Need for Speed Heat REVIEW
It's no secret that the most recent Need for Speed entry, Payback, was arguably one of the most divisive games in the franchise’s history. After the success Ghost had nailing certain aspects of their rebooted take of the franchise with 2015, it left many feeling uncertain of the franchise’s future and doubtful leading up to the reveal of Need for Speed Heat.
Now, after spending an extensive amount of time playing through Heat over the last few weeks, I’m confident in saying that Ghost has done a complete 180 and delivered a Need for Speed game that not only expands upon everything fans have been begging for but could very well be renowned as one of the best Need for Speed games yet.
The Rookie Racer
In Need for Speed Heat, you play as your own custom character (a first in the franchise’s history) as you visit Palm City to take part in the Speedhunters Showdown, an annualized racing festival where racers across America come to compete in sanctioned races to earn Bank. As you progress, you’ll learn of the game’s antagonist, Lt. Frank Mercer of the Palm City Police Department, and uncover the shady secrets of his rogue taskforce who come out in full force when the sun goes down.
For the first time in a long time, the story tries to take itself serious as opposed to the cheesy dialogue and happy-go-lucky plot of Payback and 2015, with a much ‘darker’ tone and character performances you come to love and hate. The story starts off strong, with a compelling and interesting plot that has you wanting to play through more to uncover, however towards the end feels like it loses its momentum quite quickly and comes to an abrupt ending that could have been far better fleshed out. #GiveShawMoreScreenTime!
It tells a story that leaves you wanting more from these characters, as opposed to wanting it to end like with Payback, however I couldn’t help but notice a few inconsistences. One being the Speedhunters Showdown itself, which doesn’t serve much purpose storyline wise other than being a plot device to give purpose to legal daytime street racing. There’s so much potential here for Ghost to create an almost Prostreet style tournament side-story for players to compete in, and I wish that could have been better utilized.
As you progress, you’ll meet a bunch of supporting characters who’ll take you through different Driving Storylines, essentially Heat’s style of side quests, that focus on different styles of racing: Race, Drift and Off-Road. These Driving Storylines and the story itself are optional and not forced upon you if you aren’t a fan of certain styles but are made enticing with their reward cars from classic NFS games once completed (well, except the off-road one). These events demonstrate how much of an improvement Ghost has done to their handling model this time around, and take you through the ropes to build your familiarity with each type.
Fine Tuning Your Ride
Handling and Performance customization has seen a huge overhaul in Need for Speed Heat, with a revamped customization system made up of logical real-world performance upgrades that are crucial in defining the type of car you wish to build. Gone is the Speed Card system from Payback, and in its place is a more familiar upgrade system akin to 2015, but with far more depth and retaining the RPG leveling aspect.
Each car has 14 different performance slots split up into 4 different categories. Upgrading the Engine will increase your cars power, while Chassis and Drivetrain defines whether your car is an on-road grip machine, off-roading dirt destroyer or a tire-slaying drift missile. There’s an extreme amount of diversity in the part options you throw on, with each part drastically altering how the car handles - encouraging players to try out different combinations in order to craft the perfect build.
The Auxiliary category on the other hand is a bit different, allowing you to equip two special perks to your car. Picking these parts becomes crucial to the late game of Heat, as they give you a fighting chance against the police such as the ability to withstand more damage, refill nitrous faster doing certain actions, or make an emergency repair during a critical situation.
The best thing about this new performance system is it doesn’t lock you to one specific type of car build. In Payback you were forced to purchase cars in specific car classes, restricting the cars capabilities unless you bought it in another class. Heat throws this out the window, letting you swap out parts whenever you like and constantly change your build no matter what you desire it to do. It’s entirely possible to play through the game only using your starter car.
Handling has always been a sketchy topic when it comes to Ghost’s NFS titles, and while I wouldn’t consider it perfect, cars finally feel right to drive. In 2015 and Payback, most driving errors were caused by the wonky physics and bad handling, in Heat you finally feel in control and most driving errors you’ll encounter will be based on your driving or your Chassis/Drivetrain setup.
Grip finally feels like a viable option again, planting you to the floor like glue and removing the speed-assisted brake-to-drift mechanic to create a much more enjoyable racing experience. That being said, I’m not the biggest fan of the new Drifting model. It can be tough to chain drifts or to rack up points without cheesing it. A lot of time and effort has been invested into creating a handling system so dynamic and in tandem with the performance system, and I feel Ghost deserve props for that.
For the first time ever in an open-world Need for Speed game, engine swaps are now possible and allow for some insane possibilities. Ever wanted to see what it’s like to throw a V12 Lamborghini engine into a Mustang? Heat gives you the freedom to chuck in almost any engine for every car in the game, allowing for some insane sounds and results in cars you wouldn’t imagine possible.
Speaking of sounds, Heat’s sound design is absolutely incredible and features some of the best, over the top vehicle sounds I’ve heard in a racing game to date. From the transmission whine of a 4L V8, to the clunks and downshifts of the gear changes, to the orgasmic pops and crackles drippling out of your exhaust. This is only aided further by the brand-new exhaust tuning option, letting you craft the perfect sound and create a build that spits nothing but flames for 5 seconds straight!
