Rematch Review

Just One More Shot

HIGH Addicting, fast-paced gameplay.

LOW Egoistic teammates.

WTF Bicycle kicks for days!!!

From French developers Sloclap, Rematch delivers an arcadey, action packed spin on the beautiful game. Differing from the beat em up genre of Sifu, Rematch doesn’t include any fighting, unless fighting with the controls count. The multiplayer soccer (or football) simulator focuses on teamwork and skill to create stunning goals fit only for the largest stage. Rematch executes this idea very well, but a few glaring issues sometimes lets the game trip over its own feet.

Rematch offers 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 casual modes, and ranked 5v5. The player cycles between positions with multiple outfield ones and a goalkeeper, controlling a character in a third person point of view. Rematch doesn’t focus on realism, but instead gamifies soccer to make it less about actual tactics and more about the action – running, jumping, and diving. The arcade feel comes from everything being sped up. The pitch is similar to the one in Rocket League, with borders that the ball can ricochet off of. The actual playable area is small, and paired with rapid sprinting, aggressive slide tackles, and acrobatic kicks, the ball seems to never stop bouncing. Dribbling and fancy skills let the player live out their professional player dreams with adrenaline pumping plays that further make Rematch more of an action game than a soccer one.

Rematch uses the classic W,A,S,D controls to move, with a few special keys implemented. E for tackling, Q for jumping, and the mouse buttons for passing. Sprinting and slide tackling use the shift key and keys like F can change the type of pass. The mechanics of Rematch are easy enough to understand, but incredibly difficult to master. As the player advances divisions, people only get smarter. Learning how to properly use each key takes time, but the satisfaction of moving past opponents and scoring majestic goals makes the time commitment more than worth it. Even if the player isn’t into soccer in real life, the competitive gameplay still makes the game addicting.

In terms of graphics, Rematch uses bright colors and stylized art to further add to the arcade feel. Each game takes place in a unique stadium like a jungle, a desert, or even outer space. The settings are inspired by an environmentally friendly utopia, and the stadiums combined with nature highlight that. The colors are beautifully integrated, and sometimes I found myself stopping just to look at the background. Player customization is also diverse, with a large variety of attributes and colors to choose from.

While Rematch has a lot going for it, it does have some big negatives that need to be addressed. The most frustrating issue is passing, particularly on PC. Passing is done with the left mouse, but the sensitivity is turned up a lot. Just a tiny change in the mouse direction will cause the pass to go to a wildly different place. I frequently found my passes to go accidentally behind me, which really hindered goal scoring opportunities. Most other functions work well, but since passing is a huge part of Rematch, the unoptimized controls make it hard to deal with.

In my games, I also encountered bugs. These weren’t frequent, but when they happened it literally made the game unplayable. In one of my matches, I couldn’t touch the ball. It would go straight through me, which turned a fair match into a 5v4. When these bugs get patched, I expect the game to run much smoother.

My last complaint isn’t specific to Rematch, in fact it extends to all multiplayer games, but I still feel like it should be brought up. No one is Messi, and trying to dribble the enemy team while playing goalkeeper is not a viable strategy. Some teammates in Rematch let their egos take over, making selfish decisions and costing the team crucial goals. This happens way too often, and especially in ranked, feels enraging. Hopefully Sloclap will introduce a report button to help with this.

Rematch is a great example of when developers take a popular topic and put their own spin on it. Some might describe it as a “Rocket League without cars”, but it is so much more than that. The creativity Rematch encourages creates an engaging team-based game that incorporates every player. With easy to learn controls and flashy skills, fans and non-watchers alike are bound to enjoy this chaotic adaptation of soccer.

Rating: 8 out of 10

— Eddie Guo

Disclosures: This game is developed by Sloclap and published by Kepler Interactive. It is currently available on XBX/S/PS5/PC.This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 38 hours of play was devoted to the multiplayer mode. There is no set completion mark. There are no single-player modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E. There is nothing explicit and Rematch is safe for all ages.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game has player dialogue that does not affect gameplay. Voice chat exists but visual cues allow communication without talking (in fact, I turned voice chat off to stop toxicity). Informational text is communicated through text boxes that cannot be altered/resized.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

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