AFL 23

I'll be straight with you: AFL 23 is the kind of release that makes you question whether a sport this complicated has any business being a video game. The on-field controls are the core problem. Kicking and handballing regularly ignore your inputs - you aim for a teammate 20 metres away and the engine ships the ball somewhere else entirely. Handballing especially feels unreliable, and set-shot goalkicking swings the other way: it is comically easy, with even low-rated players slotting through from difficult angles. That tension between inputs that don't work and AI that doesn't miss set shots defines the AFL 23 experience. The launch was genuinely rough. Multiple promised modes were absent at release, the AI would let you walk the length of the ground untouched, and the patch history tells its own story - more than 20 updates in the first month alone, with stability going forward and backward between them. The Xbox release suffered a separate ordeal, delayed by months past the PC and PlayStation launch, eventually arriving in September 2023. Big Ant's Academy tool is solid - custom clubs, players, guernseys, and stadiums can be created and shared across platforms, and that community creation layer adds genuine longevity if you're willing to dig into it. Management Career mode lets you oversee drafting and player development across multiple seasons, which is a reasonable long-term hook once the worst of the bugs settle down. The presentation side holds up better than the gameplay. Commentary from Anthony Hudson, Kelli Underwood, Garry Lyon, Daniel Harford, and Jason Bennett gives it a broadcast feel, and photogrammetry captures of over 1,200 AFL and AFLW players mean your favourite club looks the part. The 40-stadium roster covers the full spread from the MCG down to regional grounds. Player traits powered by Champion Data are in there too, meaning stars play differently from depth players on paper - whether that actually manifests cleanly on the pitch is another question given the AI positioning issues. For multiplayer, cross-platform play is supported and up to four players can compete locally, which is probably where this game is at its most forgiving - the chaos becomes shared rather than something the engine inflicts on you alone. Online-only quick match is the online ceiling though; there is no ranked ladder, no structured competitive mode to climb. If you came here hoping for anything resembling a competitive scene, it does not exist. For anyone outside Australia who just wants to understand what Australian rules football even is as a sport, the sheer density of teams, modes, and licensed content makes it a passable introduction - but be prepared for the mechanics to teach you bad habits. Fred, Scout Team