“Football is a relatively simple game. This is one of the reasons why it is such a beautiful sport. But inside, there is a lot of depth to find.”
With these words, pronounced by Pierre Tarno, CEO of Sloclap and creative director of Reatch, it is easy to see the ethics behind the spectacular new football game of the studio, even before starting the final beta version.
At first glance, the revenge match seems to be an arcade style kickabout, sprinting in front of the typically super realistic examples of the genre. It is fast, do not force you to learn particularly complex controls, and couples up to 3V3, 4V4 and 5V5 matches. Even the rules are more similar to the “horsemen for the pleasure of goal posts, without fixed positions, faults, offside or breaks, except for reruns after goal.
And yet, nestled in the brilliant of the Rematch action is a depth that football fans will appreciate not only, but continue to return.
The base of revenge
“I liked the idea of running a third -person body kick,” explains Pierre, questioned about the origins of Ratch. “I think that the actions of the body are among the most beautiful and most interesting actions in football, because it is at this moment that the ball circulates the fastest. After this notion, we dug more deeply to establish the experience that we wanted for the game: to feel like an incredible player, we feel of a team and feel the pressure.”
These three things were definitely present during my stay with the beta version. Finding itself in the tutorial and practical mode, the controls seemed quite easy, with the sprint, block and slide buttons expected, but beyond, I encountered interesting differences with other football titles. There is no dedicated cross button, so the unusual R2 shooting configuration is also used to whisk the ball in the box. Similarly, the squares of the square button are not automatically guided, which means that you must aim carefully using the left analog stick.
With a combination of pressure on Button, it is easy to make skilful movements like a rainbow kick, but many of your most dazzling photos specifically depend on the inertia, position and placement of your player's ball, which leads to incredible and even more impressive goals. With an important nuance to take into account – your shots are intended via a reticle on the screen, which is determined by the control of the right analog stick camera. So pressing R2 will not do the work. Similar to the passage, you must be more demanding with your goal, otherwise you will slam the balloon of the invisible walls that surround the land instead of scoring.
Far from the simple soccer
All these subtleties and freedoms are what gives its depth. Without players' statistics, it is entirely on you to bring the goods, and this pressure to perform within a team is very, very real. The use of the camera to target the photos while using after the key to the balloon curvature (revenge calls it a mage shooting, suggesting that sloclaps are fans of the blue manga blue lock) is a skill requiring a practice, especially in the manic environment of a match.
I found the 4V4 and 5V5 games easier to grasp with the intensity of the Revenge match, due to the speed with which errors can be punished in a 3V3. Given the naturally fun chaos of players who do not have to stay in one position, the constantly evolving environment was easier to learn with more players, although it required greater awareness of my positioning and my tactics. The radar on the screen was essential to understand the flow of the match and to make sure that I worked with my teammates, because everyone by continuing the ball led only easy goals for the opposition.
Without solo mode, Sloclap intends to add boots later in development to allow you to learn the strings in something a little closer to correspondence without human pressure. But for now, it's about playing live and gaining experience, both in the game and figuratively.
Team advice
This learning curve is an integral part of Ratch's design. “The incitement of the team was the biggest objective and the biggest challenge,” explains Pierre. “So you are more vulnerable when you are in possession, and the defenders can quickly focus on you, which creates pressure to pass. Quickly getting through teammates is the best way to put pressure on your opponents.
“Check your radar to find out where the other players are also important. You see that with the best players in real football, like Messi – they look at them all the time before receiving the ball, developing their vision and positioning. It is vital, however.”
It is the emphasis on dynamics and tactics that makes revenge so rewarding. Of course, it is not as easy that some of the highly qualified players make it appear, but at its athletic heart, the sloclaps have not forgotten that everything we want to do is mark incredible goals that make us run around our living room with our t-shirts drawn on our faces.
In an appropriate way, Benjamin Pavard's classic objective for France against Argentina during the 2018 FIFA World Cup was a big touchstone for the Revenge match. “It was one of the most incredible body kicks of all time,” said Pierre. Look at it, it is difficult not to agree – and these are the types of goals that you score when the revenge laces its boots for its big match of June 19 on PlayStation 5.
