NASCAR Heat 5 Review: Familiar But In a Good Way

[StoneCalf]

First of all, this is the most I've enjoyed a Nascar game in a long time. I started playing Nascar games with Nascar '98 PS1, then enjoyed NR2003 on PC back in the day. I've also played several since then, most notably Thunder 2004, Dirt to Daytona (that one has a place in my heart, in the nostalgic section), most of the Eutechnyx offerings, and all of the Heat games. Oh, I forgot that I played a lot of EA's Nascar '09 on PS3.

Seems like Heat is a polarizing series. I'm in the camp of liking it and being able to extract quite a lot of enjoyment out of it. They will (most likely) be able to make a sale to me each year. This should not be interpreted that I'm fully pleased nor satisfied as some versions show more effort and improvement than others, but the series has shown continued improvement each year, in my experience and opinion.

Sure, I'd like to see a higher quality game on par with Codemasters F1 series. Maybe the series will approach that, but I'm not going to hold my breath or boycott for that. It will be interesting to see if the Developer makes the transition to a new engine and next generation without taking two steps backward. Even EA lost several key and beloved features from the 2003-2005 games as they progressed.

Sidenote: I'm going to try and not beat up on older games, because I do appreciate and respect those and opinions of others, but Thunder 2004 was hard for me to maintain interest in as the Rivals feature was always an issue for me, specifically it was way overdone with drivers seeking payback.


Now, on to the game feedback and career report!

Update, as I began my career in NH5, custom start in the Truck series. (because I played so much dirt in NH3 and 4 that I wanted a different start)

I've logged 12 races so far, and aside from being left in the dust at the opener in Daytona, I've very much enjoyed racing at the back of the pack as I improve my team.

I elected to start my own team, as opposed to joining a team. I also decline contract offers/opportunities immediately, as I just want to slowly grow my team, and feel the incremental effects of improving my departments and training employees, as funds allow. This part of the career is very good, and these granular improvements have a noticeable result on track. I love having multiple trucks and employees, and doing the prep and planning for upcoming events.

I race in what I think of as "sprints". Racing 25% with normal tire wear and fuel consumption. Good race length for me as races take about 20 minutes on average. I don't want to clench my butt cheeks for longer at a time than that lol. (TMI, I know) I suck at approaching the pits, so with the "sprints" I have enough fuel that I don't have to make a pit stop. One flaw with the A.I. that I've noticed so far is that when a caution occurs, none of the AI cars choose to pit and take on fresh tires. I would expect that if you're running near the back of the pack, it would be wise to get fresh tires to gain an advantage. I was doing that in my first races, but when I noticed that no other cars were doing that, I felt I was getting an unfair advantage, so I just skip pitting and that keeps me on a level playing field. So I've had to introduce my first "house rule", but no game is perfect and I'm okay with implementing things like this that improves my overall experience.

One more bug that I'll go ahead and get out of the way is that the glitch (from NH4) is still there where the reported fastest lap of the race is erroneous (for example a 14 second lap when it actually takes 32 seconds to make a lap). Oh and on the results screen after one race, the entire field, including the race Winner, finished one lap down....um ok....

Season 1 results so far: (Q = Qualified, F = Finishing position, My car ratings = #/#/#...Engine/Aero/Suspension)
(racing on Hard)

1. Daytona - Q 32, F 32 (73/70/72) lost draft early, then just made laps...sad
2. Las Vegas - Q 32, F 28 (75/75/75)
3. Atlanta - Q 32, F 19 (79/75/75)
4. Homestead - Q 29, F 21 (80/78/79)
5. Texas - Q 30, F 20 (80/79/81)
6. Richmond - Q 26, F 30 (80/79/81) struggled, bad setup, pushing
7. Dover - Q 30, F 27 (80/80/81) tough track for me! (but I like the challenge)
8. Charlotte - Q 32, F 25 (80/81/81)
9. Kansas - Q 29, F 20 (80/81/81) super fun race
10. Texas - Q 29, F 20 (80/82/82)
11. Iowa - Q 25, F 18 (81/81/85)
12. Chicagoland - Q 29, F 14 (85/83/85)

As you can see, tracking with improved results as the departments are slowly but surely upgraded, along with investing in training team members.

Currently standing at 27th in the Points.

For driving assists, the training wheels are slowly coming off- I have turned all assists related to steering to 0, as those began making things worse as my skills improved. I've still got "wall avoidance" on 35. Not sure exactly what wall avoidance does, but I like the sound of it lol, and I am not hitting the walls frequently like I used to.


