Republished on Wednesday, August 31, 2022: Following the announcement of the PlayStation Plus lineup in September, I’m reviving this review from the archives. The original is below.
Need for Speed Heat brings the franchise back from the brink of disaster, but it’s just put it back together good Also. The series has gone through quite a journey this generation, going through a few soft reboots to stay relevant and Rivals was good enough his PS4 launch his title but the situation is It keeps getting worse. Ghost Games’ latest racer does a lot right and offers a fun sandbox where you can race, drift and cruise in style. However, it still has some issues that hinder its greatness. The new Need for Speed is good, but is it good enough?
For our money, Heat is probably Ghost’s best attempt yet. It mixes a lot of elements from the series’ past and feels like a blend aimed at pleasing everyone. It has an open-world Palm City, with collectibles and events dotted around the map, but also police chases, fleshed-out vehicle customization, and a fun story. There’s quite a lot going on, and thankfully most of it is going pretty well.
At the heart of the game is the yin and yang of day and night. The two are separate entities, but what’s most interesting is the way they intertwine. Winning daytime races and other events earns you money to spend on new cars, parts, and customization items. At night, the focus is first on earning the Rep needed to unlock new vehicles and other things. Simply put, you have to play both sides of the game to make meaningful progress, and it’s a system that works well. The give and take of the currency required to increase the and vice versa is addictive.
This mechanic is contextualized by the Hammy story. Palm City hosts a racing tournament called the Speedhunters Showdown. However, illegal public road races are also held at the same time, and this is what happens when the sun goes down, naughty. The local police department has put in place a task force whose sole purpose is to police illegal races and other events.A player who can be customized with ridiculous clothes at any time.His character is new to town, and his mechanic and his street ‘s racing sister and quickly become friends. The story and characters are unremarkable, but the first few stories he will definitely hate the police on missions.
They are so aggressive that you will hate them even during the chase. Getting into trouble with the law is inevitable at night. If you want to earn some serious Rep, increasing your Heat level will act as a multiplier. This means you can earn up to 5x Rep. However, the higher your Heat, the more the police will throw at you. Fighting back isn’t really an option. I’ll probably try ramming the car as there are few tools to disable it while chasing it, but doing damage this way is inconsistent. is to decrease to In other words, the time spent playing is almost zero. Your only hope is to escape. Only then can you bank the rep and finish the night. I’m annoyed.
Conversely, daytime play is a bit bland. There are plenty of races, drift events, time trials, and more, but Palm City isn’t as exciting a place to be during the day. You can make a lot of money quickly and have some respite from the relentless police, but the open world is better at night. The maps in both modes are well designed, fairly large, and look great in places. However, it is not a place to be remembered for long, especially during the day. There are billboards to smash, speed gates to beat, and other distractions, but in the end Palm City feels pretty empty.
At least it’s fun to drive. The starter vehicle feels very slow and heavy to control at first, but if you upgrade it or buy a better one, it will become harder to maneuver. It’s a little more grounded than something like Burnout Paradise because it needs to. The result is still very arcade, and throwing cars around is a lot of fun. Perhaps the greatest success of handling is that it really varies from car to car, and even better, you can change your favorite ride by swapping out different parts.
Adjusting handling is one aspect of customization, but it’s important to note that this part of the game is generally well done. Playing around with each car’s performance to get the most out of it is great, but of course, there are exhaustive decor options. Not all 127 cars are fully transformable, but you can stamp each one with a huge number of body his items, paint his jobs, decals and more.
Unsurprisingly, the vehicles are probably the best looking part of the game, but it’s disappointing that they have some technical issues. I’ve noticed a few glitches and inconsistencies in the game.I think the game will be refined with patches, but there are some surprisingly rough edges here.
Conclusion
As we’ve already mentioned, Need for Speed Heat has been the best entry in the franchise for quite some time, but it’s still not quite up to the level it needs. The day and night gameplay is an engaging loop and a big step in the right direction for the series as a whole. It’s a solid effort with fun handling and plenty of customization options. The lack of personality in the open world is disappointing, and the police might be a little too hard-line, but there’s still a lot to like about it. At the end of this generation, Need for Speed is back for good — let’s hope it’s great in the future.
