Need for Speed Heat Review

There was a time when Need for Speed was a dominant force in the world of racers. EA released a series of critically acclaimed titles bearing the franchise name but it has lost its luster in recent times.

Need for Speed Heat has the unenviable job of trying to re-establish the series. That is no easy task in an age where there are so many great racing games. Especially when EA cannot seem to decide what they want Need for Speed to be. Can the game reach the former glories of the franchise or does it fall by the wayside once again?

Story

Racing games don’t really need much of a story. That is probably why most stick with a straightforward career mode where you progress through the ranks. Having a proper narrative distracts from what players want to do ⁠— race fast cars. But if a developer wants to include a story, they can at least make sure it is not a confusing mess. Ghost Games definitely didn’t heed that advice.

The premise sees the player arrive in a fictional version of Miami known as Palm City. Here you meet Lt. Frank Mercer, who has set a goal of completely stopping all illegal street races. It’s the cliche story of a relatively unknown protagonist coming in to save the day while battling against the odds. Unfortunately, everything soon begins to unravel as the narrative aimlessly wanders around without actually telling any story.

Ultimately, the plot ends up being a mess that makes no sense. Exactly what the motivations of the characters are is never made clear. Meanwhile, references to shadowy organizations and people are never explained. There is just no cohesive plot. The only saving grace is that the story is thankfully short. Even with all the filler you have to go through to unlock missions, it only lasts a few hours.