could go a long way.

People who purchase this game will get the updated 2016 version for free which will have a franchise mode, uniform modding, logo modding, roster modding, and improved animations. This is imo what should have been highlighted in the review. Instead OS seemed to **** on the game without pointing out any of the potential it has.

This is the first football game released since Madden 08 and yes it has issues, but the review isn't going to help those issues get fixed. It could lead to this game becoming abandonware and to leave the PC userbase without a football game altogether.

There's a way to promote something and there's a way to review something. I don't think this game is in a reviewable shape at the moment, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Furthermore I think rating games (sports or otherwise) on a number scale is ridiculous.

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[mestevo]

Quote: Originally Posted by jake53

I feel like it's disingenuous to compare a game that is being priced at $20 that is essentially in early access to a $60 AAA title, even if you're comparing it to a game from 2008. I'm not saying this game deserves a 10, because it has it's fair share of problems... But the developers listen to what we want and they implement change as quickly as they can. These developers are worth supporting and a fairer review on a site filled with the prime audience could go a long way. People who purchase this game will get the updated 2016 version for free which will have a franchise mode, uniform modding, logo modding, roster modding, and improved animations. This is imo what should have been highlighted in the review. Instead OS seemed to **** on the game without pointing out any of the potential it has. This is the first football game released since Madden 08 and yes it has issues, but the review isn't going to help those issues get fixed. It could lead to this game becoming abandonware and to leave the PC userbase without a football game altogether. There's a way to promote something and there's a way to review something. I don't think this game is in a reviewable shape at the moment, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Furthermore I think rating games (sports or otherwise) on a number scale is ridiculous.

That's quite the shotgun response, you covered everything from the indie vs AAA argument, the game being incomplete (which is the very reason many games tank in reviews) to 'it's not even reviewable' and sports games in general vs numerical reviews.

I think many understand a lot of that, and read this review in context. I don't get the flailing to defend it, if the review leads to it being abandonware (which it wont) then it's probably much closer to that than anyone realizes from the get go then.

If it's so great otherwise it will have the much more visible Steam reviews (which are generally positive, but have their +'s and -'s) to rely on.

[FaceMask]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

What's a reasonable alternative to the absolute scale, though? I'm not the reviewer, but to me the idea of applying some sort of bonus to the game's score or pulling punches in the text of the reviewer's opinion based on the game's budget, team size, or sympathy for the developer on a personal level strikes me as disingenuous. A reviewer's purpose is to assess the quality of a video game amidst other available options and make a recommendation to the consumer. No video game exists in a vacuum. If the reviewer feels this game doesn't begin to compare to other options, he's perfectly justified in saying as much. If the reviewer isn't honest with how he feels about the game or withholds that opinion, he's not serving the readers well at-best and deliberately misleading them at-worst. "Fair" simply is not an object in this scenario; other football video games are already out there in the wild and not going away. The onus is on the game developer to produce a quality game, not on media to give out a participation award to anyone who feels like making a game.

That's not the point I'm making here.

Let me be clear; a reviewer can trash a bad game from now until infinity and that's perfectly fine, and I'm not asking them to pull punches. That's not what this is about.

And while I agree that games don't exist in a vacuum, they do however exist on their own levels of development. So having said that, the problem here is, when you take a game made on a $500 budget by essentially one guy and even so much as inject into it a comparison to a game made on a multi-million dollar budget by a massive team of people, you've totally lost perspective. I'm not saying the game is any good, it may be crap, I haven't played it yet, but no matter what it is, no comparison to Madden as a way to point out its issues or shortcomings is valid given the enormously different scales. It's the same vein of concept as to why people tuned out of the Joe Montana stuff the minute they found out it was mobile. All the Versus Madden hype had to go out the window because those people understood scale and realized that even considering a mobile game a viable contender to Madden was unreasonable given the huge scale difference.