Need for Speed is a staple in the car racing community. Need For Speed games go back over twenty years, and their 24th game, Need for Speed Heat, or NFS Heat, depending on who you ask, is no exception. I will share some of the details and features in the 2019 game and answer whether it is worth playing or not in 2026.
Need for Speed Heat was developed in 2019 by EA Games, more specifically EA Gothenburg, based in Sweden. The game takes place in fictional Palm City and adjacent areas, which are based on the real-life city of Miami, Florida. The offline story mode follows you, the “new” driver, to Palm City, and the Rivera siblings, Lucas and Ana, who are important characters on both sides of the game, day and night. You also drive to evade and fight the financially and morally corrupt High-Speed Task Force, led by Lt. Frank Mercer.
One of the main selling points for Need for Speed games is the 127 cars that can be upgraded and modified in endless ways. Items like the engine, brakes, transmission, boost, and more can all be improved to give the car a better score, which gives you a benchmark for how good the car will race. I upgraded my starter car, the Nissan 180SX Type X 96’, to become a speed machine by modifying the turbo, the boost system, and other parts of the engine, but the possibilities are endless.
You can race at two different times to progress, one in the day and one at night. In the morning, you gain cash through legal races and time trials; where at night, street races roam the streets, and speed traps are the best way to go. You also earn Rep (this game’s version of XP), but you run the risk of being caught by the cops, which leads to my favorite feature: getting chased by the cops in car chases!
But this game has some surprising drawbacks. First, compared to other games, the Car selection feels narrow. Through most of the game, it only feels like you have your starter car and not much else. Second, the game can become very repetitive as you level up Rep. Lastly, the online experience can be buggy, and once in a while, someone who is clearly cheating drives in and ruins a multiplayer race. This is due to the game’s live service (updates) in 2020, leading to the game becoming a sort of “wild west” when it comes to unfixed bugs and cheats.
Overall, Need For Speed Heat has some great features, but some important drawbacks. For the 3 dollars it fetches on XBOX, I feel like it is a good purchase overall for fans of car games and cop chases. But it is nothing to go out of your way to get, I would give it a 3.5/5 star rating.