And for anyone interested wheel stuff, here's a few notes from my experience with the Logitech G920 (XB1)

• Overall very pleased with this wheel and pedal set
• Good performance & has worked seamlessly & flawlessly on NH5. True plug-and-play
• I've got force feedback set to around 20% strength, personal preference
• One con is that it does have what people refer to as a "notchy" feel. One of my other hobbies is RC car and trucks, and I can tell it's the feeling of pinion gears on the twin motors against a larger gear or rack. Instead of being supersmooth (like I imagine some wheels with belts) you can feel tiny bumps as you finely steer. Not a big issue for me at all. Most important to me is performance & reliability

[Jeffrey99]

Quote: Originally Posted by StoneCalf

First of all, this is the most I've enjoyed a Nascar game in a long time. I started playing Nascar games with Nascar '98 PS1, then enjoyed NR2003 on PC back in the day. I've also played several since then, most notably Thunder 2004, Dirt to Daytona (that one has a place in my heart, in the nostalgic section), most of the Eutechnyx offerings, and all of the Heat games. Oh, I forgot that I played a lot of EA's Nascar '09 on PS3. Seems like Heat is a polarizing series. I'm in the camp of liking it and being able to extract quite a lot of enjoyment out of it. They will (most likely) be able to make a sale to me each year. This should not be interpreted that I'm fully pleased nor satisfied as some versions show more effort and improvement than others, but the series has shown continued improvement each year, in my experience and opinion. Sure, I'd like to see a higher quality game on par with Codemasters F1 series. Maybe the series will approach that, but I'm not going to hold my breath or boycott for that. It will be interesting to see if the Developer makes the transition to a new engine and next generation without taking two steps backward. Even EA lost several key and beloved features from the 2003-2005 games as they progressed. Sidenote: I'm going to try and not beat up on older games, because I do appreciate and respect those and opinions of others, but Thunder 2004 was hard for me to maintain interest in as the Rivals feature was always an issue for me, specifically it was way overdone with drivers seeking payback. Now, on to the game feedback and career report! Update, as I began my career in NH5, custom start in the Truck series. (because I played so much dirt in NH3 and 4 that I wanted a different start) I've logged 12 races so far, and aside from being left in the dust at the opener in Daytona, I've very much enjoyed racing at the back of the pack as I improve my team. I elected to start my own team, as opposed to joining a team. I also decline contract offers/opportunities immediately, as I just want to slowly grow my team, and feel the incremental effects of improving my departments and training employees, as funds allow. This part of the career is very good, and these granular improvements have a noticeable result on track. I love having multiple trucks and employees, and doing the prep and planning for upcoming events. I race in what I think of as "sprints". Racing 25% with normal tire wear and fuel consumption. Good race length for me as races take about 20 minutes on average. I don't want to clench my butt cheeks for longer at a time than that lol. (TMI, I know) I suck at approaching the pits, so with the "sprints" I have enough fuel that I don't have to make a pit stop. One flaw with the A.I. that I've noticed so far is that when a caution occurs, none of the AI cars choose to pit and take on fresh tires. I would expect that if you're running near the back of the pack, it would be wise to get fresh tires to gain an advantage. I was doing that in my first races, but when I noticed that no other cars were doing that, I felt I was getting an unfair advantage, so I just skip pitting and that keeps me on a level playing field. So I've had to introduce my first "house rule", but no game is perfect and I'm okay with implementing things like this that improves my overall experience. One more bug that I'll go ahead and get out of the way is that the glitch (from NH4) is still there where the reported fastest lap of the race is erroneous (for example a 14 second lap when it actually takes 32 seconds to make a lap). Oh and on the results screen after one race, the entire field, including the race Winner, finished one lap down....um ok.... Season 1 results so far: (Q = Qualified, F = Finishing position, My car ratings = #/#/#...Engine/Aero/Suspension) (racing on Hard) 1. Daytona - Q 32, F 32 (73/70/72) lost draft early, then just made laps...sad 2. Las Vegas - Q 32, F 28 (75/75/75) 3. Atlanta - Q 32, F 19 (79/75/75) 4. Homestead - Q 29, F 21 (80/78/79) 5. Texas - Q 30, F 20 (80/79/81) 6. Richmond - Q 26, F 30 (80/79/81) struggled, bad setup, pushing 7. Dover - Q 30, F 27 (80/80/81) tough track for me! (but I like the challenge) 8. Charlotte - Q 32, F 25 (80/81/81) 9. Kansas - Q 29, F 20 (80/81/81) super fun race 10. Texas - Q 29, F 20 (80/82/82) 11. Iowa - Q 25, F 18 (81/81/85) 12. Chicagoland - Q 29, F 14 (85/83/85) As you can see, tracking with improved results as the departments are slowly but surely upgraded, along with investing in training team members. Currently standing at 27th in the Points. For driving assists, the training wheels are slowly coming off- I have turned all assists related to steering to 0, as those began making things worse as my skills improved. I've still got "wall avoidance" on 35. Not sure exactly what wall avoidance does, but I like the sound of it lol, and I am not hitting the walls frequently like I used to. And for anyone interested wheel stuff, here's a few notes from my experience with the Logitech G920 (XB1) Overall very pleased with this wheel and pedal set Good performance & has worked seamlessly & flawlessly on NH5. True plug-and-play I've got force feedback set to around 20% strength, personal preference One con is that it does have what people refer to as a "notchy" feel. One of my other hobbies is RC car and trucks, and I can tell it's the feeling of pinion gears on the twin motors against a larger gear or rack. Instead of being supersmooth (like I imagine some wheels with belts) you can feel tiny bumps as you finely steer. Not a big issue for me at all. Most important to me is performance & reliability

