Need for Speed has seen its ups and downs over the years with many seeing the peak of the franchise hit with the release of Need for Speed: Most Wanted in 2005. Since then, the franchise has seen a number of lackluster and microtransaction filled sequels. After the low point of Need for Speed Payback I wasn’t sure I would ever return to the franchise again. Then, Need for Speed Heat was announced and it was stated to return Need for Speed to its former glory. Having spent the last week with the game, I feel like we have finally gotten the long lost sequel to 2005’s Most Wanted we always wanted!

Story

Welcome to Palm City, home of the Speedhunter Showdown, a sanctioned city-wide racing event. Any driver worth their salt is coming to compete and earn the fame it brings with it. There is a shadier side to the Speedhunter Showdown that reveals itself when the sun goes down. At night the competitors of the Showdown hit the streets in illegal street races to earn further notoriety in their driving skills and an opportunity to join the best racers as part of The League. Anyone new in town should look up Lucas Rivera if they need a car to compete in the Showdown! Though do keep an eye out for Frank Mercer and his aggressive new task force bent on taking out any illegal racing activities.

Gameplay

There are two different styles of play in Need for Speed Heat: the sanctioned day time activities and then the illegal night-time races. Day races are more track-based and can involve both circuit, drifting, and offroading events. Competing in the day events earns you money to spend on upgrading your car or purchasing a new one. At night you take to the streets in fast-paced circuit and sprints. By successfully completing these events and returning to a safe house, your reputation builds, allowing access for more upgrades and cars. Getting home safe isn’t as easy as it sounds, as the cops are out to take you down. Both times of day offer a different style of gameplay to make an interesting total package.

I have really enjoyed how the game has been broken up between these two times of the day. The game doesn’t feature a fixed day/night cycle, so you are free to explore everything Palm City has to offer without the fear of running out of time to do any of the events. And let me tell you, there is a lot to see! Besides racing, there are numerous collectibles to find and signs to destroy. On top of this are numerous alternative activities like speed traps and long-distance jumps. Oh, if you fancy some time trials, there are a number of them scattered throughout the game as well! Then, of course, there are the story-based missions that will pop up as you meet specific requirements.

Now, races themselves are my favorite part of Need for Speed Heat. The mechanics took a minute to get used to, but once you do you can make your way through the game’s courses like a pro. Races are awesomely arcadey, which I am a huge fan of. You can smash through obstacles like trees and barriers in spectacular fashion while only being lightly dinged for it in the speed department. At the beginning of the game, things were a bit too easy and races were very easy to complete in the first place position. After upgrading my car to a performance level of 200+, I once again found myself getting my butt handed to me in the faster races. The difficulty spike was slightly jarring, but I am glad that it didn’t stay easy the whole time as that would have been disappointing.

Another area of interesting difficulty comes from cop pursuits. During night events you have a heat level that builds up as you complete events and earn reputation. When you start a night you begin at level 1 and any chases that are started are easy to evade. Like seriously easy to evade; you can go in a straight line at full speed and get away from them most of the time. Pursuits don’t get too much more difficult once you hit level 2, though more cops get added to the mix. Heat Level 3 is an entirely different beast however. Once level 3 is achieved, the cops shift into overdrive to take you out and become much more aggressive in their pursuits. It gets brutal and there were plenty of times they just outright destroyed my car in my feeble attempts to escape. Yeah, you have an HP meter in this game that crashes and collisions will take down.

Getting caught or destroyed will, unfortunately, cost you some of your reserve bank and nearly the entire night’s worth of reputation gain. Losing reputation is a huge hit as it stalls unlocks, so it got to the point where I would turn it in for the night before hitting heat level 3 for the early parts of the game. It doesn’t stay this way forever, as you can buy passive upgrades that will make it so you can take, or deal, more damage. Taking out the cops never seemed like an effective strategy to me, so I found the defensive upgrades to be ideal. If you find yourself taking a ton of damage you can repair at gas stations scattered around the map by driving through them. During the day you can use these stations as much as you want. At night stations will be closed down after 3 uses. This is another layer of strategy I came to enjoy as I would need to really plan out my heals to make the most use of them.

Something I think everyone will be happy about is the amount of customization Need for Speed Heat has. There are a ton of parts for performance improvements and cars can be tuned specifically for on-road or off-road performance as well as racing or drifting. You can buy multiple parts to outfit your car for specific races or buy cars suited for each type of race that you can swap over to when starting. The number of cars in the game is another huge plus as there will be something for every type of car lover. They even have the Need for Speed: Most Wanted BMW from the 2005 game you can unlock for finishing the main story! Cosmetic upgrades are also available in surplus depending on the cars in use. You can adjust paint, vinyl, neon, rims, and body kits. You can even adjust the sound of your exhaust for a truly customized experience! I have been quite fond of making each car my own.

Visuals

Need for Speed Heat is a beautiful game. Night races look amazing with the bright neon blue and purple used to highlight tracks and the impressive lighting effects Frostbite provides are top-notch! Weather and rain effects also look stunning and going top speed with the rain pelting you is a sight to behold. While the night is definitely the more impressive visual aspect to the game, day time is no slouch. Dynamic weather and lighting look great and seeing the way things interact with your car are really cool. Oh, the whole thing also sports HDR which really makes the whole experience shine!

Audio

Like visuals, audio work is superb. Engine, environment, and crashes are fantastic. The game’s soundtrack is a bit of a mixed bag for me though… The few Latino/Cuban inspired tracks sound perfect for the fictional Miami setting but the rest of the electronica and rap are not my cup of tea. Need for Speed: Underground with its awesome mix of rap/rock, this is not.

Replayability

There is a lot to do in Need for Speed Heat. Between the number of races, events, and story missions you will be occupied for a long time. When you throw in the collectibles you can roam the map for a long time. Unlocking all the cars and completing many side goals will also take some time.

What It Could Have Done Better

As much as I love Need for Speed Heat, there are a few things that frustrate me. First is the insane difficulty spike. Going from one race where you lap everyone to the next where you are getting smoked can be frustrating. I usually had to redo earlier races to get enough money and reputation to upgrade even further to become competitive again. The only reason this bugs me is that the game says I am above the recommended performance rating to be competitive but that just wasn’t the case. The bigger problem comes from the way AI can work in races. If a computer gets ahead of you and can get out of sight they will take off and become impossible to catch up to. At this point, it is best to just restart. For anyone who has played Mario Kart 64 on 150cc, it is a very similar experience.

Verdict

Overall I have had a blast playing Need for Speed Heat and it marks a return to what I always loved about the franchise. Best yet, there are absolutely no microtransactions. I haven’t had this much fun playing a racing game in years! There are a couple of hiccups in the difficulty level that will need to be overcome but it is worth it. If you are in the market for a fast-paced arcade racing game with tons of customization, Need for Speed Heat is for you. This truly is the sequel to the franchise we have all been waiting for!