Axe in Face 2 is the sequel to Blue Carrots Game’s original hit Axe in Face. I absolutely admired and loved the original Axe in Face. I even fully completed all of the games levels. So when I found out that the sequel to the award winning game had been released I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

Just like the original Axe in Face you play as Red Beard, a viking who loves nothing more than watering his flowers. Other vikings have decided that these flowers are in the way of their path, this makes Red Beard very angry, and he responds the only way he knows how…..to decapitate them with a flying axe. You control this axe by drawing the line it follows on the screen, when it reaches the end of the line it returns back to Red Beard like a boomerang. There are many different vikings to defeat including the original games regular vikings and tree vikings which require fire to be destroyed and some new additions including an enemy that requires to be hit twice to die.

Like the original there are also power-ups, but sadly you only get these by purchasing them with coins instead of the classic way of picking them up throughout the level. The games graphics and gameplay both impress with nice animations and sound effects to accompany the smooth gameplay. This gameplay though means nothing to a game that has so much potential which I feel has been ruined by the free to play system in place. The game works in a similar way to Candy Crush where you have a limited amount of lives, which they call watering cans. You get 6 watering cans with each one being used every time you play a level.

The free to play system the game has in place ruins this whole experience. Don’t get me wrong, I love the gameplay, but after the first 10 levels where you are rewarded a can per gold rating, you reach a brick wall where you either pay for coins to buy more watering cans, or you just wait 20 minutes for another life which will then be used in the space of 60 seconds. You then have to wait a further 20 minutes meaning the game doesn’t allow for a constant experience unless you wait two hours for all your 6 water cans to return. Even then you will end up using them in the space of 10 minutes.

It’s disappointing because the gameplay is amazing, the graphics superb and I could easily play this game for hours had it been released for $2-$3 on the App Store like the original was long ago. But at $2 for an amount of coins which will only buy you enough lives to last 10 minutes I will not be supporting the game, or putting any money in. If I could pay $3 for unlimited watering cans I would happily do so, as will others who have said the same thing. To have this terrible system in place, and then add adverts into the game makes it even worse. It should be one or the other, not both.

There are also many different characters and axes which you can unlock. Again this requires coins. I would love to unlock these and try them out. That is near impossible though when you are trying to save up the 750 coins required to purchased 6 more watering can.

Axe in Face 2 is a perfect example for an amazing game which has been ruined by the free to play formula. I went from being excited to play the sequel to one of my favourite games to being incredibly disappointed. The only time I enjoyed the game was the first ten levels where I wasn’t limited by the games free to play system. Playing this game made me want to go back and play the original Axe in Face which was perfect. Sadly that has now been removed from the App Store. I can only conclude thats because of this new launch under a new publisher.

I remain hopeful that that same publisher will implement an option to disable the ads and watering cans for a reasonable price, which I would happily pay for, otherwise I am afraid I will barely touch this game again.

Axe in Face 2 is avaialble for free on App Store