"NASCAR HEAT REVIEW" >Page 1, 2
Beat The Heat
"Beat The Heat" is a series of 36 challenges that are designed to put you dead center in the middle of the action. Each of the basic challenges are introduced with a video clip from MRN's Alan Bestwick and are designed to teach you the basic skills you need for the "High Octane" challenges. The first couple of challenges are fairly simple (i.e. drive though turns three and four at Daytona in less than 17 seconds) but they quickly build up into drafting and passing until you are ready for the featured challenge for each category.
The "High Octane" challenges are introduced by a Winston Cup driver and are where you have to put it all together to successfully complete the challenge. For example, the "High Octane" challenge for the superspeedway category puts you behind the wheel of Jeff Gordon's Dupont Automotive #24 for five laps at Daytona. I can tell you from experience that this is no walk in the park. A top five gets you the bronze, top three a silver and a win gets you the gold. You'll have to run a near-perfect race to take home the gold.
"Beat The Heat" alone makes this game a worthwhile purchase.
The Driving Physics
Unfortunately, this is where NASCAR Heat really left me flat. NASCAR Heat just doesn't feel right. It drives well enough to be fun but falls well short of my definition of a true NASCAR simulation. You can actually ram another car at Daytona and the other guy will just drive away from you. Plow into the rear quarter panel of somebody at Bristol and he'll twitch and continue on. I was truly disappointed.
Roundup
If you are looking to have a bunch of fun in the heat of battle with NASCAR's biggest names then this racing game is well worth the purchase. But, If you are looking for a new NASCAR simulation with realistic physics and true-to-life driving characteristics then wait for Papyrus' NASCAR Racing 4 which is due out later this fall.
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