![\"Rematch](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_257052008-1456.jpg\")
\n\t\tRematch \u2013 EA thought it was all over but perhaps it\u2019s not now (Slocap)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tRematch \u2013 EA thought it was all over but perhaps it\u2019s not now (Slocap)<\/p>\n
There\u2019s finally an alternative to EA Sports FC<\/a>, with Sloclap\u2019s 5v5 street football game offering less serious and more arcade style action.<\/p>\n Away from the ever-growing realism (and correspondingly rapacious commercialism) of EA<\/a> Sports FC, there\u2019s clearly a desire among gamers for a more arcade style football gaming experience. That\u2019s lead to the venerable Sensible Soccer being reinvented as Sociable Soccer<\/a> and now Sloclap \u2013 previously known for the beat \u2018em-up Sifu<\/a> \u2013 has taken to the pitch with a clever and imaginative offering entitled Rematch.<\/p>\n Rematch is basically what you would get if you stripped out the single-player options from EA Sports FC\u2019s Be A Pro mode and turned it into a standalone, online-only game. Or, if you prefer, it\u2019s Rocket League<\/a>, except with footballers instead of cars. It lets you control just one player on a football pitch surrounded by glass walls, which the ball bounces off, in six minute matches which can be contested by two teams of three, four, or five players.<\/p>\n It\u2019s online-only, with no local multiplayer and no way to play on your own except in practice and free play. Similarly to Sifu, it has a pretty distinctive and quite complex control system; shot direction, for example, is determined by the right stick (with the left stick controlling aftertouch), yet you set the direction of passes and lobs with the left stick.<\/p>\n In Rematch, there are quite a few skills to master, among them dribbling tricks, nailing the timing of button stabs to intercept balls passing nearby (the ball acquires a diamond-shaped highlight to indicate when that\u2019s possible), timing and directing your dives if you\u2019re in goal, and even lobbing passes over incoming players \u2013 which requires a modifier rather than a single button press.<\/p>\n Perhaps the easiest skill to perform in the game is a lunging tackle, which indicates the complexity of the rest of the control system; although once you dive in for one of those, it takes your player a while to get back to their feet. At least you don\u2019t have to worry about being sent off for taking out the opposition, though: there are no referees or fouls in Rematch and a street or cage football vibe very much prevails.<\/p>\n That\u2019s telegraphed by the cartoon style visuals, which by default are pastel-ish but are often more luridly coloured and reminiscent of Fortnite or Overwatch. Which is something of a giveaway, since Rematch is obviously an attempt to make the next big online team game, as opposed to anything resembling a traditional arcade style football game. The whole football aspect can be viewed as something of a Trojan horse, similar to how Rocket League never really acknowledges it\u2019s actually just football with cars.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tExpert, exclusive gaming analysis\t\t\t<\/p>\n Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter<\/strong><\/a> for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n When you play it, Rematch very much feels like a wheel-less version of Rocket League. In that context, Rematch\u2019s unusual control system works brilliantly. It\u2019s easy enough to learn but definitely hard to master and when you do get to grips with it, and make it into the big leagues, you\u2019ll find entire matches hinging on perfectly executed moves, made at precisely the right moment, which is classic esports fodder.<\/p>\n In terms of achieving that mastery, Rematch \u2013 despite being about as minimal as it\u2019s possible to be in terms of game modes and general structure \u2013 gives you all that you need. There\u2019s a basic tutorial, called the Prologue, plus other tutorials that focus more closely on honing specific skills and putting them all together.<\/p>\n Then it lets you jump into quick matches; it\u2019s wise to start with the 3v3 ones, which are frenetic, unstructured and can be navigated with a mastery of the basics. Whoever is nearest to your goal, for example, becomes the keeper, but in 3v3, a lot of goals tend to be scored from way out, with whoever was in goal having gone for a jaunt upfield. Jumping up to 4v4 requires a bit more teamwork and discipline.<\/p>\n \t\t In all modes, every time a goal is scored Rematch puts you in another position on the pitch from the kick-off, which you can adhere to or ignore. Although if you abandon goalkeeping duties and concede cheaply, you might receive some opprobrium as by default, Rematch keeps its players\u2019 microphones live. Thankfully, you can respond to in-game events by picking from a small number of text phrases \u2013 mostly encouraging, although \u2018Sorry\u2019 is also included.<\/p>\n The 5v5 mode feels like it will become the default for gamers who are serious about playing Rematch. It\u2019s the most structured and rewards discipline and positional sense more than the 3v3 and 4v4 modes. Matchmaking, at least in the early stages of the game, feels pretty impressive; we did occasionally encounter the odd player with better skills than us, but not to an annoying degree.<\/p>\n Sensibly, Rematch forces you to work through quick matches in order to reach level 5 status, before letting you loose in its pre-season. That stratification should help enormously with matchmaking. Beyond the global league, you can set up one-off custom matches with a bunch of friends (generating a code allowing other invitees to join) and that\u2019s about it. Structurally, it\u2019s early days for Rematch, which will undoubtedly add features as it becomes more established, and a call for feedback from players when you boot it up emphasises that.<\/p>\n As with its rival online games, Rematch contains a vast array of cosmetic items and skins which can be purchased using real money (somewhat expensively, in our opinion, especially given that it\u2019s not a free game), although as you progress you do slowly earn currency with which to buy them. That will probably annoy some, but it\u2019s an inevitability in a modern game of this nature.<\/p>\n Patches already appear to have fixed some stability problems, that were reported in the game\u2019s early stages, at least for the PC version. It seems the PC is the lead platform at this stage, with no console cross-play at the moment \u2013 although hopefully it\u2019ll be added later.<\/p>\n Rematch is a fun, thoroughly playable and cleverly constructed online team game, that has a great chance of becoming an esports staple. However, it currently feels very much half-finished, so it will be fascinating to see how quickly Sloclap can convert its potential into something that becomes a pillar of the gaming world. Just don\u2019t be fooled into believing that it\u2019s the future of arcade football games: it\u2019s a Rocket League competitor dressed in a football kit.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tRematch review summary\t\t\t<\/p>\n In Short: <\/strong>A clever and hugely enjoyable online team game, even at this early stage in its career -although it feels more like a rival to Rocket League than EA Sports FC.<\/p>\n Pros:<\/strong> Arcane but inspired control system, that\u2019s easy to learn but hard to master. Great street football vibe and working your way up from 3v3 to 5v5 is a satisfying journey.<\/p>\n Cons:<\/strong> Currently missing a lot of options and features. Initially more stable on PC than consoles. Paying for cosmetic items is as gross as ever and the potential for in-game verbal abuse is high.<\/p>\n Score:<\/strong> 7\/10<\/p>\n Formats: PC (reviewed), Xbox Series X\/S, and PlayStation 5 \t\t Email\u00a0gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a>, leave a comment below,\u00a0follow us on Twitter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n To submit Inbox letters and Reader\u2019s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our\u00a0Submit Stuff page here<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this,\u00a0check our Gaming page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"Rematch](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_257052013-7e05.jpg\")
\n\t\tRematch is not trying to be realistic (Sloclap)<\/p>\n
Price: \u00a320.99
Publisher: Sloclap
Developer: Sloclap
Release Date: 19th June 2025
Age Rating: 3<\/p>\n![\"Rematch](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/SEI_257051970-950c.jpg\")
\n\t\tDefinitely not EA Sports FC (Sloclap)<\/p>\n
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