Nascar Heat 5 Reviews
Moving all development in-house for 704Games may be beneficial down the road, but for NASCAR Heat 5, it enabled minimal changes.
NASCAR Heat 5 is a step backward for the series, but still delivers some tense and rewarding racing.
Gameplay was a strength of NASCAR Heat 4, and that has been augmented for NH5. The play is so much fun, it helps to compensate for some of the presentation issues, and what I’d describe as a lack of creativity in other areas.
Including all of the NASCAR license must be a mammoth task, and while Heat 5 is an improvement over its forbearers, the overall feeling of the game is that of a vacuous slog. With no obvious USP other than the volume of cars and tracks, or magic new features that other racing games should take inspiration from, NASCAR Heat 5 is a perfunctory depiction that's enjoyable in small doses but runs out of tyres once you get past the initial stages.
Just enough newness to make it worth playing, and it remains the most complete, enjoyable package for NASCAR fans.
Like going around in fun circles.
Hardcore fans are the only ones that will want to suit up for this iteration.
The evolution of the NASCAR saga has taken a step forward with this Heat 5.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Although not awful, NASCAR Heat 5 feels like a rehashed version of its already underwhelming predecessor. The small quality of life improvements do not make up for its disappointing lack of any meaningful innovation.
NASCAR Heat 5 feels like the definitive edition of Heat 4, along with yearly team, roster, and track updates.
NASCAR Heat 5 doesn't offer up anything new, but what it does offer is a solid, enjoyable racing experience, and it does that very well.
Overall, the experience for NASCAR Heat 5 was fun and enjoyable with a hint of repetitively.
The career mode is deep and fun, and when I add in the online options, season options, newly tweaked paint booth and new user interface, I'm mostly satisfied. For a short development cycle, NH5 delivers a lot of longevity, and even more importantly, a lot of fun on the track. This is a title that, even for the fringe racing fan, should see a lot of time in your rotation well into winter and beyond.
If you skipped last year’s NASCAR Heat 4 and are looking to pick up a new NASCAR game, NASCAR Heat 5 is the one to grab, no doubt. It is indeed the best NASCAR game to date. There’s such a small margin between them, however, that unless you’ve got a wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket, there’s no real reason to pick this up if you do already own NASCAR Heat 4.
NASCAR aficionados will likely love getting more action where they can, especially with the cancellation of events due to the pandemic at this time, but those that like a more varied racer might want to look elsewhere. If you want to dip your toes in the NASCAR water though, and find out why it's more than just turning left, HEAT 5 could well be a good shout.
NASCAR Heat 5 is a good addition t this officialy lincensed franchise, until it breaks your heart and your savefile during the career mode.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Despite a lot of the same, NASCAR Heat 5’s improvements to gameplay make it a fun swan song on the Unity engine.
NASCAR Heat 5 is the next iteration of the annual release, but fans will be disappointed to find out that not much has changed from last year even if the experience holds up.
NASCAR Heat 5 improves on the previous and successful episode adding new features and modes coupled with very well balanced difficulty modes. It's still got lot to improve in the presentation area and in the multiplayer modes too similar to the ones in previous game, but while waiting for the next-gen jump this remains a very good NASCAR experience.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I understand that the change in developers would cause 704 Games from touching too much, fearing too big a change could break it. It also gives them time to focus on next year’s product, as they become more familiar with the game engine and code left behind from Monster Games. It’s such a shame that they stalled the momentum they gained from the previous releases, though. Here’s hoping that with the next NASCAR Heat title, they will make some strides in improving the career and continue to deliver a fun racing experience.