039PREVIEW
The difference between the two
halves of Need For Speed Heat
is night and day. Literally. The
backbone of your Palm City
racing career is flipping between
the two times. “The real simple
explanation,” says Ghost Games’ creative director
Riley Cooper, “is day is the fastest place to earn
Bank, night is the fastest place to earn Rep.
And you need both to fuel your progression.”
Depending on which time of day you sign up for
events “you’re chasing kind of a different goal
and a much different feeling,” says Cooper.The idea of Heat is hardly new to the Need For
Speed experience – it’s been in the game since
2005’s Most Wanted – so why is it coming to
the forefront now as part of the game’s title? “We
leverage it now to really separate the day and night
experience,” says Cooper. “Day focuses
on sanctioned racing, no traffic, no cops
chasing during events. So you can really
just focus on your racing line and your
performance. But at night there is traffic,
cops will chase you during events, and after
events.” In our hands-on we unwisely earn
the highest Heat possible – outfoxing the
police outside the events we play comes as
much to the forefront as the (super-slick)
races we’d just competed in.BANK HOLIDAY
You use the Bank you earn during the day
portions to buy parts to upgrade your car,
which you then put the test in the illegal
racing at night. You can choose when to
switch between day and night, as long as you’re not
being chased. “Night is all about danger and risk,
how far you want to push it. So your Heat meter
is two things really: it’s a literal indication of how
much cop attention you’re gonna get; but it’s also
a multiplier on the Rep you earn that night,” explains
Cooper. “If you get you get busted or you wreck
you lose your multiplier. So that’s kind of a push-
pull of night. It asks you a question: how far are
you going to push it?
Exactly how you upgrade your car is also
completely up to you. Car parts aren’t a loot
mechanic, gained at random, but something youmostly buy to spec your vehicle how
you want. “We leaned more to a more
grounded experience,” Cooper explains.
“Late-game you can earn some of the
best parts through participating in
high-Heat events at night. But by and
large, you buy the parts.”TWEAK OF HEART
The races we play are responsive,
blazingly fast, and have us raring
to go for more. And with plenty of
collectables (smashable billboards
make a return, as does street art you
can find to unlock as decals), there’s
a lot to come back for. On top of that
the team has teased some serious
post-launch additions that will keep
online racing crews busy. For example,
drag racing won’t be included in the
game at launch, but “it’s something
we’re considering looking into for
later,” says Cooper. Across the day and
night event variations there’s plenty
to play through already: street racing,
drift racing, and off-road racing, as
well as activities like speed traps and
big air challenges.
Bryn Alban, Need For Speed Heat’s
vehicle director, wants to make one
thing clear: Ghost Games has listened
to player feedback and the handling
model has been almost completely
revised. “The car is now up to you
to build it the way that you want to
build it,” says Alban. “The archetypes
no longer exist as a form of driving
you towards different driving styles.”
What this means is: you want an
off-road car? Put off-road parts on it.
Fancy trying your hand at grip racing?
Put those parts on. Any car can enter
almost any race event, so it’s up to
you decide how much you spec for
certain events. Parts can be changed
out at any time, and you can swap cars
at the start of events. It’s a refreshing
feeling – like a weight has been lifted
and we’ve been set free.NEED FOR SPEED HEAT
Welcome to Palm City’s Blazing Squad
FORMAT PS4 / ETA 8 NOV / PUB ELECTRONIC ARTS / DEV GHOST GAMESFACTRICK
Customising is easy – a ‘car
map’ dynamically changes
as you alter parts so you
know how you’re specced.- GREASY FINGERS
Ghost Games wants to
avoid Payback’s “prescribed
progression path”. You’re
free to pick most challenges.
- FREE WHEELING
You’ll be placed in an
online community so
you can see how other
players are doing.- JUST CREW IT