History YMMV / NeedForSpeedHeat

* DiscOneNuke: Mazda RX-7. It's unlocked as soon as level 5, which is basically shortly after the prologue. It costs just 56 grands and comes with all the Sports-tier engine upgrades installed from factory, including a dual supercharger. For comparison, upgrading your starter car to the same level will cost from 60 to 80 grands, you'll have to wait level 7 to unlock the turbo/supercharger mods and you'll still get ''nowhere near'' in term of actual performances.
** Depending on how you tune it, can also become a GameBreaker. Leaning towards the Road-Drift corner of the performance chart will turn said kind of events in an absolute ''cakewalk''. You can also take the opposite route and go for a pure Race build, which will suit the iconic Wankel car quite well too. Finally, with the Forged Rotary engine swap the RX-7 can be on par with most endgame-tier supercars, getting close to a whopping ''1,000 horsepower'' when maxed out.

** [=RSR Killer=] [[note]] Said by some people regarding cars able to beat the [[TierInducedScrappy notoriously broken]] Carrera RSR 2.8, which has been established as being a level above the rest of everything else in ''Heat'', in addition to being much cheaper and easier to acquire than its closest competitors.[[/note]]

* TierInducedScrappy: The Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 '73 ends up being a high-tier scrappy for reasons explained above in GameBreaker.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: After a huge disappointment in ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedPayback Payback]]'', Ghost Games and EA try to make their best efforts for the franchise's MilestoneCelebration.
** The Speed Cards and {{loot box}}es which received criticism from critics and fans alike are officially scrapped, meaning you can finally purchase performance parts (and vanity items) using in-game cash, just like in [[VideoGame/NeedForSpeed2015 the 2015 reboot]]. Though the '''only''' microtransaction aspect left (excluding Black Market car pack [=DLCs=]) is the "Keys to the Map" DLC, which reveals all the activities and collectibles scattered around Palm City.[[note]] Given that there are several guides online that have the locations of these collectibles and activities, this DLC is kind of pointless if you happen to have a smartphone/tablet/separate computer/Steam overlay and Google/[=YouTube=] at your side.[[/note]]
** The arbitrary power cap for cars in ''Payback'' severely limited the potential on some cars, making them ill-advised for use. ''Heat'' ditches this in favor of the new Engine Swap mechanic (itself returns from ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedShift Shift 2: Unleashed]]''), thus arguably leveling the playing field.
** The police in both the 2015 reboot and ''Payback'' received some backlash, the former being way too easy to outrun and the latter for being too linear, scripted and only strictly available in stories, bait crates and abandoned car missions. The cops in ''Heat'' has been clearly revised to what the franchise is really known for: Police chases being available at any means such as during races, free roam, having high-end units chasing your ass, rhinos, spike strips and police helicopter in wherever you go.
** With the storylines of both the 2015 reboot and ''Payback'' being too short, ''Heat'' expands to side missions called Driving Stories, similar to the Factory Driver side-missions in ''Porsche Unleashed''.
*** Speaking of Driving Stories, the Black Market update helps extend the storyline with two additional side missions. Unfortunately, that was the ''only'' major content update and DLC.

** [[TakeThat pfft nerds]][[note]]The NFS Twitter account's [[https://archive.md/uxmYY reply]] to a poorly worded tweet by Toyota UK in August 2019 which explained the brand's absence from ''Heat''. Toyota's tweet has since been deleted from the backlash that ensued, particularly because when one looked up the list of active media properties that have Toyota/Lexus vehicles in them, a number of them (''VideoGame/InitialDArcadeStage'' and ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight Maximum Tune'' at the immediate time of the tweet; ''VideoGame/{{Forza}} Horizon 4'' in a December 2019 update and ''Film/{{F9}}'' when accounting for AnimationLeadTime) [[{{Irony}} involve illegal street racing]], which ran counter to what was asserted in the tweet, that Toyota "does not want to be associated with street racing". Prior to December 2019, Toyota only allowed Japanese game publishers to feature their cars (emphasis on "publishers", as the British ''VideoGame/ProjectCARS'' series got Toyota licenses through Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment), much as how Porsche did when Electronic Arts started their exclusive license from 2000 to 2016.[[/note]]

* ThatOneLevel:
** High Heat Events are races that require you to be at a certain heat level (Heat 3 or Heat 5) before being permitted to enter. Reaching it can be difficult since you have to deal with escaping and limited repairs, plus the increasingly heavier police response. They cannot be restarted and has a recommended performance rating as your current car, making these unique events a challenge. Don't think you can set the difficulty settings to Easy; all High Heat Events are [[NintendoHard atrociously hard]] even on that difficulty level.

* WinBackTheCrowd: Not only are the AuthorsSavingThrow aspects above implemented properly, but the game, along with ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediFallenOrder'', also (as of the time of writing) lacks pervasive microtransactions that EA is notorious for using. Unfortunately, these have not been enough to save Ghost Games from being reduced back to a supporting studio.

* HilariousInHindsight: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LkoPKZ2Gk8 This stream highlight]] from [=KuruHS=], a ''NFS'' streamer and speedrunner, predicts the premise and everything else for ''Heat'' two years in advance. This moment would double as HeartwarmingInHindsight, as Kuru was in attendance at the game's launch event, having been given an invite to it.

* HilariousInHindsight (also counts somewhat as a HeartwarmingInHindsight): [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LkoPKZ2Gk8 This stream highlight]] from [=KuruHS=], a ''NFS'' streamer and speedrunner, predicts the premise and everything else for ''Heat'' two years in advance.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Lieutenant Frank Mercer, the main antagonist of the game seems to somewhat similar to a FantasyForbiddingFather between him and the racers, which some people can relate to, which can be seen from the trailers and cutscenes.
** He also might even be a metaphor to Electronic Arts themselves, since the company is known for extreme corner-cutting.
** Sweet, a cop for the PCPD sometimes will say, "I'm here to do the work you can't finish!" Over the radio, another reference to Electronic Arts and their development teams.

