Nascar Heat Evolution Review

"Circular Racing"

Campaign

Nascar Heat Evolution is the latest attempt to capture the spirit of Nascar. It somewhat does this by doing a create job of recreating the authentic courses and emulating a typical Nascar race. It just doesn't manage to do this in a particularly exciting way and the general races feel boring. For those that want an authentic experience then it definitely can provide that, it just doesn't do it in a way that will keep you entertained. The game features all the core racing modes one might expect in a driving game and gives them a Nascar focus. First off is just quick race where you just simply pick a circuit, select the laps and race away. There's a good set of maps here with more to unlock as you continue racing. The next area is challenge mode where you tackle racing quests and following that is Champion mode where you battle in a series for a cup. The final section and the largest is career mode where you can create a basic character to compete in a number of races to be a champion. There's also a full multiplayer experience which can be rather wild if you get a large group of people together rolling along the track with up to forty player lobbies.

Gameplay

The racing is alright with cars handling well and the racing experience being handled properly. The graphics are also decent with the tracks looking great, it's just that the vehicle could have used a lot of work. The major problem there being that the back of cars is basically flat cardboard and any depth would have been appreciated. This is a big deal as it's what you're looking at constantly while racing and it just looks fake. The crowd also could have used some sort of movement as they just stands there. This makes the arena feel empty as it being mixed with cinematics gives a very lifeless feel. When doing a sporting game of any kind atmosphere is important and this game has none of it. I also noticed that with night racing there's these odd squares over the black sky and it's incredibly distracting.

The Conclusion

Heat Evolution captures the essence of Nascar, it just doesn't do it with any excitement making the experience feel empty. I did find it emulated the event well and it's a good base to build into the future with. There's a good selection of modes present as well providing a well rounded title and it provided great variety. There were some graphical issues that stuck out such as the boring crowds and the appalling cardboard backs with both of those greatly hampering gameplay. Other than that it drives fine, captures Nascar well enough and provides as many circular laps as you'd like to race.

Nascar Heat Evolution Review on Xbox One
Review Code Provided by Dusenberry Martin Racing

Rating Overall: 6.7