Need For Speed Heat has been revealed. The 2019 edition of the racing game series, and the 24th game of the series- depending on how you count them- has some significant changes. Cop chases are touted to be back in full, a new day-night system where you earn different currency, races and different levels of cop aggression. More new cars and customisation parts.
But so far, the biggest point of contention within the Need For Speed community is, of course, the handling model.
The Under The Hood blog post made mention of a “brand new handling model”. In various post replies on the game’s subreddit, Need For Speed’s community manager Ben Walke said that “Handling. Expect grip to be a lot better.”
For context, the current iteration of Need For Speed games under Ghost Games features the brake-to-drift handling seen in Burnout games. The first to adopt this was when Burnout developers Criterion created Need For Speed Hot Pursuit (2010). While the handling system is fun, NFS fans wanted the handling model of the older games.
To make matters worse, when Need For Speed (2015) touted its customisable handling model that can have Burnout-style drift and Need For SpeedUnderground-style grip. But grip handling is objectively worse. Need For Speed Payback made some improvements, like the ability to tune the handling model on the go, but drifting is still significantly the faster way around corners than normal braking. We broke down in more detail why it’s an issue here.
Over on Reddit, fans are still skeptical on this promise, understandably so. The little glimpse of gameplay we saw in Need For Speed Heat’s reveal has a car doing brake-to-drift, which does not inspire the confidence of the claims. Again, these fans were being touted on the promise of grip-based handling model for the last four years. The comments on the Under The Hood post also have mixed reactions in regard to a new handling model, most of which are of concern.
Still, the gameplay debut will be today on gamescom Opening Night Live, and the game is playable at the show for the public. For now, there are concerned fans (including some over at Gamer Matters), but let’s wait and see first if it really is a new handling model.
Need For Speed Heat will be out on November 8th for the PS4, PC (Origin) and Xbox One.