While the gameplay and consistently improving modes are the obvious strong suits of NASCAR Heat 3, the game is still just a touch short of an elite racing title because it lacks personality and high-level presentation. That said, the groundwork and the second floor are in place for a complete racing experience, the developers and publisher just need to add a rough and some pops of color.
The NASCAR Heat series is three years in and is just now hitting its stride. This year’s addition to the career mode is a solid foundation that pays off in the present and sets it up for the future. I don’t think the game has necessarily locked down each of its main components – gameplay, online, and career mode – but it’s making its way through the pack.
Best NASCAR game yet! Major gameplay improvements and the esports tournaments are a bonus!! Pretty stoked to see where this title goes in the next few years.
By far, the best NASCAR console game ever. It has more depth than Dirt to Daytona. It has a better career mode than any other NASCAR game. AI is amazing. Multiplayer is excellent.
My only complaint is that I wish it could have the UI polish of games like F1. But I get it... they are putting all of the efforts into the gameplay. And it shows! The progress from Heat 1 to Heat 2 to Heat 3 is fantastic!!!
Though Nascar Heat 3 is a solid racing sim overall, it could have raised to greater heights with more exciting content for those outside the niche market, and a few tweaks to the frame rate stability and cheesy voice acting. Despite the lack of replayability and expansive customization options as seen in other games in the genre and in sports games overall, there’s still a whole lot of fun to be had here, especially for those who love racing, Nascar, or both.
NASCAR Heat 3 is a fun and entertaining stock car racing game that needs to take more steps towards offering a simulation for racing fans. Opening up an eSports division should encourage the cream of the crop to represent the real life sport in a virtual world. Champions of other racing games have literally gone on to win great things. The Career Mode is deep and engaging and the Xtreme Dirt Series is an excellent addition to the series. The visual and audio issues are something that need an update, but there’s enough new content that the fans of this series will really enjoy.
While NASCAR Heat 3 is still a fun racer and a great representation of the sport and its support classes, it just doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from the previous two games.
While it has some good ideas that are well-intentioned and will surely provide some entertainment to die-hards, NASCAR Heat 3 is missing all those things and, in the wider scheme of racing games, is still several laps behind.
Ultimately, there is a difference between being easy and not very good. NASCAR Heat 3 is severely let down by the anodyne on-track action. Lacking any sort of driver enjoyment undoes the hard work put into the officially licenced lineup and career path options. Even for a racing game fan, this game is as dull as dishwater and extraordinarily derivative.
The FFB is finally "real". I hope that it will be better, but it's better than nothing... Thx for that, but why I don't see any settings about that? The physics sould be better, maybe next year. The AI is good and fun. The graphics is average.
Nascar Heat 3 is a good game. Not better than F1 2018, but enjoyable. Maybe this is just the beginnings.
The game is running well. It's fast and responsive.
But some things what I see I don't understand. Some example: the driving line is on in practice. Why? I don't need it! And in practice again: I don't see the others list of times just in the qualification.
I wait long time ago for the AI of iRacing, but I think it's is a good options for the another enjoyable game. I hope in the next few years it will improwement so many way, and I promise that I will buy all of them.
Just please not forget the phisycs and FFB!
This game gets a higher rating because of the nolstagia it gives me of playing the dirt to daytona game all those years ago. Unfortunately, a lof of the visuals (not graphics so to speak - camera angles & presentation), game sounds, and spotter calls all sound more or less the same almost 15 years later. There is a lot of content with 4 series and a great number of tracks to choose from, even in the dirt series. The AI is tough if you crank it up so it can provide a challenge keeping pace, which is fun. I don't like the presets though as the "loose" options seems to make your car lose grip seemingly at random.
Overall, still mostly the same game as the previous iterations but it's loads of fun with lots of content to keep you entertained for a while. If you have the previous versions of this game, I don't think I could recommend the upgrade.
SummaryJump into the enhanced Career Mode, build your own race team and compete in the Xtreme Dirt Tour. Prove that you are the best in the world in the new Online Tournaments feature. Plus, all your favorite modes are back.