So, what’s customization like in Need for Speed Heat then? There are some great new additions including; an overhauled paint editor, an exhaust-tuning option, the ability to buy vanity parts and character customization featuring a ton of licensed brands to stylize your player. These all might sound like minor things, but they go a long way in crafting and further expands upon creating unique personalization that sets everyone apart, something Ghost have been aiming for since back with in Need for Speed Rivals
However, if you played 2015 and Payback, vehicle customization remains mostly untouched. Granted there’s not a lot more Ghost can do in this area, but it is a shame to see very few, if any, new body options for older cars. There’s a slew of new vehicles in Heat, some with some crazy body options for the customization-hungry players, and quite a few with none at all. Thankfully each car now has a customization rating when buying them at the dealership, to set expectations as to how much can be done to the car.
The Thrill of the Risk
One of Heat’s greatest strengths is its addictive risk/reward gameplay loop. You have the option to go out during the Day and make money in sanctioned races, but in order to level up you’ll need to earn REP during the night. Win races, complete activities and get into cop chases to build your rep and increase your Heat Level. The higher the Heat Level, the tougher the risk, as your REP will be multiplied based on your Heat level, but so will the cop’s aggression. Get busted or wreck your car, and you lose everything you worked towards that night – especially when you only get 3 repairs to last through the night.
As you reach Heat Level 3 and 5 you unlock ‘High Heat Races’, in which you can earn exclusive ‘volatile’ performance parts that can only be unlocked during these races. This makes going out at night so exhilarating, the temptation of staying out longer to earn these parts and bank such a large REP combined with the fear of knowing one wrong moment can cost you it all. It constantly has you on your toes, especially considering how hard it can be to shake the cops - we’ve truly come a long way since 2015’s cops.
To survive at night, you need a quick car in combination with the auxiliary parts I mentioned earlier. Equipping auxiliary parts adds a layer of strategy and tacticality that I never would have expected to have in a Need for Speed game. I absolutely love this risk/reward gameplay loop and is something Ghost have masterfully adapted from Rivals into Heat, though it could use some addressing in terms of damage considering objects you hit seem to be very inconsistent.
You’ll also constantly be broke in this game, which is a good thing. There’s a good money to grind ratio from races – races offer large sums of money, but you’ll be spending a lot of it trying to max out your cars with the best parts. Its not an infuriating grind due to how easy it can be to make money either. It’ll essentially be the endgame - in addition to grinding for Volatile Ultimate+ parts during the night - for players to try work towards expensive vehicles and 400+ performance.
The races themselves are enjoyable to play, which is all due to Heat’s exhilarating sense of speed coupled with an incredibly diverse and detailed map. Palm City oozes with atmosphere; towering skyscrapers, bright neon lights, rain-soaked roads, swaying palm trees and the flashing lights of the pursuing police all set the vibe.
It’s filled with tons of attention to detail with hidden secrets to discover, rewarding collectibles to complete, and some stunning vistas incorporated into the races that remind you of older NFS worlds such as Carbon, Most Wanted and Underground all merged with a Paradise City vibe.
A Hollow Online World
When it comes to most games nowadays, the multiplayer aspect is always the area that lasts the longest and is what keeps bringing players back after completing the single player. Sadly, while online freeroam is present at launch (unlike it did with Payback), there’s not much else to it.
In Heat you have the option to play Online or Solo, where you’ll be matchmade into a lobby with other players via AllDrive that allows you to compete in races and get into pursuits with others in the lobby. This is great and can be a ton of fun to get into long pursuits with friends or just grind out races for bank, but that’s about as much as you can expect from Heat’s online experience.
Annoyingly, multiplayer now supports sessions for up to 16 players, but you are still limited to having 8 in a party. It’s almost impossible to get more than that appearing on screen at once, which is a big let-down. I found myself spending most of my time enjoying Heat solo, as this way not only did it mean I could pause the game at any given moment, but ensured I didn’t run into any lobby disconnects or connection issues during High Heat runs that would ruin my progress.
One great new addition people have been asking for years is the inclusion of Online Crews. You can now form your own crews with friends and other players, which can be levelled up to unlock exclusive rewards such as Bank and REP bonuses, and the Ferrari FXXK at max level.
I love being able to see my friends in the background of my garage and from time to time inspect their cars, its an awesome addition that brings the time spent tinkering in the garage more alive. However, I can’t help but feel as if the crews don’t serve much purpose right now.
Crews are unfortunately capped at 32 players, which can be extremely annoying for communities like ours, and without a dedicated PvP mode at launch there’s no real way to represent your crew online. There are Crew Time Trials available if you wish to compete with other members for the number one spot on the leaderboard, but that’s about it. It’s something I really hope Ghost expand upon in the future.
The Verdict
Need for Speed Heat feels like the culmination of the best elements from Ghost’s NFS games, and a proper successor to Need for Speed 2015 - it truly feels like everything Ghost envisioned almost half a decade ago when rebooting Need for Speed has finally come together.
The Need for Speed games have taken on many different identities over the franchises long, 25-year history. The franchise has gone from arcade street racing, to open world street racing, to legalized street racing and even had an odd sim track racing phase. Heat encompasses all the great aspects of the games to come before it, and the result is a game that defines what makes a Need for Speed game ‘Need for Speed’.
Is it perfect? No, no game ever truly is. There’s plenty of flaws to this game, though most are things that can easily be addressed over the games life cycle. But after a very mixed and conflicted few years after Payback’s release, Heat is a refreshing take that makes Need for Speed exciting again. After 25 years and 24 entries, Need for Speed feels like its heading in the right direction again, and we look forward to seeing what Ghost does next.