I remember my days with NFS: Hot Pursuit and NFS: Underground… it was amazing! With NFS Heat in our hands, I can easily say I’ll have fun playing it but it won’t drag me in like its predecessors. Need For Speed has always been a popular arcade racing franchise and even though Electronic Arts tries to keep this franchise alive with releasing different versions of the NFS world, it’s clear to see that they haven’t found the right formula right that eventually will have to make NFS stand out from the competition. Let’s put this review in first gear!
Need For Speed is about taking action and let your name speak for itself. However, this is easily said than done. As a newbie in the racing world, you still have a lot to learn and to earn. NFS Heat tries to make it very clear, you’ll have to put in the work before you’re blasting off to that number one position. NFS Heat has 2 kinds of racing: day races and night races. Racing during the day will give you the opportunity to earn some money that’ll help with the vitalization of your car. You start off slow but the moment you start spending money on upgrades for your car, nobody can stop you. During the night, you’ll also go to different races but these kinds of races only let you earn”reputation” that’ll form your name on the streets. In other words, you’re leaving your mark on the underground street racing world. The game lets you manage these races alone, so whatever mood you’re in, you’ll be able to jump between these types of races and work towards your goal: money or reputation.
“Getting through different levels of popularity will open up doors to top-notch equipment or even badass cars.”
The money will give the player different options to upgrade the specs on their car. Not only will you be able to boost your car’s performance, but you’ll also be able to design your car’s body the way you see fit. If the car still doesn’t match your preferences, there’s always the option to buy a totally new car and start from scratch. Earning “reputation” will boost your popularity among the racers. Getting through different levels of popularity will open up doors to top-notch equipment or even badass cars.
The day and night aspect of the game also influences the races you’re in. For example, the races during the night are more difficult than during the day. Day races are races that have been organized with the city. There’s no traffic or passengers walking by and there are also no cops. In other words, everything that happens in the arena is legal, so there won’t be any cops involved. However, the moment the moon switch places with the sun, it’s a whole different race game. Every race during the night is illegal and you can be sure that the cops are watching your every move. During a night race, patrolling cops can spot you and start a pursuit. Once spotted, it’s up to you to get to the finish and get away as fast as possible. When you’ve succeeded in getting away, your HEAT level will rise and this counts as a multiplier that activates when you’re ending the night. Ending a night by finding a safe house will recap on what you’ve done: how many “reputation” you’ve gained and how many pursuits you’ve ended. This all counts towards the build-up of your reputation. The more you’re involved in police chases, the faster your reputation will grow.
All is good, as long as you escape and end the night well. There’s also the other side of the coin… When you’re caught, you’ll lose a big portion of your earned cash and the HEAT level will be discarded. The better you are at escaping the better the score. However, don’t be fooled! In the beginning, it seems like your luck just can’t run out but you know better than this… Cops will be more aggressive in the end. They’ll use everything in their arsenal to bring you down: helicopters, spike strips, jammers, blocking trucks, …
“The online feature is really focused on the “racing” thing.”
How much time you spend during day or night, depends on your focus. You can play safe by doing one race and go to the closest safe house or you can compete in different races, build up your heat level and hope you’re not getting caught. I prefer the second part as it stimulates that adrenaline feeling of risking it all. This feeling puts the chasing on a whole other level.
The game offers the option to play online or offline. You can play the game offline and this will turn the whole racing universe in a controlled NPC environment. However, if you play the game online, chances are high you’ll compete against NPCs and real players. Don’t be fooled, this will only work with daylight races as there’s no involvement with the cops. The online feature is really focused on the “racing” thing. I do feel like the day races are necessary to earn some cash but I feel like the night aspect has more punch to it. With the night races, the cops are lurking around the corner. This variable aspect of the game creates a bit more uniqueness to every race because the behavior of the cops is unexpected. NFS uses this system perfectly because of the fact, you need the other to sustain the other one.
Graphically speaking, the game looks decent and also amazing at some points. The game takes place in Palm City which looks like a digital version of Miami. The races take place in this city full of ambient scenery. You have your casino’s and harbor, sunny weather and rainy, … Everything you could expect from Miami, the game has it. The environment itself has some beautiful captures but when you’re looking closely, you’ll see that the environment isn’t that detailed which helps with the smoothness of the game’s performance. Even though the world isn’t perfect, all of the puzzle pieces fit in this tremendous take on Miami’s atmosphere. Too bad that the world feels a bit “too clean”. There are no passengers passing by, only automated cars following the same track over and over again. The game’s presentation feels slick but it also feels like a budgetary presentation of an action movie. The game capture’s a great atmosphere when it comes to the environments but it lacks in the vividness of the people in Miami.
Something I didn’t like playing the NFS game was the fact that everything was breakable, except for your own car and buildings. The biggest tree wasn’t even a match for my underpowered race car. Everything is breakable and only a few things slow my car down. The car also doesn’t have a decent damage model. The only thing the game offers, are a few scratches on the side. I know NFS isn’t going for a more realistic approach like Forza, but this definitely could have been a bit more because this stimulates aggressive behavior on the road. You’re literally feeling like nothing can stop you… Yes, there’s a damage meter for your car but a quick visit to the garage and it drives as good as new. Also, don’t forget to use the new “drifting” mechanic that can be activated with the touch of a button, this will keep those reparation visits limited.
Talking about cars, the game does an excellent job when it comes to variety. There are lots of cars that feel distinctly different than others. Handling a car is pretty easy but each car has its own benefits and disadvantages. Each car offers a tool for a certain drive style. Whatever car you choose, it’ll be a treasure on its own. The cars can also be modified to your liking by upgrading aspects of your vehicle that makes sense for your own playstyle. These different aspects are handling, acceleration, horsepower, max speed limit, … There’s something here for everyone.
“Everything your car has equipped can be changed to your personal style.”
Not only does the game has a decent variety in upgrades, but it also offers a lot of customization options that’ll keep your hands bound to your controller for a while. Everything your car has equipped can be changed to your personal style. Choose from a wide library of rims, headlights, spoilers, … Paint your car in the colors that you want or find some inspiration in the community’s online library. Choose a preset and equip it. It’s that easy!
Some things that could have been handled a bit better is the difficulty setting of the game. The distance between the lowest and highest difficulty setting is too great to create a great balance. Choosing easy mode leaves your opponents far behind in your rearview while hard mode turns your opponents into vultures that will wait for that one small mistake that could turn the tide of the race to their favor. Also story-wise, the game is forgettable. Just like any other race game, you’ll have to fight your way to get top rank. You start off as a newbie with no reputation whatsoever, you buy a car, you start your first race and every door begins to open. The story is very predictable. Also the game offers a very limited library of characters to choose from, you can however equip your character with the latest fashion that’ll boost your reputation immediately but on a very different level. In other words, it’s neglectable.
Conclusion:
The main things that NFS Heat does right, is at its core: racing and tuning. The day and night feature is a good way to bring some variety into the scenery. The system also works because both types of races need each other to keep the player going. Tuning is also very reliable, you can upgrade your cars to fit your race style but also to prepare for some “special” racing events. Modifying your car is key to success. Not only does the game a great job in tuning the technical side of things, but also the esthetic of each car can be altered which opens up doors for creativity. However, the game could have been a lot better if the story and some of the design choices have been thought through. It feels like its have baked. If you still have some cash in your wallet and you’re looking for a decent arcade game. Then be my guest! NFS Heat will give you some amusement until the next racing game comes along.
