When I first saw that Sifu developer Sloclap would be shifting gears to make a football game with Rematch, I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little disappointed. I like football and sports games well enough. I don't necessarily play EA Sports FC every year, but I've always liked hitting the pitch with my friends and getting between the posts to make some killer saves, since my preferred position is playing goalie.
I loved Sifu when it released in 2022. It was one of my favorite games that year because of how mechanically tight the gameplay was and how strong the cinematic and visual presentation was. For me, it succeeded at placing me in the middle of a martial arts movie, the perspective shifts that would happen in the levels, the excellent environmental settings for each boss fight, and just how good every punch, kick, and block felt to execute.
I'm ready for Sifu round 2 whenever Sloclap is ready to make it. All this to say, Rematch was not what I expected to see from Sloclap, nor was it exactly what I wanted, which is why I was so delighted when I first played Rematch. I was immediately struck by how tight the gameplay is and how good it feels to do just about everything in Rematch, in the same way it feels good to do everything in Sifu.
That said, there's a lot about Rematch that I don't like, and so much of that comes from its structure.
But first, the things I do like. On a foundational level, it feels good to shoot, pass, and slide into a tackle. Doing anything, basically, on the pitch feels strong. Dribbling was the only element that took some time for me to get used to.
It also takes some time to get used to controlling the camera while watching for the ball to keep up with the play. You can have a mini-map in the corner of your screen if you like, but keeping track of the action in front of you while covering the map has its learning curve. Funny enough, I do wish there was some version of the camera solution that Rocket League has for the same issue.
That said, getting there is a really satisfying learning curve to getting a handle on the controls. Once you start to feel like you can keep an eye on the flow of the game, while maintaining position, and be ready to know what to do when the ball is coming your way, the game opens up in a huge way.
So much so that I feel confident saying that Rematch is one of the best sports games I've played in years. I can't say for certain that it's because of the focused camera angle, the airtight mechanics, whether you're out on the field or in the keeper's box, or the arcade, backyard-pitch-focused approach to football. It's a bit of everything that makes it a special experience I want to return to, whether I'm playing a 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5 match. Each is balanced by just how good the gameplay is at its core, and it all keeps me coming back.
And that's despite all the things that bring the experience down. The menu, for starters, is about as good as every other major sports game released each year, which is that its somehow, pretty bad. Even with so few game modes to choose from, Rematch aims to emulate its annual sports sim-game peers with blocky, uninspired menu designs, though that also partly comes from the overall bland look the game has.
Having the 'Prologue' remain as an option in the main menu of the game, for example, is a grievous offence in my book. Even if I had only mispressed the prologue one time, I'd hate the fact that it was there. I can understand someone wanting to replay the prologue if there were practice drills included in it that weren't already available in the game's dedicated 'Practice' mode. But that's absolutely not the case.
Perhaps I'm harping on a small detail that doesn't matter, and it is a small detail, but it's ludicrous to me that it remains in the main menu where it serves no purpose other than to frustrate you after you accidentally click it and have to wait for the chance to pause and head back to the main menu to access either the Practice menu, or the Systems menu, both of which are options players would actually use.
Again, it's a small point, but it speaks to the larger structural issues that Rematch has. The Practice mode, for example, has a small number of drills demonstrating each area of the game, but there's no "Retry" option when you complete a drill. You're just sent back to the main menu, and have to navigate your way back to the drill if you want to do it again. It's all the more mind-boggling due to the fact that you can aim for bronze, silver, and gold medals on each drill.
There's also no option to play the same team you just played in an online match. It's almost astounding, really, that there's no option to have a rematch in a game called Rematch. Besides the fact that I think these are poor UI/UX design decisions, what annoys me most about them is the fact that with a press of a button, you can be on the pitch in a free-roaming practice mode. It's a wonderful inclusion that I wish every sports game had, and it makes me all the more confused as to why the rest of the menu design is lacking.
Then there's the whole live service lean to Rematch, which is already a premium title and not a free-to-play game. I can appreciate working towards an unlockable cosmetic as much as the next person, and I'm well aware that having microtransactions in premium games is absolutely nothing new, but I certainly don't have to like it. Especially when the cosmetics you're working towards, that are also purchasable through the game's premium coins that you can buy with real money (or earn in gameplay) don't look all that enticing.
Your mileage may vary on the various hairstyles, shoes, and clothing you can unlock to customize your character with, or the stadium designs you can unlock for practice and matches, but as I mentioned earlier, the overall design of the game is quite bland to me.
It's serviceable. Gets the job done, and that's basically my main issue with it. The character models are the only element that makes it stand out as a Sloclap game, since they resemble the same models the studio has been evolving since Absolver. Three games in, I get that a serviceable design in favor of tighter gameplay and gameplay mechanics is basically Sloclap's trademark. But it's not a positive mark on the studio that, outside of trying to emulate a visual framework like how Sifu was a tailored-down version of martial arts films and their gamut of visual languages, that Sloclap can't seem to define its own visual language that stands out in a crowd.
I'm even more pained by its design and live service bent when I consider that the time spent making cosmetics for players to chase in a battle-pass structure that every studio seems to think is necessary for games these days is time that was taken away from developing a single-player-focused season mode or campaign to play through.
I do genuinely love the core gameplay of Rematch, and I've enjoyed each match I've played, win or lose, but I'm also the kind of sports game-player who appreciates the offline-focused modes that let me have a no-stakes game where I don't run the risk of being berated by toxic players abusing the message function to tell me "Good job" after I make a mistake.
The lack of any offline season or tournament mode not only makes it feel like there's really not much to do in Rematch, but it also brings up concerns about what happens to Rematch if/when Sloclap ends its support for the game. As of now, if Sloclap were to stop running the servers tomorrow, there'd be no way to experience a proper match, and like so many other online-only games, it would be up to the community to keep things going. Which is a lot of legwork that not everyone who plays and loves Rematch will be willing to do.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention that the rug-pull of no cross-play support hours before launch doesn't leave a good taste in the mouth, nor does all the bugs and networking issues I've faced along with the rest of the community since the game has been live. These issues will get resolved in time, so they're not the biggest concern, but they are annoying for players jumping in at launch. When I wasn't having networking issues, though, the performance was more than solid on both my laptop and desktop.
Ultimately, Rematch is an incredibly solid arcade football game that is able to capture that feeling of getting a bunch of friends together and kicking a ball around at the local park, elevated by the fact that my avatar in Rematch is far, far better than I could ever be in football, and capable of incredibly acrobatic stunts for some spectacular highlight reels.
I love how solid it feels, whether I'm between the pipes or out on the pitch, and how intense the matches can get whether I'm playing the ranked 5v5 mode or the more casual 3v3. But the lack of content, poor design choices, and a lacking art style combined with a slow-progressing battle pass-like structure and less-than-inspired unlockable cosmetics cut the whole package of Rematch at its knees.
PC version tested. Review code provided by the publisher.
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