Rematch, the latest game from developer Sloclap, best known for making Sifu, is a multiplayer soccer game which can comedically be described as Rocket League with people instead of cars. While that pitch might sound silly and bland, Sloclap has developed an incredibly deep and intricate multiplayer experience. An experience, despite my own lack of skill, that has me excited about a sports game without the word “Mario” in the title for the first time in a long time. As someone who loves watching sports, but has never loved the experience of playing in the big sports simulation games like Madden and MLB The Show, Rematch feels like a unique experience out of the bunch, mixing arcade sports with deep simulation, and one I would love to see extended to other sports in the future.
Rematch
Rematch blends simulation and arcade sports
The depth here is ridiculous
What makes Rematch feel fresh is the way it combines a more arcade-style soccer game with some pretty deep mechanics. You have tons of tools at your disposal, where you can pass and shoot the ball, tackle opponents, juke people out, and make some impressive stops in front of the goal. All of that is fairly standard, but the control you have is where the depth comes in. You can shoot or kick in pretty much any direction, and if you want to pass to your teammate, it’s not as simple as hitting the pass button. Instead, kicking the ball has a dedicated button, separate from a scoring kick, and you have to aim in the right direction, and use the right amount of power, to pass the ball correctly to your teammates. It’s a lot to wrap your head around, and it takes some practice to start stringing stuff together, but it’s rewarding. The other big difference is that you aren’t swapping between characters like you would in a FIFA game; instead, you control your character, and your teammates control theirs.
Applying the formula to other sports games
Some feel simpler to translate than others, but I want this depth
This formula, short matches and limited amount of stopping, follows in the footsteps of Rocket League, but I want to see the formula applied to other sports. Naturally, hockey and basketball feel more suited to the fast-paced action, since those are both sports where every player is participating while the sport is happening. You can play NBA2K with other players, but you’re still swapping between characters and relying on real player stats. An arcade version, focused on the fundamentals where shooting is tricky but deeply satisfying to do, would be incredible. Two sports that are prominent in the sim genre, baseball and football, would require far more work to create a multiplayer experience, since both sports have downtime and don’t always require a player to be doing something. Playing left field could be a bit boring, but having nine players all have to take their own at bats would be an incredible experience, although it feels improbable. That said, hockey, basketball, and other team sports, like volleyball, could work amazingly.
Meaningful multiplayer experiences
I want to feel like a player in a team
The experience I had with Rematch really hit hard with me, despite being awful at it, because it appeals to what I like about multiplayer games. I have put far too many hours into Overwatch and Marvel Rivals because I like the feeling of being a member of a team. Perhaps a childhood of team sports made me this way, but the reason sports sims don’t always click with me is because it’s not about being on a team, you are the team. Rematch is different. You can play 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5, and every player on the team is controlled by a single person. There is no passing it to yourself and swapping players; instead, you have to work together. That required teamwork makes Rematch actually feel like soccer, and all the complex controls add to that feeling.
If other sports games can find a way to make multiplayer feel more like the actual sport, it will be huge for sports games.
Rematch is difficult to learn and master
It might be hard to sustain multiple hardcore sports games
Source: Sloclap
As I have mentioned a few times, Rematch is a difficult game. Any multiplayer-focused game can be, since you never know how skilled the other players are. But, part of it is the complexity. Having to learn not only a ton of buttons and combinations, but along with how each move works. I have messed up so many passes and goalie saves while learning Rematch, and while I haven’t been so demoralized I quit, I totally understand if someone else has quit because of it. Sports sim games have a high degree of flexibility when it comes to difficulty, at least while playing single-player. You can choose easier modes. Some games, like MLB The Show, let you adjust the difficulty of individual aspects of the games, which can help with learning the mechanics. There is a practice mode in Rematch, but the only way to really get better is to tough it out in multiplayer. This difficulty could keep players away from Rematch, which could extend to other sports games in this style.
But that hasn’t stopped a game from being popular in the past
Rematch hit one million players quickly
Source: Sloclap
Rematch doesn’t seem to be suffering due to its difficulty right out the gate, as it has already hit one million players. There are other multiplayer genres that are incredibly dense and require tons of practice to become competent, let alone good. Fighting games fall into this category, and so do MOBAs like League of Legends. Rematch is more like fighting games since its more about technique than it is about game knowledge, but gamers love dedicating themselves to a game to get good. I think Rematch is rewarding enough to make players feel that dedication is worth the effort, and if Rematch succeeds, hopefully that means other sports games in this style will follow in its footsteps.
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