Preview: Rematch is the football game that thinks outside of the box

When I first watched the announcement trailer, I got the feeling that the game was mostly reminiscent of Rocket League, but it has features not seen in the car game. Since in Rematch we control humans, we have options for low and high passes, dribbling and shots - which can even have effects - all of this provides greater immersion when it comes to soccer.

The third-person camera combined with the fact that we control only one player, requiring passes and collective interaction, makes the experience quite unusual when compared to the most famous titles in this genre. Sloclap has brought a lot of balance to the game similar to soccer with this teamwork and the gameplay itself, while at the same time managing to keep up the frenetic pace that a video game needs, since there's no set pieces such as free kicks, corners or throw-ins, the ball is rolling throughout the entire match.

Rematch didn't create the concept, but took it to the next level

It’s a fact that, in the gaming universe, communities play a fundamental role in the evolution of specific genres and titles, be it through mods or custom maps. Fans help innovate in already beloved and established games - something we’ve seen happen for over a decade in Minecraft or Skyrim, for example.

Given this context, Roblox is another game that stands out for giving free rein to the creative gift of its community, allowing players to create new games almost from scratch through programming. This is how Super Striker League and several other soccer games on the platform came to be. I mention this one in particular because it brings the same idea we’re seeing today in Rematch: an online, third-person soccer game, where we individually control a single character.

No game needs to reinvent itself and Sloclap didn't worry about it, the focus was on professionalizing the concept and turning a simpler, fanmade experience into a competitive game with high technical quality. Until Rematch’s arrival, we didn't have a major company investing in this proposal, so we can say that this is a milestone for the community.

The graphics are solid, but nothing that uses the full power of the new generation. I was expecting the game to also come to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which may be frustrating since it didn’t. The maps are beautiful and the main highlight of this topic, to our eyes.

Some visual errors happened during gameplay, especially during goal celebrations. However, this is still a beta and will most likely be fixed by June.

Regarding sounds, Rematch doesn’t disappoint during the game, as kicks, balls hitting the post and fans celebrating a goal all have pleasant sound effects. There’s also a 3D sound feature, meaning we can understand where the opponent or teammate is coming from just by listening. However, the lack of a memorable song or soundtrack while we are browsing the menu or waiting in queue for the next game is noticeable.

Regarding the interface experience, I believe that the vast majority of users don’t run into many problems. The menu is clean and capable of indicating all the tabs and features without overloading you with information.

The screen during gameplay is also extremely pleasant, showing only what’s necessary, with a modern scoreboard and nothing too overdone.

It’s important, of course, that the game brings a good premise and provides a satisfactory audiovisual experience, but that’s not enough to turn it into a success. Delivering interesting gameplay that’s consistent with what was proposed is still the strongest pillar for a title, and I’m pleased to say that Sloclap got it right in this aspect too.

Never have I felt so close to playing soccer with my friends in a video game, the Rematch matches were a lot of fun, especially with them. It was necessary to combine tactical strategy, such as rehearsed plays and each position’s style, with technical skills to make a pass or shot - in fact, the finishing animations are wonderful, we score goals with volleys or bicycle kicks quite often.

The physics are excellent, I often witnessed goals that only happened because the defender took a detour in the trajectory of the ball and fooled the goalkeeper, exactly like real-life cases.

The absence of throw-ins and corners with a barrier that prevents the ball from leaving the field makes the match more frenetic, as already mentioned, so your attacks won’t be immediately nullified by a bad pass or shot that goes wide.

Still, you know that scoring goals requires great teamwork and, sometimes, a lack of attention from the opposing defense. We have a limited amount of stamina that doesn’t allow us to run across the entire field, dribbling past our opponents.

You can play as a goalkeeper

Making the goalkeeper role playable instead of just leaving it to an AI was one of the great positive points of Rematch. Many games limit or don't even offer this functionality, and here it’s not only present, but was highly praised by beta players.

It’s worth mentioning that this feature follows the same fast pace as the game; we can’t choose who’ll be the goalkeeper at the start of the match, it’s a random selection. However, as soon as the current goalkeeper leaves the area, a player who’s already there or the next one who enters will receive the gloves.

Great communication with the team

In addition to being able to ask for the ball to signal our teammates, we also have access to a quick message system to thank or apologize to the team and, most importantly, a voice chat.

In a competitive game, including the ranked mode which was already available in our test, communication is essential, especially when you’re playing with random people. Even so, it’s easy to turn off your microphone and/or stop hearing your teammates if you prefer.

The voice chat worked perfectly, I was able to have high-quality conversations during the matches, which made me happy.

It’s not all perfect

Right in the first few minutes of the game, we detected some unintuitive mechanics and issues that we hope to see fixed in the official release. These points of criticism are minimal compared to the gameplay quality, but they can hinder your matches and deserve to be mentioned.

Unlike most titles where, to make a pass, you just need to aim with your vision, in Rematch the pass will be made in the direction you’re walking. By the point I figured this out, I’d already messed up countless plays.

We didn’t face this same behavior when shooting, which is expected, we can walk forward and make a cross shot just by looking at the corner of the goal. The problem lies with having to act differently in each of these situations, there’s no logic.

Dribbling is also a mechanic that generates some difficulty, but for another reason.

Using both the mouse and keyboard, you need to press the “V” key while holding down the left CTRL to do a feint. If you want to perform a hat trick (air dribble), hold down the mouse scroll instead of “CTRL”. It’s very difficult to repeat them, especially when done on the ground. Taking your hand off “WASD”, used to walk, and having to quickly position your fingers on “CTRL+V” is another counter-intuitive factor.

This issue revisits a lack of resources: it’s not possible to create a new preset for your controller or keyboard, and this lack of freedom to change each key’s functions frustrated me. However, this situation is fairly common in games that are still in beta period, and we can overlook it for now, but I hope it’s resolved as soon as possible.

Finally, I found the ball control when walking - and especially running - a little confusing, sometimes we lose possession even when we’re by ourselves. But nothing that causes frustration too often.

Another good addition to Rematch is the possibility of customizing our character, making it unique. There are several models of faces, hair and body, regardless of gender.

Microtransactions are present in the game with the aim of further expanding your clothing options, with exclusive clothes and hats. As far as we have seen, there won’t be any type of Pay-to-Win microtransactions. In the beta, they were dedicated exclusively to cosmetics.

Games still in development are known for delivering several bugs and performance issues to users, which is normal given that this is not the final version of the title.

Even so, Rematch surprised us and has very few flaws, mainly visual ones, such as goalkeepers making saves with their hands inside the goal or even outside the area.

Although the game has higher than expected minimum requirements, it delivers fluid gameplay without freezes or crashes on machines that meet the required hardware level. Seeing such good optimization at this stage is incredible!

Pros

Cons

FINAL SCORE: 9.0

Rematch was a big hit, and we can't wait to play it again after the official release. The game won’t be sold at the full price usually charged in the market, making it a great opportunity for those who enjoy a soccer match, or just those who want a new experience in competitive games with friends. I imagine that Sloclap has nailed it once again and will have a hit on their hands, scoring award nominations in addition to good approval ratings in the media.

I hope you enjoyed this preview! I'm available in the comments to answer any questions and comments.