Rematch Preview. Since the dawn of the home console, football games have been a mainstay for players to enjoy. From Sensible Soccer, International Superstar Soccer and Libero Grande, to the juggernaut that is FIFA (now known as EA Sports FC) there has been an array of different offerings bringing a range of gameplay experiences to football fans.
Enter Rematch, a brand new twist on the beloved sport that aims to “embody the beautiful game.” In a complete departure from their excellent martial arts beat-’em-up Sifu, Paris-based indie studio SloClap are striving to deliver “a game that raises the bar for competitive multiplayer sports.”
Players choose from 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5 online PVP match options. My own personal favourite was the 3v3 mode as it gave the most satisfying experience. Teamwork Makes The Dream Work… and nothing could be more essential than working together with your online team mates.
Thanks to an indoor football style of gameplay there are no throw ins or kick outs. There are no yellow/red cards, fouls, free kicks or substitutions. It is pure focused non-stop action where the only rule is to outscore your opponents by putting the ball in the back of the net…. oh, and look good doing so!
The user interface also feeds off this mantra with it being clean, minimalist and easy to navigate. Likewise matchmaking was always a breeze throughout my time with the game.
Seasoned players of modern football games may find the controls a big change from what they are used to but the control scheme is actually quite simple once you get the hang of it.
The camera here too is very different to most football games you may have tried before with this being played in a third-person perspective. So, rather than the TV style presentation of the likes of the EA FC games, you are deep in the action from the perspective of your on-field character.
Thankfully, a nicely designed tutorial with some mini challenge games allows you to hone your skills outside of the competitive online arenas. See someone pull off some nice moves during a match, then head over to the tutorial section to train to tighten up your skills and precision.
Your character has a stamina bar which starts to diminish as you sprint. A double tap of the L1 button gives you an extra speed boost. Precision timing of its use will give you serious advantage in a race to gain possession of the ball. Also using the X button to knock the ball ahead of you allows you to run faster but makes you more vulnerable to interceptions.
Players rotate positions on the pitch after each goal scored but just like the street games from my youth this game is played with “Fly Keepers” and “Last Man Back.” If you are not familiar with these terms it means that the player who is deepest into defence assumes the role of goalkeeper but is also free to join the attack/defence duties as an outfield player. This fluid non-fixed positioning opens up the tactical gameplay where you and your teammates play risk/reward as you try to overload the opposing team.
It would be a welcome addition to see the added optional rules like – a certain amount of passes needed before being able to score. This would mix things up and keep the glory hunters at bay.
The game features a decent customisation system where you can spend your earned XP on new cosmetics. You can tweak your look to your hearts content opening up more and more possibilities as you progress. It’s a fairly straight forward tool to use with an easy to navigate interface and easily accessible elements to modify.
Having a couple of presets available for you to create you always have your favourite designs to hand.
While the base edition of the game will get you online and into the action the other editions of the game come with some extra goodies that may tickle your fancy.
The Pro Edition
- 72 hour early access
- A Captain Pass Upgrade Ticket gets you into the upper tier to unlock all rewards of the Battle Pass
- Blazon player background and title
- Blazon jewel set and Blazon Buckler tank top
The Elite Edition
The contents of the Pro Edition PLUS:
- Additional Captain Pass Upgrade Ticket
- Glitcher trainers
- Blazon Augmented Reality Cage
- Digital blazon cap
Rematch is a really fun game and the heart of the experience will be finding a crew of favourite team mats to kick into action with. It will be interesting to see if this can grow legs and find an audience as it has bags of potential. Hopefully its release during the upcoming Club World Cup will be favourable to it.
Rematch is slated for release on June 19, 2025 for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.