Need For Speed Heat Review Roundup

Yep, another Need for Speed title. We too are crossing my fingers and toes that this latest entry in the series will be as good as Need for Speed Underground. To be fair, it seems Heat is trying to do just that as the game is all about competing in a series of sanctioned events where you can earn money to customize your personal fleet of cars, by day, then take on rival street racers in illegal street races ala Fast & Furious by night. So did it succeed? Here's what the critics had to say:

GAMESRADR  (Score 3.5/5)
"unless you really love modding cars, there’s nothing here that’s ever more than mildly entertaining. It’s not a disaster by any means, and it does feel slightly more enjoyable after the first 15 hours (yikes), but the Heat level is somewhere just above lukewarm in this one." 

Click here for the full review.

IGN  (Score 8/10)
"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."

Click here for the full review.

POLYGON  (No Score)
"In the end, that’s probably why Need for Speed Heat feels so bland — an entirely enjoyable diner meal when I’m on the road, but nothing I’d take friends or family to. Racing video games are now in a time when when graphical fidelity and raw computing power can deliver access to driving experiences we only dreamed of during this franchise’s real heyday. And yet, in present day, Need for Speed Heat seems limited, reminding me of all the things that made it distinct, but still hedging against them in case I don’t find them enjoyable. I’m confused about what would have made this game better, but the series seems just as confused about what it wants to be."

Click here for the full review.

VG24/7  (Score 4/5)
"For the first time in years, Need For Speed has remembered why people used to play it so religiously, and recognised the more recent elements that put them off. I’ll take a missed checkpoint or a dodgy police bust now and again in exchange for a return to Underground’s unlock structure and tuner fetishism; for Hot Pursuit’s high stakes chases; for an EA release in 2019 without an RNG element designed to slow progress."

​Click here for the full review.

EUROGAMER  (No Score)
"After recent disappointments, it's certainly a refreshing take. There are times, when I'm prowling the streets in my slammed 180SX, the exhaust barking my own custom tone while the tarmac is bathed in a sickly neon underglow as Latino hip-hop thumps out the car's souped-up soundsystem, that Need for Speed Heat comes so tantalisingly close to delivering on the classic Fast & Furious fantasy. This might still be a little way off of the series' best, but at least Heat serves as a reminder of what can be so special about Need for Speed."

Click here for the full review.

Overall, Need for Speed Heat currently sits at a Metascore of 75 from 21 reviews, which suggests the game may not be perfect game, but a pretty decent one. It seems it felt  just short of reaching the heights of Underground but, at least the series may be back on track.

Need for Speed Heat is out right now on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.