Hardly a name stands for action-packed races and hot tuning sleds like Need for Speed, above all the legendary "Need for Speed: Underground 2", in which many of today's young adults could gain their first experiences behind the wheel. Also, we remember too well how we raced through the dark streets of Bayview to songs by Snoop Doggy Dogg, Mister X tot he Z Xzibit or other stars of our childhood and youth in souped-up Nissan 350z, BMW 3 Series or other race cars. always with his finger on the nitrous oxide injection.
It's been a long time, already over 15 years, since the title appeared and still appears in our personal Hall of Fame, and rightly so. Unfortunately, hardly any of the successors were able to build on the successes of that time, tried different approaches and ways, questioned their own identity, but the original remained unequaled. That's why EA is trying with the in-house studio "Ghost Games" a kind of "back dead he roots" – means more arcade, more tuning and more dirty chases with the guardians of the law. But is the new model better than the classic car?
Welcome to Palm City
As known for every Need for Speed title, we also get a more or less new story in "Need for Speed: Heat". We find ourselves as a freshman in the city of "Palm City" again, a city, as one could find them just as somewhere in Florida. The city offers everything that a real metropolis must have: urban canyons with glass skyscrapers, sandy beach sections with palm trees, forests and much more, which will demand everything from our cars. This city thrives above all on road races, which take place on a legal basis during the big "Speedhunters Showdown", an annual competition of the best racers. Here we compete during the day various races, win prizes and reinvest in our car. Problem only: we are so unknown that we are denied access to the really good cars and tuning parts unfortunately.
Fortunately, Ana and Lucas Rivera are at our side. The two are native to Palm City and know very well who has to say that and how to make a name. They also introduce us to the illegal scene of Palm City, which takes place on the streets at night. Here we hunt through the traffic without barriers, cause a lot of property damage and unfortunately also hit one or the other uninvolved road users. On the one hand we earn the respect of the other drivers instead of money, which unlocks us access to new objects, however, the cops have something against our actions and do at night really down to us. And they are afraid of almost nothing. No wonder then that we rebel against the authorities and drive out the corrupt cops.
In addition, it is relatively hard to survive on the street alone, but also incredibly boring. That's why we are automatically added to a crew as part of the story, where everyone collects points for the community through their actions. Depending on how many points the crew has, the better rewards and extras you get, such as more money or reputation points from the races. In addition, we can play together with up to 16 players on one server, explore the city together, or race together. Everything is possible, nothing has to be done. Those who prefer solo action are not limited in any way and can decide freely. However, we personally prefer the online version, especially at night. For example, we have seen other racers, who have just competed in a race, suddenly cross our lane or engage in multiple car chases. This is really fun and makes for a lot of variety on the tarmac.
Of course, one should not expect an absolute story highlight, but the series is not known. But we get a good combination of legal day and illegal night race, both of which not only have their own charm, but must also be considered relatively balanced. We really like the system of gaining experience levels at night and earning money by day. Unfortunately, the change between the times of day is very complicated and cumbersome, here a simpler way would have been quite desirable. And also inviting friends into his crew, as well as generally playing with friends is designed to be less user-friendly and brakes "Need for Speed: Heat" in unfavorable moments downright.
Nice city, little going on
With Palm City, we get a nice, though for a racer very ordinary designed environment offered, which is quite good for an open-world racer. There are varied environments that all bring their own challenges. Even the region from "Need for Speed: Underground 2" is celebrating a small comeback, so also a district of Palm City bears the name Bayview. Otherwise, the city is unfortunately no real recognition value and could therefore come from any other title n. There are few really distinctive details or buildings that make Palm stand out. Every now and then there are little pop-ins or texture mistakes, but nothing serious. Much worse, however, is that hardly anything is going on the streets, they seem partially swept as empty, a street racer without real competition. After all, EA is trying to make the city more interesting with numerous collectibles and to arouse our sense of discovery, where sometimes we wave a few smart cars, as long as we collect everything. The whole thing is fired up with a cool soundtrack, which once again covers different directions of Electro, EDM, POP and more.
Let's come to the very essence of the title: the cars! In total, we expect 127 cars from 33 manufacturers, from BMW and VW on Honda and Nissan to Jaguar, Lamborghini and Pagani. In addition, we can tune our cars both in terms of performance in various ways, such as various engines, transmissions, tires and Co., which all has an influence on driving behavior and this between the four corners "road", "off-road", " Drift "and" race "back and forth. These changes are also noticeable, because the cars move either on rails or like soap around the curves. Anyone who knows a bit about tuning will get their money's worth to some extent, even if the depth leaves much to be desired. In addition, we can revise the various components of the look, both on the chassis, as well as the paint. There are also underbody lighting, tire smoke and nitro gas in various colors. Although we are not offered in the approach as many options as at that time, but the feeling of earlier comes back gradually, although many miles to lie before us.
Both in terms of graphics, as well as atmosphere, "Need for Speed Heat" has quite a lot to offer, even if you clearly do not do enough of its possibilities. Bayview looks quite nice, but unfortunately the city lacks the certain something, like a lively atmosphere. Unfortunately, there are not enough highlights, too few details, but above all just too few lives, through which the city transports the feeling of pulsating lights and horsepower to the player. Also, the damage models leave a little to be desired for the well-known reasons – we crunch about fully in front of a wall, we only have a few scratch and metal damage. Nevertheless, the title offers a variety of options in terms of tuning, as well as four different races (circuit, Dirft, sprint and off-road) different situations that you have to adjust by tuning accordingly. And just the various adjustments and their effects in "Need for Speed: Heat" a lot of joy.
