NASCAR Heat 5
Cover art featuring Chase Elliott
Developer(s)704Games
Publisher(s)Motorsport Games
SeriesNASCAR Heat
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
ReleaseGold Edition: July 7, 2020
Standard Edition: July 10, 2020
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

NASCAR Heat 5 is a racing video game simulating the 2020 NASCAR season. It was developed by 704Games and was published by Motorsport Games on July 10, 2020, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows via Steam. Chase Elliott is the cover athlete for the standard edition, and Tony Stewart is the cover athlete for the Gold Edition.[1]

Gameplay

Other than a new single-player track testing mode, gameplay remained largely the same as its predecessor, NASCAR Heat 4.[2] Minor tweaks to pit stops, the paint booth and in-race retirements (DNF) were also introduced.[3]

Racing Series Name No. of Drivers No. of Tracks
NASCAR Cup Series 75 (1 part-timer, 32 NASCAR Heat Pro League Drivers, 40 NCS Drivers, 2 Legacy Drivers (Comes With Gold Edition)) 31
NASCAR Xfinity Series 45 (7-part time cars, 38 NXS Drivers) 31
NASCAR Gander Outdoors & RV Truck Series 35 (3-part-time trucks, 32 NCWTS Drivers) 32
Xtreme Dirt Tour (Fantasy League) 24 12

Soundtrack

Song Artist
Again & Again Fire Fences
Earthquake Matthew Szlachetka
HEAT Avoid
Keep the Car Running Andrew Leahey
Late Bloomer Brett Wiscons
Let's Go Out Tonight Bradley Wik and the Charlatans
Long Year Steve Everett
Never Love You Steve Everett
Pay Day Fire Fences
Song About James Avoid
We're Gonna Be OK Hey Monea

Development and release

After having Monster Games develop the first four installments of the rebooted NASCAR Heat series, publisher 704Games took over development and handed publishing over to Motorsport Games.[3] NASCAR Heat 5 was released on July 7, 2020, for those who pre-ordered the Gold Edition; standard copies of the game were released on July 10.[1] Along with the early release date, the Gold Edition includes bonus spotter voices, paint schemes and career mode opportunities.[4] Additional downloadable content packs were also announced with the release of the game.[5]

A Nintendo Switch port called NASCAR Heat Ultimate Edition+ was quietly listed on Amazon in October 2021, and was released on November 19, 2021. In addition to 2020 content, it also includes drivers and primary paint schemes from the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.[6]

Next Gen cars

Due to the poor reception of NASCAR 21: Ignition, Motorsport Games announced their intentions to return to Heat 5 for future DLC.[7] The firm announced the introduction of Next Gen Cars and their respective driver lineup in downloadable content for the game, updating it for the 2022 season. Unlike its successor NASCAR 21: Ignition, the DLC is not free and would initially be priced at $12.34 before being lowered to $9.99 following a delay. Motorsport Games, in a statement posted to Twitter, stated their intention to provide a much more stable experience.[8] After a period where no updates were shared, the team eventually shared their plans to release the 2022 cars during the month of May 2023, after the 2022 season had already concluded.[9] Over this period, fans had created a mod for the game that adds the 2023 paint schemes.[10]

The DLC would eventually be released on June 22, 2023 on all platforms; it received negative reviews due to fan dissatisfaction with the management of current publisher Motorsport Games, lack of new tracks added for the 2022 season, bugs, loss of player progress, and due to the 2022 season being outdated as of the DLC's release.[11]

Reception

Before its release, Heat 5 was criticized for focusing on minor changes instead of addressing major issues that previous Heat titles had. Developer 704Games claimed that the approach was due to limitations of legacy code that the game was built on.[17]

References

  1. 1 2 Utter, Jim (May 6, 2020). "NASCAR Heat 5 set to launch two editions in July". Motorsport. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  2. ↑ McCaffrey, Ryan (May 5, 2020). "NASCAR Heat 5 Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Kato, Matthew (May 6, 2020). "NASCAR Heat 5 Makes Pit Road Adjustments". GameInformer. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  4. ↑ Payant, John (May 6, 2020). "NASCAR News: NASCAR Heat 5 released in July with legend Stewart bonus content". Autosport. Archived from the original on May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  5. ↑ "NASCAR Heat 5 Is Coming". PSNation. May 6, 2020. Archived from the original on May 13, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  6. ↑ Melillo, Justin (2021-10-09). "GAMESNASCAR Heat Ultimate Edition+ on Nintendo Switch found via Amazon listing". Traxxion.gg. Archived from the original on 2021-10-09. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  7. ↑ Harrison-Lord, Thomas (October 7, 2022). "NASCAR Heat 5's 2022 NASCAR Cup Series DLC launches 21st October". traxion.gg. Archived from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  8. ↑ Harrison-Lord, Thomas (October 14, 2022). "NASCAR Heat 5's 2022 update delayed, price reduced". traxion.gg. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  9. ↑ Harrison-Lord, Thomas (May 12, 2023). "NASCAR Heat 5's 2022 next-gen DLC is coming in 'days'". traxion.gg. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  10. ↑ Lipowski, Joshua (June 14, 2023). "New 2023 Mod Available for NASCAR Heat 5". The Daily Downforce. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  11. ↑ Lipowski, Joshua (June 23, 2023). "Everything that Went Wrong with NASCAR Heat 5's New DLC". The Daily Downforce. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  12. ↑ Metacritic staff. "NASCAR Heat 5 reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2020-08-22. Retrieved 2014-03-06.
  13. ↑ Straw, Michael (2020-07-07). "NASCAR Heat 5 Review: Finishing Strong". SportsGamersOnline. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  14. ↑ Perry, Kurt (2020-07-13). "NASCAR Heat 5 review — The art of turning left". PCInvasion. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  15. ↑ Mazique, Brian (2020-07-08). "NASCAR Heat 5 Review: Steady, Consistent And Safe". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  16. ↑ Wells, Cory (2020-07-09). "Review: NASCAR Heat 5". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  17. ↑ Kato, Matthew (May 6, 2020). "What's In Store For The Future Of NASCAR Heat". GameInformer. Archived from the original on May 9, 2020. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
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