NASCAR Heat 4 Review

[AUTiger1]

Alright, here's my review of NASCAR Heat 4 after I've been playing it for the last couple of weeks. I love it. By far the best NASCAR video game I've ever placed and I've played a ton of them. The way the cars handle is so realistic and I love how the AI cars drive different lines around the track and how they have an awareness of where you are that has seriously been lacking in video games for years. I'm having so much fun with this game!!


The career mode is awesome, although there are a couple minor changes I would make to it. The first would be not have manufacturer tied to sponsor. That is annoying as crap, the other being the paint scheme design determined by the sponsor. I wish we had freedom to pick our own manufacturer and paint scheme design. Speaking of that, why are their only 3, number styles to choose from except for the numbers 8, 28, 36, and 99? Those are the only numbers that have a 4th option on them.


I love that they finally give you the option to use your real name and to design your driver suit in career mode. That's a much welcomed change.


The rivals system needs to be fixed. Just barely bumping a car should not make the driver turn into a rival. That's such crap.


Overall though, NASCAR Heat 4 is a major improvement in the right direction and the 704 Games team should be thoroughly proud of themselves and continue to build on an incredible game!!

[AUTiger1]

The rivals system in NASCAR Heat 4 is severely broken. You don't even touch anyone and after the race you've got people mad at you. I've got 9 rivals in the truck series because of this crap and I'm sick of it. I love everything else about this game but the rivals thing sucks.

[ILuvMN81]

If you were looking forward to a 2020 season update DLC, you're officially going to be disappointed.

https://nascarheat.com/nascar-heat-4-2020-dlc-update/

I'm mildly disappointed. I did like getting car and paint scheme updates but it was always once scheme all year. The schedule on the other hand is a bit cringeworthy (IMO). As anyone that follows the sport knows...NASCAR made major shakeups to the schedule and its playoffs; there's no option to make a custom schedule.
Guess we have to wait for the new game.

Possibly worth noting is the rumor that with the Tony Stewart dirt game, it looks like this series might be getting a new developer.

[goillini03]

I never understand why this game does not release in February every year. Sports titles that come out at the end of a season never make sense. I was hoping that they might turn their attention to the new generation of consoles, update graphics, presentation etc and just release 5 early next year.

[BurghFan]

Quote: Originally Posted by AUTiger1

The rivals system in NASCAR Heat 4 is severely broken. You don't even touch anyone and after the race you've got people mad at you. I've got 9 rivals in the truck series because of this crap and I'm sick of it. I love everything else about this game but the rivals thing sucks.

Was the same way in NH3. The AI think any contact is your fault regardless of how it occurred even if they initiated the contact.

Quote: Originally Posted by goillini03

I never understand why this game does not release in February every year. Sports titles that come out at the end of a season never make sense. I was hoping that they might turn their attention to the new generation of consoles, update graphics, presentation etc and just release 5 early next year.

I think part of it has to do with getting licencing from teams and sponsors and the fact that (especially for the smaller teams) these things aren't finalized until Speedweeks starts. Also (and again mainly pertaining to smaller teams), I think the developers want to see who is going to run the majority of the season so they can include drivers that actually compete more often than not.

[AUTiger1]

Quote: Originally Posted by goillini03

I never understand why this game does not release in February every year. Sports titles that come out at the end of a season never make sense. I was hoping that they might turn their attention to the new generation of consoles, update graphics, presentation etc and just release 5 early next year.

EA did the same thing when they made the NASCAR games. I've never figured out why they think coming out with a new NASCAR game in September is a good marketing idea. Game is always outdated by that point in the year.

[goillini03]

Quote: Originally Posted by BurghFan

Was the same way in NH3. The AI think any contact is your fault regardless of how it occurred even if they initiated the contact. I think part of it has to do with getting licencing from teams and sponsors and the fact that (especially for the smaller teams) these things aren't finalized until Speedweeks starts. Also (and again mainly pertaining to smaller teams), I think the developers want to see who is going to run the majority of the season so they can include drivers that actually compete more often than not.

That makes sense.

It just feels like the time to strike is early in the year when the hype is real. Could they not add drivers/teams with DLC packs? I just think that they would sell more early by capturing the casuals feeding off the hype of a new season.

[ILuvMN81]

Not sure if any of you all read the AMA on reddit yesterday; they're indeed changing the development of NH5 to in-house.

They're also looking to try and release the next game in the series "earlier" (no date given but supposedly before September) so it will still be on the current-gen systems until NH6/the 2021 game. They have confirmed that the development cycle for NH4 is over.

I'm afraid this game might be the peak of the series. Maybe they'll surprise us but I got a bit of a sour impression reading their answers. They were as honest as could be and that's the problem...they seem in over their heads. Great long-term vision for the franchise but in the short-term they seem a bit overwhelmed.

I agree with a user in the AMA that said they wouldn't be surprised if NH5 ends up how Nascar 15 was; if you don't recall, the now 704 games made a sort of a copypasta of ETX's Nascar '14 coding with minor updates to the car models and schedule/driver/team/sponsor changes to reflect the 2015 season while investing most of their energy into their own Nascar Heat Evolution.