Away from the first Need for Speed for the current generation, now nearing the end, a lot has been done, and overtaking after overtaking the noble home brand EA has seen competing for the arcade racing game square with other decidedly high-level franchises. The very good but not perfect Need For Speed Payback kicked off a revolution, which slowly evolved and found consensus, eventually resulting in what it is Need For Speed Heat. With this new title, Ghost Games puts itself to the test in a definitive way: not that there is a need for confirmation or a consecration, but rather a "proof" of the team's commitment, of the effort to meet the requests and needs of an increasingly deep-rooted community of pilots.
Welcome to Palm City
The visiting card of the city that hosts Need for Speed Heat is definitely one of the best, a kind of Eden of the called urban pilot Palm City. In this varied area, running is everything, so much so that the biggest ambition for those who set foot there is to find a place in the Showdown, an official tournament with very rich cash prizes at stake, but above all the crown of undisputed king of the asphalt. However, defining the road uphill is almost an understatement, and it is assumed that to access the most ambitious events, one must first create a reputation. If you are not someone, or if you are not at least a little interesting, you will not even have access to spare parts purchases. The one that at morning it is the home of four-wheel sports though, at night it turns into a shower of smoke and neon colors, with clandestine competitions in the background. The crews battle and compete in out-of-the-ordinary races that are certainly more dangerous than the official ones: the perfect stage to make a name for themselves. As you can imagine, all of this goes beyond what is allowed, and this is where the law enforcement officers come into play, fiercer than ever and ready to put handcuffs on our wrists.
Mine the face, mine the racing car
If there is one applause to be given to the team that worked hard on Need for Speed Heat, it is to have managed to take advantage of community feedback to your advantage, taking note as a silent scribe of all that can be improved from time to time. To carry high the banner of this concept is undoubtedly the narrative sector, closely linked with our (or our) protagonist and with the city itself. In fact, one of the most appreciated features already emerges from the first movies: the police have an identity. It is no longer a question of mere pawns to be thrown at the pilots, but we also find real characters (of which we do not anticipate anything) who will have a fundamental role in the plot, finally giving the "enemy" a familiar face. However, we will have plenty of enemies, like almost all the individual drivers who will burn their tires in Palm City; however, we will also have friendly faces on our side, allies who will help us in our ascent… but who will we impersonate?
This time the choice will be up to us. Unlike the first Need for Speed in which we impersonated an unknown rookie and Payback where we managed our crew with pre-established characters and an integral part of the plot, in Need for Speed Heat we will have a fixed narrative strand following in the footsteps of rise and success, but with our style. We will have available 12 starter avatars to choose from, divided equally between males and females, and all perfectly dubbed in Spanish: no pre-established character, no more silence. If none of the initial outfits seem particularly suitable for you, rest assured, because that too (as well as the haircut) can be changed by purchasing the various parts. Now that we've chosen who we are, we're ready to take over Palm City!
The city that never sleeps
Reputation and money, money and reputation. These are the constants that will mark ours progress. Nothing new so far, except for the fact that the ways in which we will make our way along these two "strands" are in a certain sense parallel. The official competitions will clearly be more useful to fill our wallets, while the night ones and the escapes from the police will be useful to acquire fame. But be careful! It will not be enough to flee, but also to return to a safe place! If you end up with the car in pieces (yes, there is a stamina indicator) or are arrested, all the progress of your night of raids will drop! To this, add that the police cars are quite fast and tough, and that it will not take much to make the alert level (as well as the multiplier of reputation gained) skyrocket. Day and night are not divided by time, and to move from one moment of the day to another, simply press a button while you look at the map, all at the cost of a short and not too tedious loading. You will have complete freedom as to which races to play first and which type! We also remind you that the crew will also play a decisive role and you can decide whether to stay with the initial one, change and move on to another, or even create your own!
TuningLand
The garage will be your second playground, where you can indulge yourself at best with tuning and customizations: these are very detailed, and now, thanks to a more careful choice of the individual parts (including the crankshaft) the game pushes much more towards hybridization, which is very clear already from the feeling on the track. If even when you are away from your gaming platform you can't help but think how your Mustang would look great with a spoiler or a different color, it also comes to your rescue. NFS Heat Studio, a free application for smartphones with which you can indulge yourself as much as you can in customization, and then connect everything to the main game. A really huge step forward when compared to the less appreciable slot machines of the previous title. Of course, everything has a price and a minimum REP required. To upgrade your racing cars you will have to spend money, so as to win and earn more, a vicious circle of the sweetest and most appreciated ever.
As already mentioned, a new feeling is overwhelmingly felt on the track: much more than we had seen in the past, the NFS series with Heat is approaching the hybrid world, not only for live tuning which on the road will allow us to change set-up, but also for improved physics and a decidedly less arcade style. However, we are far from the simulation genre, therefore lovers of the naked and raw arcade can sleep peacefully. This rejuvenation, combined with the workshop, has meant that Need for Speed Heat has acquired a good slice of extra credibility. Mind you, however, driving a muscle car will not be like sitting in a Ferrari Testa Rossa, and the characteristics of each vehicle have been refined this time, making the various cars suitable for one type of activity rather than another (whether race or drift, off-road or on asphalt). Last but not least, you can even customize the roar of your racing car, making it more aggressive or changing the hue. Curtain closed.
Wrench
Before the day one patch, the technical sector is good, but shaky in some respects: testing the title on PS4 Pro we were caught unprepared by a couple of frame drops, slow detail loads, and pre-race and passing loads. between the workshop and the road a little too long, even if well masked by the various poses of our sparkling car, complete with a character behind the wheel. In any case, we have complete confidence in the team, confident that most of these problems will be resolved as soon as possible. At the sum of all, in any case, the Frostbite 3 is promoted, albeit with some regrets. In any case, the work is good, and it shows, just as now the online sector, the management of the game groups and the challenges with the pilots of the same server have been managed in an excellent way. The audio sector appears to be extremely accurate, both in sound effects and in dubbing. However, we must reluctantly say that this time the choice of tracks was less multifaceted, focusing only on a couple of musical genres and moving even further away from the biting rock sounds (present instead in a pleasant mix in Payback).
