“NASCAR Heat: Evolution” is a bare-bones, passable console racer. In fact, it’s the best NASCAR game in a decade, but that isn’t saying much.
Following a dreadful series of games from Eutechnyx, NASCAR handed the video game license to Dusenberry Martin Racing, a small developer completely dedicated to making NASCAR-related games.
The end result is a game that plays well on the track but struggles in just about every other aspect.
First, let’s get to the gameplay. The game plays well with a standard PlayStation 4 controller. That is the most important aspect of any console racing game, and very few titles on the PlayStation 4 play well with a regular controller. Most are so complicated that one requires a $200 racing wheel to even be able to handle the car. “NASCAR Heat: Evolution” does not suffer that problem.
If anything, the game may handle too well with the controller. Racing on “normal” difficulty, I went from 40th to first in five laps and almost lapped the entire field by the end of the 28-lap race. Thank goodness there are higher difficulties.
Each track feels generally like its real-world counterpart. Racing at the 2.5 mile Daytona International Speedway takes different skills than racing at the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway. The CPU drivers are also realistic and don’t feel like they are racing on a predetermined line. The drivers you expect to be running up front usually run up front, and the drivers you expect to be at the back of the field tend to be at the back. No surprises here.
Problems arise when trying to get deeper into the game. Many of the tracks are locked from the start. You can’t even race a full season until racing five “smaller” seasons. This is unacceptable for a game that costs $60. Let the players race where they want to race.
Another place where “NASCAR Heat: Evolution” falls short is the presentation element. There are no burnouts after winning races. There is no celebrating in the victory lane. You can’t even name your own driver in career mode. Seriously. The engine sounds are taken directly from the old NASCAR Heat games from the early 2000s. They just sound low-quality and out of place.
Many essential gameplay elements are trapped behind unnecessary menus and are hard to find. Every driver only has one paint scheme. Apparently more are coming in the way of downloadable content, but that will cost more money on top of a thin game that’s already pricey to begin with.
In the end, “NASCAR Heat: Evolution” is solid where it counts: on the track. It is a good first effort for a developer that is so small, and perhaps future installments will fill in the game’s noticeably thin spots, but the lack of content in the game keeps this one from being worth a full-price purchase. Wait a few months for the price to go down before starting your engines in “NASCAR Heat: Evolution.”
Final Verdict: 7/10
Author’s Note: “NASCAR Heat: Evolution” was played on PS4. It is also available for Xbox One and PC.
