AFL 23

About

AFL 23 is a single player and multiplayer sport game. It was developed by Big Ant Studios and was released on May 3, 2023. It received neutral reviews from players.

AFL 23 is the most authentic video game football experience to date. Featuring the fully licensed 2023 AFL Premiership and AFL Women’s competitions and over 30 detailed stadiums, it’s time to play footy for real.

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45%

Audience ScoreBased on 716 reviews

graphics28 positive mentions

stability54 negative mentions

The game has improved significantly since its rocky launch, with many patches enhancing gameplay.
Graphics and player likenesses are praised, making it visually appealing.
The Pro Team mode, once released, is expected to add depth and enjoyment to the game.

The game was released in a very buggy and unfinished state, leading to frequent crashes and poor AI behavior.
Many promised features, such as Career Mode and Pro Team, are still missing or not functioning as intended.
Gameplay mechanics, including tackling and handballing, are inconsistent and frustrating, detracting from the overall experience.

gameplay
110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
56%
22%
The gameplay of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with users citing poor AI, frustrating mechanics, and numerous bugs that severely impact the experience. While some patches have made minor improvements, many players feel that the core gameplay remains unsatisfactory and reminiscent of past failures in the series. Despite the impressive graphics, the lack of polish and fundamental gameplay issues have led to widespread disappointment among the community.
- “The game has amazing graphics and the gameplay is outstanding.”
- “Handball and kick mechanics are good.”
- “Shorter field kicking and goal kicking mechanics are satisfying and intuitive.”
- “Terrible AI, terrible game mechanics, rubber banding of players who slingshot across the oval which ruins contests and possible match-defining moments, absolutely ridiculous calls by umpires and game crashes halfway through matches.”
- “This review would never end if I really went in depth about the issues, but to summarize, the game runs horrendously even on high-end hardware, the developers clearly didn't receive much input into the mechanics of footy and it's clear they don't care enough to test their patches and figure out the extensive bugs both in menus and in-game that this game is riddled with.”
- “The worst 100 bucks I have spent on Steam. The game is horrible, interchange doesn't work, impossible to tackle the computer, players always kick into the man on the mark, difficulties make no difference to gameplay, game crashes at halftime and mid-game all the time. How can you release a game that's unfinished? So stupid. We deserve our money back; worst game I have ever purchased on Steam.”
stability
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous reports of crashes, freezes, and various bugs that significantly hinder gameplay. Despite some improvements noted in patches, players still experience persistent issues such as erratic player movements and problems with game mechanics, leading many to describe it as unplayable or in an alpha state. Overall, while there is potential for enjoyment, the current state of stability is a major drawback for users.
- “Do not waste your money on this buggy rubbish.”
- “The game is very buggy and poorly made, feels as though I'm playing an alpha of an alpha version of the game.”
- “Need to get on to fixing the issue when the game freezes after scoring a goal, haven't been able to play through a full game in over a week without it crashing or freezing in both single player and multiplayer.”
graphics
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
27%
9%
The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many praising the lifelike player appearances and detailed recreations of the grounds, marking it as the best in any AFL game to date. However, some users noted issues such as screen stutter, glitches, and a lack of clarity, suggesting that while the visuals are impressive, they may not fully compensate for gameplay shortcomings. Overall, the graphics are seen as a strong point, but there are concerns that the focus on aesthetics may have detracted from gameplay quality.
- “The positives: great graphics and lifelike appearances of the vast majority of players and very accurate recreations of the grounds - 10/10 to the art team.”
- “Fantastic graphics, a team I can support and watch while I enjoy AFL on my days off.”
- “- graphics, easily the best graphics of any AFL game ever released.”
- “I'm playing on an amazing PC and yet no matter what, the graphics look awful; it isn't clear.”
- “Graphics are stuck in 2012 as well.”
- “I feel like the developers concentrated on the looks of the players and visuals more than the smooth running and AI abilities.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
Players note that recent updates have significantly improved the game's replayability, making it more enjoyable and playable compared to its launch state. While many express optimism about the game's potential and future patches, they also highlight that further adjustments, particularly regarding difficulty, are still needed to enhance the overall experience.
- “The updates have made this game more playable; it's getting better. Still a few things to change and tweak, but definitely going in the right direction.”
- “Has come a massive way since day one. All the patches that have come out have made the game way more playable; the only thing that needs to be touched up is the difficulty.”
- “Game has tons of potential and should be more playable once patched.”
- “However, the game has a lot of potential, and I am waiting for more patches to improve the game and make it more playable.”
- “Game is more playable than at launch; however, there is still work to be done.”
- “The updates have made this game more playable; it's getting better, still a few things to change and tweak, but definitely going in the right direction.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is noted to be hit-or-miss, with some players finding it genuinely hilarious, particularly in the absurdity of mechanics like the overly slow running speed. However, others feel that the game's numerous flaws overshadow the humor, suggesting a mixed reception overall.
- “I honestly thought it was hilarious.”
- “- running speed is hilariously bad, you can outrun everyone very easily.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
Reviews indicate that the game's monetization strategy heavily relies on aggressive microtransactions and advertising for other sports games, which detracts from addressing existing issues and player concerns. Many users express frustration over the lack of meaningful updates, focusing instead on increasing monetization efforts.
- “Shilling out advertising for tennis games, cricket games, and even rugby, while not addressing the concerns with this game or fixing them after many months.”
- “This game really sucks; the only updates now are to add more microtransactions.”
- “The constant push for microtransactions overshadows any meaningful updates or improvements to the game.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
50%
The game's crowd atmosphere is criticized for its lack of realism and engagement, with players noting a need for more immersive crowd sounds to enhance the overall experience reminiscent of attending live AFL games.
- “The game truly captures the essence of being at a live event, with immersive crowd sounds that enhance the overall atmosphere.”
- “The atmospheric feeling of attending an AFL game is beautifully recreated, making you feel like you're part of the action.”
- “The attention to detail in the crowd sounds adds a layer of realism that elevates the game's atmosphere significantly.”
- “The crowd atmosphere lacks realism and engagement.”
- “The crowd atmosphere lacks realism and engagement.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game has been criticized to the point where players would prefer engaging in a lengthy conversation with an inexperienced musician rather than enduring the game's soundtrack, indicating a strong dissatisfaction with the audio experience.
- “I would genuinely rather have an hour-long conversation with a year 7 eshay who thinks he's an A-list musician than stare at the loading screen for another 25 hours.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's optimization is generally decent, with players reporting an average of 100 fps on an RTX 3070, though there are noticeable drops to 40-60 fps during cutscenes.
- “The performance was decent; I averaged about 100 FPS on an RTX 3070, with drops to 40-60 during cutscenes.”