NASCAR Heat 5 review: It's good, but very similar to last year's game

Nascar Heat 5 Source: Windows Primal

If you're sat looking at this thinking it hasn't been that long since you bought NASCAR Heat 4, you'd exist absolutely right. For, reasons, Motorsport Games and the programmer, 704Games, has brought out the side by side installment less than a year afterward. Almost exactly 10 months afterward no less.

I'll be honest, that set some alarm bells ringing. Rut 4 arrived towards the tail finish of the 2022 NASCAR flavour, with Oestrus 5 now arriving in the heart of the postal service-COVID re-arranged 2022 flavour. Was it pulled forrad? Would it be rushed?

Thankfully, that doesn't seem to exist the case. If you're a fan of NASCAR you're withal going to want to play this game, even though a lot of people are going to feel similar the content could besides have been offered as a DLC to NASCAR Rut iv.

Turning Left

Nascar Heat 5

NASCAR Heat 5

Bottom line: Only enough newness to go far worth playing, and it remains the most complete, enjoyable package for NASCAR fans.

Pros

Practiced looking
All official cars, drivers and circuits
New testing mode
Recommended setups to use in races
Long career mode

Cons

No threescore FPS mode on Xbox Ane X
Slightly numb force feedback at times
Withal no photograph style
Really similar to Rut 4

What y'all'll like about NASCAR Heat v

Nascar Heat 5 Source: Windows Key

If you enjoyed NASCAR Heat 4, then you'll definitely savour NASCAR Heat v. Oh, you desire more?

When you become into a cycle of yearly updates to official sports games then first and foremost you merely hope nothing breaks and nothing gets worse. NASCAR Oestrus five looks and feels an awful lot like NASCAR Heat 4, from the graphics to the UI to the physics, unless you know yous're playing the new game, y'all could hands mistake it for its predecessor.

All the official cars and licensed circuits from NASCAR .

But that's fine, because what was already here looked great and raced well, and the same is true of NASCAR Heat 5. If you're a fan of NASCAR, this is hands down the most consummate and engaging game yous tin can play.

Heat v is packed with 34 official circuits, covering real world locations like Daytona, Indianapolis, Bristol, Martinsville ovals, too as road courses like Watkins Glen and dirt tracks like Eldora. There are also 5 fictional dirt tracks to race. All the licensed circuits look fantastic, capturing the detail of their real-world compatriots, right downward to cracks in the asphalt at tracks similar Atlanta and Homestead-Miami.

Nascar Heat 5 Source: Windows Primal

Also, the cars all await ballsy. NASCAR teams take a habit of irresolute liveries throughout the course of a twelvemonth, and presumably some or all of these alternative paint jobs will be offered as is traditional through the Heat 5 season pass. But we're all up to date with the 2022 driver lineup and some of the matching liveries.

NASCAR Heat 5 is a very proficient looking game, and while the graphics take a hit in the "performance mode" which bumps the frame rate a flake, information technology's still pleasing to look at. In that location are some rough edges, only on the whole it's a job well done. On PC with everything turned up to maximum, information technology's even more amazing to await at. And I all the same love the animation on the pit stops when your pit coiffure is running around the car changing tires.

Nascar Heat 5 Source: Windows Central

Much of the core game remains what you'd find in Heat four. The career manner is immersive and long, starting you off looking for hot seats on the dirt tour taking you all the fashion up to (hopefully) condign the NASCAR Loving cup Serial champion. As you progress you're able to run in more than one series at a fourth dimension, as well as running hot seats in the college tier serial. When you lot go to the Loving cup Series, either join a team or start your own with the prize coin you've earned to this betoken.

There are a ton of options at your disposal to brand the experience merely what y'all're looking for. New players can turn the assists correct up and the AI down, while those looking for a challenge can plow all these things off and ramp the AI difficulty upward. And whatever number of custom stages inbetween. As well adaptable is how cars react to contact, which is especially handy if you're not too experienced in the art of pack racing. The AI is very good in Rut v, whatsoever difficulty y'all prepare it to, providing challenging, aggressive, only ultimately fair contest.

Nascar Heat 5 Source: Windows Central

Pre-race you also now have some easily accessible recommended setups that are literally a slider between tight and loose. You decide how much you want of either of these and motion the slider. It's a good manner to introduce more casual players to changing the handling of the cars without getting into the weeds.

This goes hand in manus with the brand new testing mode, mayhap the all-time thing to come up to NASCAR Heat 5. Whether you just desire to learn a track or you're edifice your own setup and running hot laps to test it, the fact yous at present no longer have to go into a race session and use practice is and so good. Y'all also get testing liveries void of sponsors which is a prissy bear on.

Online play has been a fiddling slow thus far since only Gold Edition buyers have been playing during my review time, just one of my favorite pieces of it is the online challenge mode. Currently, it's based on the existent-life contempo race from Pocono and gives you the chance to change history and take Kevin Harvick to back to back wins at i of three difficulty levels. It'south got just over three weeks left on it, so I'm not sure how often exactly these will modify, but they're a prissy improver.

