The game promises to take some steps in the right direction following what many believe (myself included) to be some very lackluster entries into the NASCAR franchise.
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| Is that a new menu screen?? |
Let's start with what NASCAR Heat 4 does well, or at least what it improves upon from its predecessors.
The main screen is a lot cleaner than in years past, and it seems more in line with current sports offering, like MLB's The Show and the NFL's Madden franchise. The menu is extremely easy to navigate, and even features your driver stats on the main screen, which is a very nice upgrade. To view these in the past, you would have to wade through menus to find your win totals.
When it comes to gameplay, Heat 4 improves upon many of the games from the past. They've been able to re-haul the physics of how the cars drive. No longer does touching a car cause your car to "ping-pong" off your fellow drivers, and the cars seem to react more in-line with their real-world counterparts.
The game even includes bumps on numerous tracks to show roughness. With my little bit of time with the game, it was most pronounced at Atlanta, as the car was bouncing in the corner because of how rough that track is.
The graphics engine has also seen an improvement for what seems like the first time since the last generation of consoles. The cars and tracks look great, and for once I didn't feel like I was playing on an impressive PS3 game.
In the career mode, the team member aspect of owning your own team is also changed. Instead of being able to max out all stat categories for your team members, each one now has a specialty. With the new engine, aero and suspension specialists, the career mode has an added element of realism, which should affect your weekly plans.
The game also changed the way you are raced by the AI. Your fellow drivers will pick multiple racing grooves, and it is pretty fun to race alongside. In an Xfinity race, I was battling Cole Custer for the lead. As I got closer to Custer, he moved to the outside line and gave me the bottom, but he moved back to the bottom when I failed to pass him a few laps later.
Two other minor changes that caught my eye were the inclusion of more options in the pause menu and a track map in the lower corner. The pause menu now allows you to change a few gameplay options mid-race. While there really isn't much you can do, it is nice to see that 704 Games seems headed towards a more intricate pause menu like many other games.
The inclusion of the track map in the lower corner is also a welcome addition that was features in NASCAR games for year. It allows the player to see where the leader is in relation to them, and they can see where they are on the track.
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| Martinsville at night: a sexy pre-order bonus. |
The paint booth once again lacks depth. While there are numerous pre-made paint schemes to pick from, as well as the ability to pick any number, it would still be nice to be able to create your own custom scheme and drive it on the track. Maybe one day we will once again have an in-depth paint booth experience.
Another issue has to deal with looking backwards on road courses, which causes the camera to fly up and look over the car. While this is a small issue, it is something that was an issue in the last game that I would have liked to see fixed.
The cars are actually a lot tougher to pass, and I'm not sure if this is a problem with the game itself or if they actually implemented the new rules package into the game. Maybe Kyle Busch was right when he said these cars were hard to pass, so I won't hold that against the game.
My last two gripes with the game come from my Gold Edition purchase. Originally advertised as a Jeff Gordon "steel book," the game was shipped in a hard to open cardboard case. While 704 Games announced that an issue with their manufacturer caused a problem with the steel book, I was not expecting them to go with such low-rate packaging for their hardcore fans.
Another issue was that the included Season Pass DLC was not available to redeem on Day 1 (at least on PS4). While the code eventually was accepted the day after release, I have still been unable to download the special Jeff Gordon legend car that was a major selling point of the Gold Edition. As of this writing, I have not heard anything back from 704 Games after reaching out to them about the issue.
My Verdict:
While NASCAR Heat 4 is still affected by some recurring issues that have plagued the games for years, there is a lot of promise from this entry in the franchise. 704 Games has shown that they can move forward with this franchise, and I hope they will continue to grow the scope of the game. The game is fun to play, and it should be a must-buy for any NASCAR fans. I would recommend the standard edition for $59.99 unless you will be buying all the DLC as it is released, in which case the $69.99 price on the Gold Edition is a nice way to save some money.
RATING:
7.5/10
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