Quick Look: Need for Speed: Heat

I havent had a need for speed for a long time, and it seems this wont reignite that need either.

This game looks good and the presentation is nice but the story and the rest are just meh.

Even with the lukewarm talk, I’m kind of intrigued by it, and I’m not sure why? The look goes a long way.

I appreciate there's an audience for Need for Speed, but it's always fell flat to me. I wish they'd do something more radical with the franchise cause it's boring as hell.

As usual I want to punch everybody that opens his/her mouth in these games in the face.

It would be cool for Jeff to play Rivals again and directly compare it with this game.

God the NFS driving model feels like garbage, and it hasn't changed for like 5 games. :(

For title called "Need For Speed" that is set in Florida, there is serious lack of meth in this.

This looks, from a UI and gameplay perspective, very similar to Payback with the slot machine thing removed.

The last time I played a Need for Speed game was the 2015 one, and its handling was a little heavy for me, but I'm digging the Miami vibes here, so maybe I'll give it a rental to try it out. The very fact that I can actually pause the game helps, too. It's wild how much good will I have for this series based almost entirely on how much I loved Need for Speed: Underground on PS2, but there you have it.

Also, I'm glad that EA continues to make these; outside of The Crew, I can't think of another big budget, arcade racing series for the PS4. I'm perfectly happy with the Forza Horizon series on Xbox, but it's good to have different flavors for different consoles, you know?

I've been waiting for this QL with bated breath. Unreasonably so.

"If you tune too much into drifting it becomes a job."

Word.

This looks completely uninspired. Too bad. My wait for another NFS as good as Most Wanted (2005) continues!

Is it just me or anyone else getting weird hitching in the videos recently on here? (latest version of chrome).

I was gonna buy this but opted for a month of premiere to try it and star wars dark souls next week. I love the underground aesthetic. May b you y it but better for 15 save

Jeff said the double tap to drift is the same as all Need For Speed games but that's not true at all. The last two games used a type of "break to drift" common to games done by Ghost Games. This one was the first to go back to double tap since the early NFS/Burnout games. According to the devs, the whole handling was also tweaked in this game compared to previous games after NFS2015 and Payback received an huge amount of criticism. Unfortunately, they never mention that in this Quick Look and just by this video alone I don't really know what's better or worse in this game compared to previous NFS titles because they're treating most of NFS:Heat as the same as every NFS game even though there's supposed to be some changes (they do mention the removal of the "card" mechanics and better story than Payback though).

Same deal with when Ben (and Jeff on the Bombcast) talking like there's been zero marketing for this game when in reality there's been a ton of promotional stuff going on (mobile app with constant updates, dev blogs, reddit threads, demos in various conferences, etc. They even had a small feud with Toyota on Twitter!). Just because they've changed the way they promote NFS, it doesn't mean EA is acting like the game doesn't exist. I'm not even that much of a fan of it and I've been getting a ton of info since announcement until release.

Anyway, this doesn't seem like the Need For Speed I wanted, which is a shame, but it does seem to have some cool stuff going on. Might check the coverage on some other websites and if it sounds better I'll probably get it when it's cheap enough. I still feel like NFS2015 was the best one for this generation, even thought the handling and rubber banding was awful.

Also, I really appreciated that Kid Cudi joke Jeff made at the beginning.

Discount FH4 but with a different attitude that COULD be fun, but they don't commit fully to what it FEELS like they are going for (like they are scared of losing some "edge").

holy shit! they actually called it "bank"...again

@johnymyko: Yeah, I feel like this game may have been better served if the Quick Look came after more of the game had been unlocked; I agree with Jeff that it seems a little ordinary at this point, but I don't feel like I know enough about how the progression and moment-to-moment experiences shake out from watching this.

One of the unintended consequences of the Quick Look format is how the amount of information put into the video feels proportional to how much the editor is enjoying the game. If the editor likes the game (Brad's Shadow of Mordor QL, for instance), I end up learning a lot about the it. If they don't (this video, the Far Cry 5 video), then I end up feeling under-informed about the game and whether or not I would like it, even if the GB staff doesn't. I always thought that QL's are supposed to help the viewer make a purchase decision based on how an "average" play session shakes out—rather than the more holistic, albeit potentially superficial appraisal of a review—but I never feel like I have enough information to make the choice for myself with these kinds of QLs.

EA, just make Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2! Best NFS game in the last decade and you seemingly learned nothing from it.

You can change the drift mechanic in the live tuning menu (right on d pad) from gas to brake.

This game is really fun but I turned the music off after 10 minutes. It really is awful.

Seems like that cop might be a bad dude, but the protagonists are wearing tracksuit pants when they clearly aren't actually going to the gym. So, a lot of crimes happening.

I 100% agree!

Man this makes me so sad, I used to be such a huge NFS fan. But the last one I liked was the Hot Pursuit "Remake" they did back in 2010. It was exciting and so much fun. Getting to play both drivers and cops with abilities. Thats what I want in a new NFS game. Bring that back EA! This one looks fantastic visually but I just don't have the desire to own this one...

Forget about friends, THIS IS MIAMIIIIIIII

@dezinus: you’re really good at dancing! Are you from Pari?!

NFS is firmly in the arcade racer genre. The Shift games are the only ones that flirted with anything sim like.

I <3 overrun :(

This game is really fun. I spent 3 hours repeating the same hill climb course because the game is so beautiful and the controls of the cars feels awesome. I kinda wish I bought it now instead of playing it on premiere.

What happened to exotic cars racing through exotic places while getting chased by cops

@bathala: there still there just late game like most racing games , Map is pretty big so maybe there is some exotic places.

still on the wait for it to go cheaper side but after watching a video of someone using Endgame car parts the sense of speed is night N Day compared to the early hours of the game it goes full on arcadey

Cops are ruthlessly frustrating and cheap, but I think I like it. Worth a month of premiere subscription.

@charlie_victor_bravo: Theres two white girls you can choose and one is covered head to toe in tattoos, and looks 100% like a malnourished methhead. The other white girl looks like a prostitute. This is seriously one of the worst looking games ive ever played. Its like they thought oversharpening and desaturating was a great design choice.

There was a weird amount of face masks for a 2019 game.