Need for Speed Heat

Need for Speed Heat is a mosaic of existing ideas but it is easily the most impressive Need for Speed game in years.

Although the story makes no impression, Palm City feels lifeless and the police are sometimes frustratingly powerful, there is a lot of fun to be gained from this game, which offers more than many of the previous parts.

Lots of side-activities, barebones story and music that’s very unsuitable for driving – Heat is basically Payback without some of the latter’s shortcomings. [Issue#242, p.40]

A fully enjoyable game with many features that help keep the game from getting stale or boring.

Thrilling night races make Heat the best Need for Speed in years, even if I want to batter every one of its racers.

It's time for a revolution. Need for Speed: Heat is definitely the best game in the current-gen series, but that's nothing to brag about. This actually should have been the first NFS for the 8th generation of consoles - then, perhaps, we would still have remembered it as something special. But at this point, the game basically just goes through the motions. Not great, not terrible.

Quotation forthcoming.

Saying this is the best Need for Speed games in years may not mean much when some of its recent predecessors were just decent, but Need for Speed Heat is a return to its roots for better or worse, and is still fun to play even if there are better racers out there.

A playful driving model, plentiful tuning options, a career without microtransactions and an open city changing its whole identity with each dawn and each sunset. The sins of the past are gone, but the game is still way too similar to what you already know.

Need for Speed: Heat is far from the tire-fire I expected though given its unceremonious release. I’m having a good time with it, in a mindless sort of way. I’ve disabled the far-too-limited soundtrack and gritted my teeth through the story moments, but the race layouts are solid and I’m enjoying throwing my usual ‘69 Charger around turns and barreling down rain-soaked highways. Forza Horizon continues to be the better series, but this is the closest Need for Speed has been to parity since probably 2012.

In the run-up to the test I actually had some concerns about the quality of Need for Speed: Heat. Its direct predecessors from Ghost Games didn't really convince me and also the game play event about a month ago left me with mixed feelings. But the finished game has become surprisingly entertaining. Sure, once again the story is not worth mentioning, the controls reminds of old arcade games and in terms of driving physics and damage model the makers didn't take realism quite so seriously. But if you don't mind that, or if you are looking for exactly that, you'll really enjoy Heat. Otherwise, the title offers everything a car's heart desires: extensive tuning options, action-packed chases and thrilling races - and all this in top graphics.

If NFS Heat won't be able to convince with its overly easy gameplay, as well as an almost indestructible vehicle capable of shattering everything, others will be satisfied with the simple pleasure of repeated slide-downs and the sensation of speed, ignoring the simplistic side of the game. The graphics could have been better, but the rendering is quite pleasant, especially in motion. There is a whole range of vehicles and a neat soundtrack as well as extensive customization, all without loot boxes. The two sides of the game, day and night, have been successfully implemented and alternate nicely, especially since it's possible to play with the police in urban races once again.

A cherry on top of the cake that is 25 years of Need for Sped, or yet another 'what could have been'? Need for Speed Heat has the potential te be everything that anyone can ever ask from a Need for Speed-title, yet it makes several strange choices that do not benefit the game. Racing is fun as always, the story is poor and customizing cars makes up for a lot. But a title that celebrates 25 years of Need for Speed? No, not by a long shot.

While we enjoy the return of the car customization, Need For Speed: Heat lacks personality to keep the gamer hooked with it's soulless city, and the need to grind a lot for cash.

Need for Speed: Heat is a decent racing game but it has a serious balancing problems in the police chasing segments.

This Need for Speed has everything it needs to please the players, especially those looking for an heir to Most Wanted. But Heat lacks of driving sensations, of a proper physic management, and has plenty of balance problems, making the game more frustrating than fun.