Need for Speed: Heat

Gaming NexusCarter Kilmann

8.8/10

The day/night dynamic is entertaining and mixes things up. The car list is better than expected. Customization is clean and maximizes personalization. And the driving mechanics aren't overly complicated but present enough of a challenge.

WayTooManyGamesThomas Medina

8.5/10

You know what’s more surprising than EA publishing a great Star Wars game? EA publishing a great Need for Speed. Since the series’ glory days on the PlayStation 2, it has been rebooted repeatedly to increasingly lukewarm results. The last entry in the franchise, Need for Speed: Payback, was easily the series’ lowest point and many thought it was time to put the IP to rest. Yet Ghost Games tried again, and third time ended up being the charm. Need for Speed: Heat is a back-to-basics ent...

Steam Deck HQNoah Kupetsky

8/10

Need for Speed: Heat is a beautiful game with a great gameplay loop, but due to the Internet limits of Origin and the game itself, there are some pretty big compromises to make.

Final WeaponUnknown

Need for Speed: Heat redeems the series with engaging gameplay, insane amounts of customization and remembers its past fondly. From start to finish, racing in Palm City's night lights and sunny atmosphere reminds players why they were elated fans of a once great franchise.

PSExtremeRyan Hartmann

7.5/10

Despite its seemingly unwavering, and unending, popularity the Need for Speed franchise has really fallen off my radar since 2012’s Most Wanted. The further ...

Worth PlayingAndreas Salmen

7.2/10

Need for Speed Heat is a street racer versus cop racing game with expressive customization, authentic urban car culture, and an immersive narrative that pulls you into the game.

Press StartBrodie Gibbons

7/10

It's clear that Ghost Games has taken a touch of Paradise and applied it to Heat, resulting in a thrilling and beautiful racing game that's bursting with things to do. Though their ambition was bold, they strayed too far from comfort in putting Heat together. When measured up against its own franchise, Heat does a lot to move the series in the right direction and it's a clear, marked improvement over Payback.

Push SquareStephen Tailby

7/10

Republished on Wednesday 31st August 2022: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows.

Overall, when Need for Speed: Heat is producing its promised fantasy, it’s a wonderful game which I’m always happy to keep coming back to. Ghost Games have improved their engine and systems to make the city and cars feel better than ever, and Heat’s core gameplay loop is designed to last. Occasionally there are the moments which require suspension of disbelief, and it’s possible for the more misguided elements to build tedium in an otherwise strong entry to the series. Heat is a marked improvement on the last few Need for Speed games, however, and I hope that further refinement will se…

VGChartzLee Mehr

6/10

Need for Speed Heat feels like a hotrod just a few parts shy of reaching its former glory.“What happened to the Need for Speed series?”  This was the most recycled thought I had after playing [...]

WCCFtechNathan Birch

6/10

The Need for Speed series has been stuck in second gear for a while now. 2017’s Need for Speed Payback was a particularly frustrating experience, as it looked and played great, but was held back by an annoying money-grubbing Ultimate-Team-style structure. Electronic Arts and developer Ghost Games are clearly trying to make amends with Need for Speed Heat, as it kicks any sort of microtransactions to the curb and hearkens back to the cops ‘n’ robbers theme of past entries in the series.

Analog Stick GamingJeff Young

Unscored

The Need for Speed franchise has had a recent history of being glanced at and forgotten due to several of the titles in the past decade being less than stellar. Its newest entry, Need for Speed: Heat was released just three months after it was officially announced to very little fanfare or marketing