Battle Axe

Critic reviews

• XTXbox Tavern

  Jake Plant · May 01, 2021

  6.6

  This is magnified by the designers’ decision to forego almost all of the modern conveniences players have grown accustomed to in the past twenty-plus years, which really makes you question what was going through their heads. If you love arcadey Hack and Slash games and/or enjoy challenging yourself with devilishly difficult games then this might be worth checking out once it’s on sale.

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• TTechRaptor

  Austin Suther · May 01, 2021

  5.0

  On the surface, Battle Axe looks and sounds like an amazing retro throwback. When you dive into it, you'll find a lack of accessibility options and bland, uncompelling gameplay. Look, there's plenty of games that seek to emulate retro games of yesteryear, and many of them succeed—Battle Axe is one that requires far too much work to consider a success.

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• PSPush Square

  Jamie O'Neill · Apr 29, 2021

  7.0

  There's replay value to be found in the Hard difficulty setting, or chasing 29 Trophies for a Platinum, as well as an unlockable New Game+ challenge. Yet, even the inclusion of an extra Infinite Mode highlights how the core gameplay becomes repetitive, plus the four main areas of Arcade Mode can be beaten in less than an hour.

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• GGameSpew

  Kim Snaith · Apr 27, 2021

  6.0

  Battle Axe packs in a lot of personality thanks to its trio of colourful protagonists and its wonderful art style. But its gameplay likely won’t keep your attention for much longer than an hour or two. It’s a great flashback to games of yesteryear, but outside of a nostalgia hit, there’s no real reason to keep going back.

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• NNintendoLife

  PJ O'Reilly · Apr 26, 2021

  5.0

  Battle Axe is a good-looking homage to the classic hack and slash arcade efforts of yesteryear that's dragged down by some fairly dull and repetitive action. It looks the part, sounds the part, nails the aesthetic and vibe that it's going for completely, but then it drops the ball with regards to level design, enemy AI and in providing any sense of strategy or surprise during a short campaign that gives you very little reason to return once its done and dusted.

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• TTheGamer

  Eric Switzer · Apr 22, 2021

  8.0

  It’s a beautiful game created by developers that have a genuine love and talent for pixel art. Visually speaking, Battle Axe is pixel perfect. My biggest problem with the game is that I want more of it, and that’s never a bad problem to have.

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