That One Moved The Chains
HIGH Greatly improved on-the-field presentation. Added features for Franchise mode
LOW Still suffers from wonky AI and bugs.
WTF Why did my center line up as a receiver?
The Axis Football franchise has had its share of ups and downs over the past few years.
2023’s incarnation was a standout featuring a new physics engine and gameplay tweaks that led to its highest score ever at GameCritics. Major setbacks plagued the 2024 campaign, including rubber-banding AI, graphical glitches, and inaccurate, repetitive commentary. After forgoing the 2025 season (a rebuilding year, if you will) wholesale changes were made to every aspect of the experience, and now Axis Football returns for 2026.
On the field, players look even better than ever, with more detailed models including wrinkles on jerseys. The new stadiums are lovely, giving the feeling of a real home team advantage, including new crowd chants and fans decked out in team colors.
New animations make it much easier to see holes in a defensive line for a running back to slip through, or why a pass was broken up by a wily safety. There are still times when it appears that a blocker can almost teleport to make a play on a ballcarrier, but the new instant replay mode often shows players behaving realistically, greatly enhancing the experience.
New commentary has been recorded, including team-specific lines when scoring and so on. It can still get repetitive, especially after playing a large number of games, but the new dialogue was certainly welcome. Play calling has also been enhanced with a new create-a-play feature in case the current team playbook is too limiting.
Off the field, Axis Football 2026 still has one of the deepest franchise modes in videogame football, and as before, the player has complete control over the organization. With a few button clicks, I can hire and fire coaches, scout future potential draft picks, and purchase upgrades for my stadium, such as luxury boxes and fitness and rehabilitation gear for my players.
These things are key, as Axis Football makes players work to improve their teams, and the salary cap is no joke. I often had to think long and hard about signing a stud free agent or saving the cap space for the offseason when I had to re-sign my core team. Moments like this are exhilarating, and when I finally led my squad to the Axis Bowl Championship, I felt like I earned it with my shrewd decision-making.
While the new modes, character models, animations, stadiums, create-a-play, and improved play-by-play are as impressive as an off-balance, one-handed grab in the end zone, Axis Football 2026 still has its share of problems that negate forward progress.
As of the time of writing, the visuals are locked at a resolution of 1920 x 1080, even if a monitor is capable of much higher settings. A controller and mouse tend to cancel each other out when manipulating menus, which is especially frustrating when trying to navigate settings or interact with the UI outside of on-the-field gameplay, such as accepting trades or drafting players. Additionally, setting up a team’s 53-man roster can be more difficult than it should be — the option to place the best players on the field at all positions automatically should be included.
On the field, the AI still struggles with basic concepts. I’ve watched special teams’ players streak right past the return man straight into the endzone on kickoffs, allowing the ballcarrier to gain far more yards than should have been possible. In one particularly bizarre scenario, I had a center line up as a receiver on multiple plays during a drive, eliminating a checkdown option for my QB.
I’m also still not able to tell if the dreaded catchup AI from the 2024 campaign has returned — suspicions were raised when I noticed opposing teams coming back from serious deficits, even when my Philadelphia Express significantly outmatched them. Since building my team of stars took six seasons’ worth of heartbreak and failure, it’s frustrating to win against obvious chumps, when I should have steamrolled them.
The simulation mode has issues as well. While losing one game by a point with seconds left on the clock, I ended manual play and allowed the computer to simulate the final moments. Somehow, I wound up winning that game even though there was no possible way to do so. (It was also snowing in Miami during that game in early October…)
While not quite matching its previous heights, Axis Football 2026 has made marked improvements over the last incarnation and shows that it’s still a title worthy of taking the field. With the right bug fixes and continued improvement, it could once again become a solid contender in the increasingly-crowded football market. Axis Football 2026 is worth the time and the price of admission, but there’s definitely room for this franchise to tighten things up.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Axis Games. It is currently available on XBO, XBX/S/PS4/PS5/PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 11 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and multiple seasons were completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. The game is a realistic simulation of American Football. Players are tackled and knocked to the ground, or may be pushed/shoved to the ground by blockers or a stiff-arm. Injuries to players are briefly described in text form (such as Player X sustained a leg injury) and whether or not they will return to play. There are no visual depictions of injuries.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game does not offer subtitles. The game is playable without sound, as there are visual representations of all in-game activities. However, there are no subtitles for any commentary or player chatter (snap counts, etc.). While the game does provide a quick summary of the previous play (tackle for loss, rushing gain of 17 yards and so on) so much of the experience is lost.
Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable.
He juggles this passion for gaming with his most important job, being a husband and dad.Fortunately, his boys are growing up as gamers (with decidedly more skill, much to his annoyance) and he has a very understanding spouse.
He hangs out on Twitter sometimes as @JPSJeffOrt, Facebook FAR less frequently, and while he misses performing all the interviews from his former online life, he’s much more relaxed now!
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