Rematch Review (FIFA Meets Rocket League)
Sifu 2 is the game that we would have gotten from Sloclap in a different universe. The follow-up to their four million selling, break-out hit is the safe thing to do, especially in an industry full of such dire consequences for slight missteps.
In this world, Sloclap decided to pursue the prospect of a live-service game. One of the most taboo topics in gaming where success is almost on mythical levels. However, Sloclap didn’t chase trends with some type of battle royale, hero shooter or extraction game. Instead, they decided to create their own niche and nestle perfectly in between Mario Strikers, EA FC and Rocket League.
As a result, Sloclap have been rewarded with early success to the tune of over one million sold in the first few days and players have been rewarded with a unique and innovative experience that feels like the start of something special and not wholly different from early access.
The bad news is that it follows the formula of most live service games, which means the offerings at launch are relatively bare bones. However, the good news and most importantly is that the foundation is very solid with an addictive gameplay loop and extremely rewarding mechanics.
Most companies would have played it safe with a sequel to a commercial and critical hit and in that universe, we would have a great follow-up to SIFU, but I would rather live in this universe where companies take risks with unique ideas they are passionate about. REMATCH isn’t a follower, it’s a leader.
IS REMATCH Worth it?
After Sifu, I was willing to trust whatever Sloclap did next, even if it was something I wouldn’t normally gravitate towards. Rematch is an online only, live service, arcade football game, which are two things that I woudln’t normally even think twice about. The last time that I was invested into a live service game was Destiny, which was almost a decade ago and the last time I played a serious amount of FIFA was back on the SNES.
REMATCH is an online only football game that shares a visual style with SIFU where you only control one player on the pitch, teams are smaller, and the fields have walls similar to futsal or Rocket League. There is a very small tutorial and a handful of options to play. There is no camera options, you get a tight, third person view, which puts you close to the action. This is part of the magic as you can field of view is limited and you will need to constantly have your head on a swivel to locate your teammates as well as the opposition closing in.
Game modes include 3v3 where you can work on your ball skills, 4v4 where you can practice your positioning skills and the best way to place, which is the 5v5 mode. In 5v5, the field is filled with right amount of players that proper ball control and positioning is paramount. This mode also has a ranked variant, which amplifies the stakes. In ranked, people are no longer trying to do everything buy themselves as success is typically only found as a team in ranked.
What makes REMATCH good is that it finds that sweet spot between casual and hardcore. The sweet spot in between Mario Strikers and EA FC. The barrier to entry is low. There is no offside, no penalties, no out of bounds, no set positions. Controls are easy to learn, but hard to master and although they feel slightly awkward at first after playing other sports titles, you quickly realize that they are asking more of the player. You are in precise control of where your passes and shots are going. The only barrier is price as REMATCH is not free to play. Depending on your region, it’s 30-40 dollars.
One of my favorite things about REMATCH is how quick the matches are. The time on the clock says six minutes, and it only stops for goals. Surprisingly, six minutes is enough time for momentum to change a few times and every single time a match is over, there is always that desire to play just one more.
Although Sloclap is independent, they have outgrown the indie label as they are tipping the scales at around 100 people. I think this is a very smart idea that more developers should embrace this concept. Create small teams within the studio that are passionate about something that can help sustain the studio over the long term.
REMATCH is a live service game and it features seasonal content as well as two types of currencies, one of which is earned through play and one of which is purchased. It also features a Battle Pass or as it’s called in REMATCH “captains pass”. However, nothing is pay to win, everything I have seen is all cosmetic and best of all, it’s not in your face. The speed at which you earn free seems fair and with regular play, you should be able to unlock everything and then pay for the next Captain’s Pass with earned currency.
PROBLEMS
Almost everything that I initially criticized during my early hours with REMATCH has been addressed in a release day blog from Sloclap. Servers and matchmaking are leagues better in just the first few days. The success might have caught the studio off guard, but they responded quickly as connection has drastically improved. Matchmaking for ranked games earlier in the launch week could take upwards of ten minutes and just a few days later, its under 30 seconds consistently. Crossplay wasn’t able to be implemented on launch day, but it’s the studios top priority.
My biggest problem and the biggest omission is that there is no offline mode, which means there is no way to practice or get better without letting your team down. There is also no single player option where you could play a season, which is too bad because the prologue gave a taste of how good it would be. Obvious competitors Rocket league and EA FC both feature multiple offline variants.
There are loads of small issues that will get ironed out over time. There are too many reused animations, especially when it comes to the slide tackle. Outside of ranked people quit after a goal or too and there either needs to be a matchmaking penalty implemented or a bot filled in during the interim until the spot gets filled by another human. Replays can get very tedious when the scoring gets high on some matches. There is a vote to skip, but it’s rare for the majority to vote. REMATCH also needs to be able to hide your teammates names and just put smaller numbers on them or nothing at all. Currently, the screen can get too busy with all the name tags.
It also seems like the easiest way to score is to shoot the ball over the net, which usually takes the keeper out of position pretty good or at the very least disorients them as they can’t look up that quick. The ball comes back down and an easy one timer almost always results in a goal. It feels unfair to keepers, somewhat exploitive and doesn't feel rewarding scoring this way. Implementing a fix to combat this would improve the overall satisfaction of the match. Possibly reducing or severely increasing the amount of bounce the ball gets of the back wall could be a way to fix this issue.
VERDICT
It’s too early to understand the ramifications REMATCH might possibly have on the industry as we won’t be able to see them for 5-10 years. Sloclap shows you don’t need to follow trends, but you can set your own. That you don’t always need to play it safe with sequels or known IP, that studios can sustain themselves with unique ideas, and it shows that live service success can be found when done right.
REMATCH has obvious Rocket League inspiration, but in the football genre that has largely been dominated by EA for decades with minimal competition, REMATCH is a disrupting the norm and the early sales prove it.
REMATCH is unique, innovative and most importantly, fun. If Sloclap can sustain this momentum with regular updates and good communication, the future is bright.