What you'll dislike most NASCAR Heat 5

Nascar Heat 5 Source: Windows Fundamental

Let's talk about frame rate. And the lack of a 60 FPS fashion even on the Xbox One X. I'm not a game programmer, I'm not smart enough to know how these things can be made to happen, simply I do know that a racing game without a 60 FPS style tin be difficult work. Fortunately, NASCAR Rut 5 does accept a performance style which nerfs the graphics a footling and gives you a few more than frames, merely in quality mode at 30 FPS it actually does lose some of its zing.

NASCAR is incredibly fast paced and action packed, and compared to the kind of frame rates you lot become in the PC version, the console ane feels sluggish at times. I should say that 704Games has done a bang-up job at mitigating the lower frame rate with other tactics, like a healthy dose of motion mistiness that still creates that feeling of speed. Just you can't go abroad from the fact that there's no 60 FPS mode and that'southward disappointing.

Perhaps the other most disappointing aspect of NASCAR Heat 5 to me is the force feedback engine. I should preface this by saying I do a lot of ovals on iRacing, with its light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation scanned track surfaces and extremely realistic handling models. Merely something that skillful does help place where other racers are defective.

Nascar Heat 5 Source: Windows CentralThere is a lot of movement blur on the panel versions of NASCAR Estrus 5 to assist disguise the frame rate.

Playing NASCAR Estrus five with a wheel is superb, it's how I'm playing information technology, and I just briefly tried a controller to make sure information technology'southward as skilful as its predecessor (and it is.) The physics in Heat 5 are quite good, and in many regards the cars behave how yous'd hope they might. If you're too tight, for instance, y'all'll become masses of understeer if you don't go off throttle.

Merely how y'all feel these effects leave me a little numb. On the straights there's fiddling data being transferred through forcefulness feedback, y'all're merely getting a slight buzz of vibration. This is much improved in the corners, but you have very piffling idea what the back of the motorcar is doing until an artificial feeling slide. It's even so in my stance the all-time way to play NASCAR Estrus 5 and I've been having a blast, but information technology's articulate that at that place'south still work to do.

Force feedback is a footling on the numb side when using a bicycle.

Other things to note include the replay manner, which is identical to last twelvemonth's game and doesn't provide a full race replay option or any choice to remove the overlay so you can get some sweet looking screen grabs. Which also ties in with there being no photo mode, nonetheless. This is a good-looking game with some awesome motorcar designs, it's incredible there's no photograph mode to capture your in-game memories.

That familiarity with what'south lacking is repeated throughout NASCAR Rut five in both skilful and bad ways. Certain, it's a yearly update and to await too much would be foolish, but this game really feels like NASCAR Oestrus 4. In a proficient manner, cipher got worse and long-term fans will be able to jump correct in and have an enjoyable time.

On the other hand...could this have just been a DLC for NASCAR Heat 4?

Should you buy NASCAR Estrus 5?

Nascar Heat 5 Source: Windows Key

NASCAR Heat 5 is a complete and enjoyable package for NASCAR fans, or even but fans of well fabricated, fun racing games. Information technology'south not perfect, only if you're into the sport it'southward easily-down the best identify to go your virtual set up. Information technology looks great, the career mode will easily requite you another yr of fun and the challenges should help you proceed the action fresh.

It is undeniable though how similar NASCAR Heat 5 is to NASCAR Oestrus four. If you lot put the ii side by side the only way yous could actually tell them autonomously is if y'all recognize the 2022 liveries on the cars. That doesn't brand the game bad, considering it isn't, just it does ask questions over whether or not it's worth your money if you're still enjoying last year'due south game. With a 2022 livery pack, Heat 4 could be ninety% of the way to being Heat 5.

And so ultimately whether you should purchase it comes downward to how much you love NASCAR and you love the series. Considering Heat 5 on its own, it's very good, if flawed in places. As an upgrade over the previous game, though, merely you can truly tell if the few new features and tweaks are enough to part with your cash.

NASCAR Heat 5 is available at present on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

Turning Left

Nascar Heat 5

NASCAR Heat v

Not hugely different to the previous game only a solid package for fans

Much of NASCAR Heat five could probably have been applied to last year's game as a DLC, only the new testing style and beginner-friendly race setup tool in particular are nice additions. This is yet the complete package for NASCAR fans.

This review was conducted on the Xbox One X using the NASCAR Rut 5 Gold Edition purchased by the reviewer.

We may earn a committee for purchases using our links. Learn more than.

Elden Ring: Which class should you choose?

Starting off on the right foot

Elden Ring: Which class should you cull?

Picking a class is one of the most of import things you'll e'er do in Elden Ring. Here'southward a detailed breakdown of everything you lot demand to know about each of the game'south classes then you tin can make an informed determination.