I agree with AI not pitting. You'd think a AI car with say 70-75% tires in 25th-30th would pit under caution to try and gain speed on new tires vs used. But I think it's setup that they will not pit until they hit XX% percent of tire wear. Not sure what that number is but seems to be around 60-65%.

The more I race the career the more I really like Heat 5. I've switched to no stages in the race at 50% length to add some strategy. I'm running trucks in season 1 and the AI really does seem to be vastly improved at being able to run 2-3 wide. I really just wish it had better damage. By far my biggest complaint.

If they continue to release Heat on PC I'll pick up the next one.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[StoneCalf]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jeffrey99

I agree with AI not pitting. You'd think a AI car with say 70-75% tires in 25th-30th would pit under caution to try and gain speed on new tires vs used. But I think it's setup that they will not pit until they hit XX% percent of tire wear. Not sure what that number is but seems to be around 60-65%. The more I race the career the more I really like Heat 5. I've switched to no stages in the race at 50% length to add some strategy. I'm running trucks in season 1 and the AI really does seem to be vastly improved at being able to run 2-3 wide. I really just wish it had better damage. By far my biggest complaint.

I bet you're right on the % of tire wear and the programming for pitting.

One thing I meant to mention on my last write-up regarding the AI that I like and have noticed is that it seems like single position battles are better. For example, let's say I qualify near the back, then work my way up the field.... the first few cars I pass is not too hard because I'm just faster. Then I find that I'm not reeling them in as fast, which makes sense because I'm approaching faster cars and I'll eventually get to a point where a car is about on par with me. But when I do catch and pass a car that I'm just marginally faster than, it sure seems like they have more "fight" to them. What I mean is I finally got around that truck, but next thing I know it cuts back under and around me and I've got to earn that spot all over again. I love that kind of back-and-forth battle.

Plus it's great that some drivers aren't too aggressive, and will slide up a little and concede the position, while others will slam the door and deny your nose going into a corner. Don't know if that latter driver is just running his pre-programmed line, but it sure seems like he/she is thinking "not this time buddy".

[countryboy]

AI pitting strategy is easily my biggest complaint with this game.

I just won a race at Iowa in the truck series in my career (hotseat) due to poor AI pitting strategy.

I was running 16th with 6 laps to go and a caution came out, so I pitted thinking I'd only lose at most 4 spots due to number of cars on lead lap. I actually came out 14th as other trucks pitted, but leaders didn't understandably.

Anyways I get a good restart (3 to go) and move into top 10 on backstretch. We come across to get two to go and my spotter mentions trucks pitting ahead. We come off turn 4 and to my surprise the 8 trucks in front of me all pit giving me the lead and a run away win by 3+ seconds! Why in the hell did they not pit under caution if they were close on tires or whatever? Why pit on the final lap?

I wanted to enjoy this victory but it was difficult due to the circumstances in which it was obtained.

Really hoping they address pit strategy in an upcoming patch.

[Jeffrey99]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

AI pitting strategy is easily my biggest complaint with this game. I just won a race at Iowa in the truck series in my career (hotseat) due to poor AI pitting strategy. I was running 16th with 6 laps to go and a caution came out, so I pitted thinking I'd only lose at most 4 spots due to number of cars on lead lap. I actually came out 14th as other trucks pitted, but leaders didn't understandably. Anyways I get a good restart (3 to go) and move into top 10 on backstretch. We come across to get two to go and my spotter mentions trucks pitting ahead. We come off turn 4 and to my surprise the 8 trucks in front of me all pit giving me the lead and a run away win by 3+ seconds! Why in the hell did they not pit under caution if they were close on tires or whatever? Why pit on the final lap? I wanted to enjoy this victory but it was difficult due to the circumstances in which it was obtained. Really hoping they address pit strategy in an upcoming patch.

I agree. That is by far one of the weakest links of the game.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[StoneCalf]

Update to my career Season 1 progress since a few posts back.

