Rematch Review

As sports games continue to be dominated by annual releases, developer Sloclap dares to tread new ground with Rematch – a 5v5 fast-paced arcade football game where players control a single player.

It’s not an entirely new concept; I spent several years playing Football Superstars and have been chasing that high ever since. Communication and cooperation-driven sports competition that still lets me sit at home on my fat ass.

Is Rematch it?

Rematch Review

Every match is the same. Watching as the entire team attacks every time, without fail, regardless of anything

Eh, not quite, and not even for reasons the game can be blamed for.

It’s like attending football practice with a group of eager five-year-olds. Sally’s kid turns up in jeans, Bob’s son refuses to even get out of the car, and Steve’s lad turns up in a £150 personalized Real Madrid kit. What follows is rarely ever considered football.

What follows is more akin to rugby than football. A giant glob of body mass surrounds the ball at every second, with small parts of the mass falling away, followed by parents screaming at the coach.

That’s Rematch – at least at the moment.

Everyone wants to be Ronaldo. Defensive scenarios are 3v1 almost every time, and the concept of playing actual football is completely lost amidst all the pink hair, robotic arms, and Ronaldo celebrations.

However, sometimes, just sometimes, something magical happens.

At its very best, Rematch is a fantastic alternative for football fans looking for something more than chasing card packs. When two teams clash, two teams of players playing together, communicating, evenly matched, it’s awesome.

Stringing together passes is no easy feat. Carefully aiming and powering each pass manually will be off-putting for some, but the high skill ceiling offers a level of pay-off completely alien in AAA alternatives.

The gameplay and controls can feel clunky at first, unresponsive in places, but it takes a certain finesse to work with it. Even maintaining control of the ball during a dribble requires thought, but as challenging as even the most basic of moves can be, it’s incredibly satisfying.

Impressive kit customization options are available, although only visible to the player

And therein lies Rematch’s biggest strength and its biggest weakness. To get full enjoyment from the game, playing with arranged teammates is a must. Random games are a complete mess. Players repeating the same rainbow flick 30 times, failing, and then blaming a goalkeeper for losing another outnumbered assault.

I’m not exaggerating here.

I played my first four matches before I witnessed another player make an intentional pass. After reaching the top of Gold Division, I witnessed my first one-two pass.

These moments are glorious, but fleeting due to both the complexity of the moves and also the willingness of players not to try yet another 30yrd bicycle kick.

Although lacking content in many areas, a Season Pass is good and ready to go

Rematch is void of all team-building or communication tools outside an actual match. There are no clubs, teams, or guilds, no boards, no methods to building or forming teams in this team-based experience.

While not a huge problem for PC players, we’ve been conditioned to chase down social groups for decades, it’s an unrealistic expectation to place on console players.

It very much feels like an Early Access release with regard to its content, which is lacking across the board. Players can jump into 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5 game modes in both Quick Play and Ranked, but that’s about it.

The freeplay option on the main screen is probably the games best tutorial aspect

In a completely skill-based game, there are no stats or meaningful character progression, the tutorial is lackluster and minimal training opportunities leaves all experimentation and learning to be done surrounded by other players. Mini-game modes are available, but they pose as more of challenges than helpful guides.

While Rematch suffers from a lack of cooperative or competitive tools at release, the foundations are in place for an exciting football experience for many years to come – all without paying for a single stupid card pack.

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