Need for Speed™ Heat is the latest installment in Electronic Arts' long-running racing game series, and it's the best one yet. Developer Ghost has delivered a game that stays true to the series' roots, takes elements from the most popular games like Underground and Most Wanted, and incorporates modern changes. This means deep customization options for vehicles and nerve-wracking police chases.
Palm City is the new setting of the game and is designed to be similar to Miami. This game world, bathed in neon light, fits perfectly into the world of Need for Speed™. The downtown area, with its skyscrapers, is just one highlight, because there are also other things to discover in the surrounding area, such as a spaceport, an oval racetrack, and a large container graveyard. The trick of the game is that it combines two interesting player experiences that drive the story of the game and can be manually switched between. During the day, Palm City is characterized by officially approved races on tracks that have been released for this purpose, with prize money that allows the purchase of car parts. At night, everything revolves around illegal street races and the escape from the cops to collect reputation points that unlock new races and more powerful upgrades. The police chases are no longer limited to fixed routes, but allow you to escape in all directions. New features include a damage indicator for the car and the limitation of the instant repair when driving through gas stations to three per night. Those who get too rough with the cops will wreck the car and get arrested. The difficulty level has increased compared to the previous parts, as the AI now acts more aggressively.
The game provides a large number of cars to choose from and Ferrari is back on board. In total, 127 cars from 33 different manufacturers are available, which can be upgraded to your heart's content. In addition to the three main categories of engine, chassis and drivetrain, which increase performance, changes to suspension, tires or differential change the car's driving behavior. For the first time in this part, it is also possible to swap engines to provide an additional power boost. An editor is available for visual changes, which even allows you to set the sound of the exhaust.
Heat does not have any weaknesses in terms of graphics. Thanks to the Frostbite engine, the game world of Palm City is a real eye-catcher, especially with the light effects and reflections that make the muscles play and also knows changing weather conditions. Especially in the rain, the atmospheric pictures conjure up the monitor, when light breaks in the drops on the windshield and headlights reflect in the puddles. The action always remains fluid and completely free of stuttering.
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