Axis is a multiplayer first-person shooter with mechs. However, these are not the big and clunky robots usually featured in mech games, but fast machines which have the ability to float for a short amount of time. This means the game speed is more akin to mid-nineties shooters like Quake. The backdrop story is set in the 22th century when multinational companies fight over resources.

The game features overall eight multiplayer modes (e.g. Deathmatch, Rocket Arena or Gladiator) with differences regarding rules and winning conditions, but generally they all involve the player fighting alone against the opposition by running (and floating) around, shooting weapons at other players and picking up power-ups (e.g. armor, shields or damage multiplier) which spawn on the 28 maps. The basic stats of the player's mech, e.g. armor or the boost speed, are determined by the chosen pilot character and the used mech components which can be changed for arms, legs, chassis, head, booster and weapon load-out. All those components have strengths, weaknesses and weight, the latter being the restricting factor.

The game also has a single-player mode, skirmish, which consists of playing multiplayer matches against bots. Playing through the scenarios rewards additional mech components for use in multiplayer.