Rematch's first big patch dropped yesterday, with something of a focus on hit detection that means that being a goalkeeper is even more terrifying than normal.
The concept of being the last line of defense is hard enough in normal football, but Rematch offers strikers so many ways to bamboozle the keeper that I find it more stressful than real-life keeping. Now, Rematch Patch 1 has added an extra couple of hindrances that mean that I feel like I'm being swamped even if I make a save.
Rematch patch 1 includes both improved hit detection and a more efficient ability to hold up opposing players. The result is that it's a bit harder to get through defenders, and a bit more likely that a pass that goes too close gets bounced off them. That's particularly bad news for keepers, who were already having to dodge the occasional bit of goal-hanging harassment after a save - now, it's much worse.
Rushing up to a keeper with the ball in their hands is an effective tactic for a striker. If you could get a slight deflection, the opposing keeper's well-placed goal kick can go ricocheting off to another part of the pitch, disrupting an attack before it's even begun.
Before the patch, you might see a well-positioned player run towards the keeper to help get that deflection, but since Patch 1 not only improved hit detection on defending players but also made it easier for players to physically hinder one another, pretty much every goal kick has to be threaded past at least two opposing players who are harassing the goal keeper every chance they get.
Whether it's intended or not, I don't know, but what I do know is that I don't enjoy getting mobbed by strikers while I'm doing my stint in goal. And I also don't love it when I'm in loads of space and my keeper's otherwise-accurate pass goes cannoning off some aggressive attacker's bonce.
Sadly, I do think that there needed to be a little extra consistency with Rematch's collisions, so this feels like a good change in the grand scheme of things, but it does make being between the sticks a little more nerve-wracking than before.
FIFA and Rocket League aren't major Rematch competitors, according to director who says that fans of the football game "don't have an alternative" to play instead.