It has been a roller coaster with some ups and downs, which sheds light on some game-balancing needed (read: patch), but overall still a fun inaugural season:

13. Pocono - Q 29, F 29 (85/83/85) very challenging track for me. I'm going to stop short of claiming that the AI are too fast here, but it's either that or I have a lot of work/practice to do. (probably the latter lol)

14. Kentucky - Q 30, F 27 (80/80/80) truck was looser than average as race wore on. I think this can be a good track for me with better setup.

15. Eldora - Q 14, F 1 (85/85/85) First win of the career, but didn't feel earned as there is obviously some tweaking that needs to be done to help the AI. I feel I'm decent at dirt racing, but I'm not that good. I think I read somewhere that this is a known issue, and I think carry-over from NH4. I think the next time I race there, I'll temporarily boost the AI to Legendary, if that's the next one above Hard.

16. Michigan - Q28, F16 (85/85/85) very good & fun race/track, about what I expected out of Michigan

17. WWT Raceway - Q 24, F 22 (85/85/85) tough track and I was totally unfamiliar with it

18. Canadian Tire - Q 25, F 18 (79/78/79 - mismatch, as I haven't purchased a road course truck yet) Now this was a HUGE surprise. To be honest, I hadn't raced much asphalt road courses in the Heat series since the early days, and I recall that the cars physics were way off back then. Specifically I remember that the cars felt like there was a central pivot point as you navigated turns. 704 has certainly come a long way imo on road course car physics and playability. My mindset going in was to just stay out of trouble and not finish last. I found myself pleasantly surprised that not only was the driving great, I was competitive and had some nice position battles and only had one turn (in the 16 lap race) where I ran wide and grazed a barrier.

Now standing at 24th in the points and next race is Bristol. Along with Eldora, I think I read that the AI was too weak at Bristol. Guess we'll see. Bristol has always been tough for me in all past Nascar games.

Also, I can't find the season calendar within the menus between races. Is it there or am I just missing it?

This almost feels like I'm giving Dynasty updates on NCAA, but I'm trying to interject some gameplay impressions as I go along this first season.

[Jeffrey99]

Quote: Originally Posted by StoneCalf

Update to my career Season 1 progress since a few posts back. It has been a roller coaster with some ups and downs, which sheds light on some game-balancing needed (read: patch), but overall still a fun inaugural season: 13. Pocono - Q 29, F 29 (85/83/85) very challenging track for me. I'm going to stop short of claiming that the AI are too fast here, but it's either that or I have a lot of work/practice to do. (probably the latter lol) 14. Kentucky - Q 30, F 27 (80/80/80) truck was looser than average as race wore on. I think this can be a good track for me with better setup. 15. Eldora - Q 14, F 1 (85/85/85) First win of the career, but didn't feel earned as there is obviously some tweaking that needs to be done to help the AI. I feel I'm decent at dirt racing, but I'm not that good. I think I read somewhere that this is a known issue, and I think carry-over from NH4. I think the next time I race there, I'll temporarily boost the AI to Legendary, if that's the next one above Hard. 16. Michigan - Q28, F16 (85/85/85) very good & fun race/track, about what I expected out of Michigan 17. WWT Raceway - Q 24, F 22 (85/85/85) tough track and I was totally unfamiliar with it 18. Canadian Tire - Q 25, F 18 (79/78/79 - mismatch, as I haven't purchased a road course truck yet) Now this was a HUGE surprise. To be honest, I hadn't raced much asphalt road courses in the Heat series since the early days, and I recall that the cars physics were way off back then. Specifically I remember that the cars felt like there was a central pivot point as you navigated turns. 704 has certainly come a long way imo on road course car physics and playability. My mindset going in was to just stay out of trouble and not finish last. I found myself pleasantly surprised that not only was the driving great, I was competitive and had some nice position battles and only had one turn (in the 16 lap race) where I ran wide and grazed a barrier. Now standing at 24th in the points and next race is Bristol. Along with Eldora, I think I read that the AI was too weak at Bristol. Guess we'll see. Bristol has always been tough for me in all past Nascar games. Also, I can't find the season calendar within the menus between races. Is it there or am I just missing it? This almost feels like I'm giving Dynasty updates on NCAA, but I'm trying to interject some gameplay impressions as I go along this first season.

Not at game right now but if you RB (I think) over to the right you'll get to a page that shows race x/x and point standings. If you then use RT/LT (I think) it'll go forward or backward on races and will say race X/X. Then you can see what the upcoming schedule is.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[StoneCalf]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jeffrey99

Not at game right now but if you RB (I think) over to the right you'll get to a page that shows race x/x and point standings. If you then use RT/LT (I think) it'll go forward or backward on races and will say race X/X. Then you can see what the upcoming schedule is.

Thanks! Found it in that Season Standings tab you mentioned and the d-pad shows past and next events. I rarely go to that tab because each post race results includes the updated points standings.