Rematch, it’s time to get serious

Clearly, Sloclap has delivered a hit with Rematch. The arcade version of simulated third-person soccer has landed and satisfied so many fans from the tried, tested and tired formula of pure simulated top-down soccer seen in EA Sports FC and eFootball. This title, which combines Sifu developer’s silky smooth motion suite with intense cooperative soccer action, has shown that there is room for innovation in this space and that fans are thirsty for it. While I enjoy Rematch in its current form, there’s no denying that it hasn’t quite satisfied my hunger yet, and the reason is that as fun as 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5 action is, soccer is at its best when it’s 11 vs. 11. So Sloclap, here’s what I’d like to see happen to take Rematch to the next level.

11v11

For starters, an 11v11 mode would be great. I know what you’re thinking, that’s a lot of players to match and people can’t possibly make teams full of that many players, and yes, I agree, this is not for the masses or casuals, this is for those who want to experience soccer as it is played at a professional level.

How would this work with the fluidity of the game? Let me explain. For starters, since this is a more hardcore version of the action, it should be tied to a ranked leaderboard. When lining up for a game, we’ll take a page out of the Overwatch 2 book and have players choose to play in Forward, Midfielder, Defender or Goalkeeper, and from there, players should rank themselves as needed. Right away, it won’t be as much of a problem as a hero shooter because there are no defined characters in Rematch, but players just step in, rank themselves as needed for the respective roles and then get on with the action.

But people don’t stick to the positions and will end up doing mischief? That’s likely, but that’s also a multiplayer problem in the first place, since this game mode will be built on the hope that players will take pride in the position they want to master. And what about the imbalance of positions, you ask? Of course, that should extend as well, and I’ll explain why.

Ranked rankings

There should not be separate rankings for the different positions. Every player is on the same leaderboard, regardless of whether they are a midfielder or a goalkeeper. In real soccer this would never be plausible, because the physicality and creativity required to be a midfielder is far from being mirrored by the goalkeeper position, but in 11v11 Rematch an impregnable goalkeeper will be as much a game-winner as a skilled midfielder. So we place everyone in the same ranking, a ranking you can climb and fall from based on match results and only match results. Wins earn points, losses earn points and ties don’t change, with adjusted pints awarded depending on the goal difference of each match. That’s it. No time is wasted on individual performances, which means there are no prima donnas in this mode. Eventually, you might find out that the striker who scores two goals a game ranks as high as the left back who never lets a right winger get around him. Fascinating, isn’t it?

Adjusted playing time and tightened rules

For a mode like this to work, there should be more time on the game clock. Two 15-minute halves should be more than enough to get the job done, which may seem like a lot, but it’s actually nowhere near as long as a ranked match in a MOBA or a tactical shooter, for example.

Similarly, Rematch is so much fun because of its blatant disregard for the rules. This should change a bit, especially since offside should probably return to ensure that formations are better structured. But as for fouls and gnarly, cracking tackles, these can just go on and on, keeping the action more arcade-focused than hard-simulated. Similarly, enclosed arenas remain, meaning you don’t have to worry about the ball going out of play for throw-ins, corner kicks or goal kicks. The only “game replacements” on offer are goals/free kicks given for each offside violation, which means the pace should remain fast and high.

This may seem like a big change in the way Rematch fundamentally works, but it should be plausible for the simple reason that this game does not need to mess around with simulating different human players and teams working in unique ways. There is no need to make huge deals with established giant clubs and players to have their likenesses in the game, it can continue to work exclusively with player-created characters while maintaining the great foundation that is already in place. The only difference is that this larger and more “serious” mode would finally give soccer fans a way to enjoy virtual soccer in a way that EA FC and eFootball just can’t match. For me, this is a no-brainer to see become a reality.