Operation Sports Forums - Nascar Heat 2 Impressions.....

I wasn't overly impressed with their first effort, I said I wasn't going to buy this one until I read impressions from people here, but I had a gift card to burn, and the lower price, combined with what I've seen of the additions of the Xfinity and Trucks, I pulled the trigger on it. I figured if I played the first game as much as I did (over 200 races) as bad as it was, the additions of Xfinity and Trucks combined with the new career mode would have me playing this one at least just as much. So ultimately I got it for about $30 (Canadian) as opposed to the $49.99 it retailed for here.

Early impressions after 4 races this morning (1 Cup, 1 Xfinity, 2 Trucks) here's my thoughts:

Visuals:
- it's improved. They did a nice job with some of the newer sky textures, and lighting/colors. Especially the twilight type sky at Iowa. Night at Gateway looked good too.
- That being said, it's still not a current gen looking title to me. Everything looks a bit flat, and almost unnatural. If you were ok with last year's, you'll be ok with this year.
- The frame rate seems improved on the XB1, but that's still not saying much. It's likely 30, but I'm skeptical on that. It doesnt seem to hang up or chug with the mirror up like last year.
- There's an issue somtimes where it almost pauses prior to spotter audio coming in. This needs to be patched ASAP. It's like it hangs up for a split second.
- The different cars and trucks look good given the game's limited visuals. Truck models look nice. Xfinity car models look good. Same with the Cup. For what they've got to work with, they look good.

Sound:
- I'm not sure what they were going for with the engine sounds here. I don't think it sounds good at all. I thought I saw something about a patch for that? However my XB shows that the game was updated 09/11 so I assume it's got the latest update? They just don't sound good to me.
- Spotter audio is way to difficult to hear. Not loud enough. Not sure if there's a way to up it, or turn down the engine volume, but it's almost impossible to hear him
- As I mentioned above, there's a glitch of some sort that almost pauses the screen while certain spotter audio plays. It's got to get fixed ASAP.

Gameplay:
- Handling with the controller is by far superior to NHE1. It's not even close to comparable. It's so improved I can't even explain it. I feel like it's maybe a touch too controllable actually. That's with assists off. Mind you, I ran races at Michigan (Cup & trucks), Iowa (Xfinity), and Gateway (trucks) so not exactly difficult handling tracks. I will say Gateway was a bit more challenging with the braking involved and such.
- There's definitely a more weight like feeling to the cars.
- You can do some rubbing with the AI cars without wildly spinning this year. That's nice to see. It's not an instant spin anymore, but if you keep it up and don't provide steering/gas/brake input to stop a spin once it starts, you're on your own, and likely getting wrecked.
- AI seemed to be running different lines on their own accord, that was nice to see. I can't comment much on them though, I had them set way to low for me to really experience driving with them. I was just trying to turn a few laps in a hurry this morning.
- I haven't gotten into career. Can't comment yet
- I did cause a spin on the backstretch at Michigan, punted an AI car into the back stretch wall, bounced off back into traffic and spun to the infield. No caution came out? That was a disappointment. Not sure if this is going to be a continuing issue, but one surely should have come out.
- some people asked about stage racing... You have the ability to enable, or disable stages when setting up a quick race. I think you have to go beyond 7% distance to be able to enable stages. Which makes sense to me so there's enough laps to put them in. Not sure what happens in career. I'd assume they're on by default, and longer race length is forced? I can't see them not including stages in career as it would mean different point system options. Maybe someone else can confirm who's spent time in career mode?
- Definitely a different feel to the cup/Xfinity/trucks drivign model. Trucks are slower obviously, bit more stiff, especially compared to the Cup cars. Xfinity settle in the middle. To me, I definitely noticed a difference in them from a power, and steering/control standpoint.

Online:
- No comment. Didn't play.

My specific Issues/Concerns:
- Ability to name you driver. Completely inexcusable IMO to still not have this ability. You can create a car in each series for yourself, you can (I think) create your player model, but you can't change your name from your gamertag? Come on... This has to be patched too IMO.
- Spotter audio issue as mentioned above.
- No actual traction or stability control. No anti-lock brakes on/off setting. It's still basically "Normal" or "Expert" (formerlly simulation from NHE1). That's a letdown for me considering basically EVERY racing game includes these basic options in their driving model.
- No custom control mapping. Another major letdown for me that carried over from NHE1. It's their control scheme, and that's it. I think theirs is awful too if you want to use a manual transmission. I prefer my gas as the Right trigger, brake as left. Shift up as the RB, and down as the LB. That way when I'm on the gas with my right finger, I can shift up with the LB, and opposite for braking.
- No caution flag flew in a crash where one definitely should have. Not sure if there's enough to be concerned here about yet or not. Have to see how it develops.
- Must run at least a 7% race length to have "All flags" as an option, and to have tire wear/fuel consumption.
- The default car setup at Iowa (Xfinity) doesn't have enough gear in it. I was redlining it for quite sometime heading into the turns. Be aware if you're running there.

Pretty brief experience this morning with only 4 short races. I'd sum it up as this... Is it better than NHE1? Absolutely. By Far. It's a pretty good step in the right direction. That being said, in my eyes, is it where it needs to be as a fully licensed game for one of the premier forms of auto racing in the world? No. Not at all. I feel confident in saying that even though I haven't experienced career mode. I think the additions to career will be awesome, and will guarantee more play for me in this one, than in NHE1 (which as I said, I played alot of in spite of it's flaws) so I'm happy about that, but the fact of the matter is, it's just far, far behind a title like F1 2017 in representing a digital/gaming version of it's sport. They've made some nice strides, that will definitely make this more enjoyable than the first. It's a pretty big improvement, no doubt about that. I wanted more, and it needs more, especially in the way of options an customization in the driving and control model.

Last year, after 4 quick races I already knew I regretted my decision to buy NHE1 and I was extremely bitter. Some of the videos for NH2 had me excited. I tempered my expectations a bit, but ultimately ended up hyped to try it with the additions they've made, and after 4 races this year, I definitely don't regret the decision to buy it. I think if you could find a way to enjoy NHE1 enough to play it, then NH2 is a good investment for you, because it's definitely better in all areas, except for customizing your controller, and driving model settings. I'm impressed with the progress they made, hope they address some of the little issues, but all in all, it's by far an improvement, but as I said, it's not like they catapulted themselves into F1 2017 territory. They're still in their own limited world with what they have to work with, but they definitely improved it.