Rematch Review
Rematch
Publisher: Slocap, Kepler Interactive
Developer: Slocap
Genre:
PEGI: 3
Comments:
It’s rare a game comes along that feels exciting and original, building on other achievements in its genre but also managing to be something new. Rematch is one of those games.
The controls are simple, the physics are deadly but rewarding and the team game – when it’s played right – is some of the best I’ve seen. Some people are calling Rematch a mix of Rocket League and EA FC, and they’re right. Tactical, arcadey and hard, all in the best ways.
If this was somehow a single player game, that would be the end of the review. I’d spend a few hundred words cheering for a new, deserving forever game. A rare treat in 2025.
But this isn’t somehow a single player game. It’s a multiplayer game, and the community right now is pretty terrible. This will even itself out over time, so if you’re reading this six months on, check again. The Game Pass and meme crowds will find the next big thing. Right now? It doesn’t make the game worse, but it sure makes it harder to enjoy.
Physics Made Easy
Rematch is a physics game almost before it’s a football game. Played over the shoulder, in control of one character at all times, your player moves imperfectly. You will lose control of the ball. It’ll race right past you, not clicking into place at your feet like some of the softer sports games. This isn’t frustrating. The challenge is the same for everyone, and I’ve seen excellent players make a slightly wrong move and screw up a run.
There are two teams of three, four or five. The goal is to score the most goals. Games are short and sharp – sometimes embarrassingly so. A mercy rule will end the game if a team is completely overwhelmed.
Most of the team are running up and down the pitch, trying to score or tackling if the other team has the ball. There’s also a keeper, swapped out per goal. You can jump around, handle the ball, pass it out to the players. It’s very rewarding.
This all works very well. There’s method to the madness. And it often feels like madness.
Main Character Syndrome
So where does Rematch fall down? It’s not in the gameplay. It’s not in its store, which I noticed exactly once in all the time I played. I went in there to get an achievement. Closed it, forgot it existed.
No, the problem is in the players. I’ve had some wonderful games, with players that really get the intention of what Rematch is trying to be. And then there’s the others. The show boaters. The “experts” who will pass two times in the whole game, usually by accident. Idiots who will spend the entire game bouncing the ball down the pitch, inevitably being tackled and screwing the match for everybody else. I’ve seen players score against their team to avoid going in goal.
The game encourages some of this behaviour. There needs to be some rebalancing of the points system, certainly punishing players who score own goals or who leave the box for no reason. I don’t know how you fix the showing off. It’s probably built in.
Ultimately this HAS to be a team game. Tackling is hard and imprecise, and too easy to dodge. When your squad is made up of three people playing different matches, it kills the feel. It’s not every time, it’s probably not even most of the time, but it’s enough of the time.
Graphics, Glitches, Sound, Rematch
Graphics are simple in Rematch, although there are hints at what the future might hold. Arenas will sometimes transform, replacing the cheering crowds with underwater scenes or the like. There are endless costumes and haircuts. There’s potential for bells and whistles of the kind Rocket League players have already gotten used to.
Sounds fit the match. Sometimes they lack a little punch, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing when you’re playing six minutes at a time and hear these sounds a lot. There are quick, easy messages you can send to other players. Each has a couple of audible variations – thank you, thanks – and you’ll hear these a lot. More in sarcasm than in support.
Right now the game is in pretty good shape, but there have been some glitches. The worst I’ve only had a couple of times, but it’s very frustrating. You’ll start the game, unable to move your character or the camera. The game will play out around you – terrible news if you’re in goal. The only way out is to quit out entirely and start again.
There are a few others. Sometimes the physics on the ball can be a bit wonky. I once scored a goal by intercepting a kick from a goalie. He grabbed it, it flew out his hands and into the goal. I didn’t complain then, but I’ll complain here.
Rematch – Conclusion
Rematch is a tremendous game. It’s fun, it’s addictive, it’s different. It’s not another extraction shooter. Those all sound like wins to me.
The only downside is other players. Griefers will ruin games for you. Some will say that’s the cost of playing these kinds of game. If you’re tolerance is higher than mine, maybe you won’t mind. I did.
Ultimately though, that the base game is still so enjoyable says a lot for the developers. I can’t wait to revisit in 12 months, to see how it just keeps getting bigger and better.
Trailer
Article By Mat Growcott
Mat Growcott has been a long-time member of the gaming press. He's written two books and a web series, and doesn't have nearly enough time to play the games he writes about.
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