Need for Speed: Heat Reviews
Check out Need for Speed: Heat Review Scores from trusted Critics below. With 23 reviews on CriticDB, Need for Speed: Heat has a score of:
Need for Speed: Heat is a beautiful game with a great gameplay loop, but due to the Internet limits of Origin and the game itself, there are some pretty big compromises to make.
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Republished on Wednesday 31st August 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows.
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The day/night dynamic is entertaining and mixes things up. The car list is better than expected. Customization is clean and maximizes personalization. And the driving mechanics aren't overly complicated but present enough of a challenge.
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You know what’s more surprising than EA publishing a great Star Wars game? EA publishing a great Need for Speed. Since the series’ glory days on the PlayStation 2, it has been rebooted repeatedly to increasingly lukewarm results. The last entry in the franchise, Need for Speed: Payback, was easily the series’ lowest point and many thought it was time to put the IP to rest. Yet Ghost Games tried again, and third time ended up being the charm. Need for Speed: Heat is a back-to-basics ent...
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The Need for Speed series has been stuck in second gear for a while now. 2017’s Need for Speed Payback was a particularly frustrating experience, as it looked and played great, but was held back by an annoying money-grubbing Ultimate-Team-style structure. Electronic Arts and developer Ghost Games are clearly trying to make amends with Need for Speed Heat, as it kicks any sort of microtransactions to the curb and hearkens back to the cops ‘n’ robbers theme of past entries in the series.
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Earlier this month, a new Need for Speed hit major consoles and PC platforms. It’s alright if you didn’t notice, EA seems less than enthusiastic about promoting the game. Announced as an afterthought during a financial call, this once mighty franchise now feels like an obligation to the publisher. It’s not to say that NEED FOR SPEED HEAT is a bad game as it certainly improves on Payback, a microtransaction-riddled mess that only avoided its own heat thanks to Battlefront 2. However, with little identity and a rehash of dire mechanics from past releases, the latest from Ghost Games feels...
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Need For Speed is one of the classic racing game franchises. Ever since making its debut on the ill-fated 3DO in 1993 (even then featuring traffic and police chases) it’s been through its peaks and troughs. The first three games in the series I still enjoy playing from time to time. The series started off as a simulator featuring exotic sports cars like Lamborghini and Ferrari, it eventually moved more into the arcade racer space and dabbled in Fast and the Furious type street racing in the...
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With Need for Speed (2015) and Payback, EA seemed to lose grasp of what fans looked for from the series. Awkward Fast & Furious style stories, slot machine upgrades, and live-action segments were not what was needed to make Need for Speed the biggest name in racing again.
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Do you have the need for more Need for Speed? If so, read on to find out more about the latest entry in the long-running series.
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The best Need for Speed for years, despite its obnoxious racers.
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Though it still can't match the scope of Forza Horizon 4, Need for Speed: Heat is a great racing game in its own right.
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Need for Speed Heat has a great visual style that smartly leans into the tuner culture that helped set the series apart in games like Most Wanted and Underground. Unfortunately its sluggish progression and weak online offerings keep this from reaching the heights of the series.
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All things considered, Need for Speed Heat has issues that could easily be overlooked if the game had confidence in itself, but there seems to be some type of hesitation everywhere. Whether it's hesitation to move the story along, hesitation to introduce something new, or hesitation to strike out from the ghosts of its past, there just seems to be some lack of definition for Need for Speed Heat's release.
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The Need for Speed franchise is back from a brief hiatus after the failure of 2017’s Need for Speed Payback. During that time, developer Ghost Games has refocused and concentrated on the series’ core: cops, high speeds, world exploration, and customization – with a hokey story thrown in for old times’ sake. Need for Speed Heat has its flaws (its cop integration could be better), but it’s a rousing return that delivers on many of the franchise’s touchstones. While the story of street racers going up against corrupt cops is forgettable, the day/night cycle that governs your activities is appealing....
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Need for Speed Heat is the best the series has been in a while. It’s not perfect by any stretch, but it has a charm that reminds me of the Underground days of old. Now that’s a NfS game I can get down with.
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Need for Speed Heat's driving is a step in the right direction for a franchise that's stuck at the back of the pack. However, its poor story, severe balance problems, and complete lack of an online presence stop it from ever reaching top speed.
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There are some minor issues that bring your time spent with Need for Speed Heat down a little, but they never amount to anything more than irritations. On the whole, this is a triumphant return to form for a series that has gone off the track in recent years. With its nail-biting police chases and electrifying sense of speed, Need for Speed Heat is the most exciting and tense arcade racing game we’ve had the pleasure of playing in years. It proves that there’s life in the old dog yet, even in a world in which Forza Horizon exists, and...
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Need for Speed's latest instalment is one of its better efforts in recent years.
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While Need for Speed Heat feels a little more like a mosaic of existing concepts rather than something especially trendsetting, Ghost has certainly scraped these ideas from some of the most-loved games in the now 25-year-old series. Heat doesn’t always sizzle but it’s definitely much hotter than I’d expected. This is easily the most impressive Need for Speed game in many years.
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The adrenaline-inducing, high stakes nightlife of Need for Speed Heat is an exciting idea that pushes the franchise forward after years of stagnation. The packed, vibrant world of Palm City and solid driving mechanics go a long way towards helping as well, but the poorly-balanced AI opponents, middling story and barebones online integration hold Heat back from standing among the best in the series. Nonetheless, Need for Speed Heat features plenty of hours worth of high octane racing while representing an encouraging return to form for the franchise as it heads into the next generation.
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Great modding and a decent game engine can’t disguise the tired story and simplistic driving.
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