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Ana. Her constantly pestering you to race, her arrogant attitude, considering her brother a coward due to the fact that he doesn't race, her considering anything not to do with racing "boring" and loudly declaring it constantly, not helped by the fact that whenever her old crew is mentioned, she talks crap about them like they committed some grand betrayal, despite the fact that anyone who played the prologue would know that the truth is that, until Torres stepped in, Mercer and Shaw were about to straight-up ''murder'' Joe to send a message: Joe didn't skip out on the crew for losing his nerve, he left ''to save his own life!'' Not helping matters is that the game also chose to have her give her two cents for ''when the player gets busted'', which most of the time sounds like she's mocking you for your predicament ("That's the world telling you to call it a night.")

* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Ana, her constant pestering you to race, her arrogant attitude, considering her brother a coward due to the fact that he doesn't race, anything not to do with racing, she considers "boring" and will constantly say so, not helped by the fact that whenever her old crew is mentioned, she talks crap about them, like they committed some grand betrayal, but anyone who played the prologue would know the truth, that until Torres stepped in, Mercer and Shaw were about to straight-up ''murder'' Joe, to send a message, Joe didn't skip out on the crew by losing his nerve, he left to save his own life!
* AuthorsSavingThrow: After a huge disappointment in ''Payback'', Ghost Games and EA try to make their best efforts for the franchise's MilestoneCelebration.
** The Speed Cards and {{loot box}}es which received criticism from critics and fans alike are officially scrapped, meaning you can finally purchase performance parts (and vanity items) using in-game cash, just like in the 2015 reboot. Though the '''only''' microtransaction aspect left (excluding Black Market car pack [=DLCs=]) is the "Keys to the Map" DLC, which reveals all the activities and collectibles scattered around Palm City.[[note]] Given that there are several guides online that have the locations of these collectibles and activities, this DLC is kind of pointless if you happen to have a smartphone/tablet/separate computer/Steam overlay and Google/[=YouTube=] at your side. [[/note]]

** The police in both the 2015 reboot and ''[[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedPayback Payback]]'' received some backlash, the former being way too easy to outrun and the latter for being too linear, scripted and only strictly available in stories, bait crates and abandoned car missions. The cops in ''Heat'' has been clearly revised to what the franchise is really known for. Police chases being available at any means such as during races, free roam, having high-end units chasing your ass, rhinos, spike strips and police helicopter in wherever you go.

* BrokenBase: The complete change to the pursuit mechanics to put higher emphasis on outrunning and evasion (such as how now police car are basically tanks without cannons) might throw off those who used with the older pursuit mechanics (ram the police cars until they're immobilized or lure them onto a pursuit breaker).
* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: Majority of players spend more time on bright daylight over the nighttime, for myriad of reasons. In particular, Bank money earned during the daytime can be used to buy vehicle parts, while the Rep points earned during nighttime can be used solely as ExperiencePoints; once you hit a Rep level of 50, the only reason to keep racing in the night is to [[ItemFarming farm Ultimate parts via]] [[ThatOneLevel High Heat Races]].
** On a related point, the daytime races allow you to change cars swiftly before entering them, something nighttime races don't allow.

** The arbitrary power cap for cars in ''Payback'' severely limited the potential on some cars, making them ill-advised for use. ''Heat'' ditches this in favor of the new Engine Swap mechanic (itself returns from ''Shift 2: Unleashed''), thus arguably leveling the playing field.

** With the Wrap Editor having endless potential in terms of wraps, some have gone out of their way to recreate the most iconic paint jobs either within the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' series itself (e.g., Razor's Ford Mustang GT, Cross' Corvette, Kenji's RX-7, etc.), some from ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' ([[Film/TwoFastTwoFurious Brian's Skyline]], [[Film/TheFastAndTheFuriousTokyoDrift Han's Veilside RX-7]], [[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious2001 Brian's Supra]], [[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious2001 Johnny Tran's S2000]] etc.)... and then there's ''[[https://youtu.be/DAWQf7KO7ks these]]''.

* TearJerker: The last part of "Party Crashers" has [[spoiler: Lucas telling Ana about their father and his Camaro. Lucas' mention of his father's death after a phone call during his jail time would make you grab a box of tissue]].

** [[TakeThat pfft nerds]][[note]]The NFS Twitter account's reply to a poorly worded tweet by Toyota UK which explained the brand's absence from ''Heat''. Toyota's tweet has since been deleted from the backlash that ensued, particularly because when one looked up the list of active properties that have Toyota/Lexus vehicles in them at the time of the tweet, four of them (''VideoGame/InitialDArcadeStage'', ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight Maximum Tune'', ''VideoGame/{{Forza}} Horizon 4'' since December 2019, and ''Film/{{F9}}'') [[{{Irony}} involve illegal street racing]], which ran counter to what was asserted in the tweet, that Toyota "does not want to be associated with street racing". Prior to December 2019, Toyota only allowed Japanese game publishers to feature their cars (emphasis on "publishers", as the British ''VideoGame/ProjectCARS'' series got Toyota licenses through Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment), much as how Porsche did when Electronic Arts started their exclusive license from 2000 to 2016.[[/note]]

** [[TakeThat pfft nerds]][[note]]The NFS Twitter account's reply to a poorly worded tweet by Toyota UK which explained the brand's absence from ''Heat''. Toyota's tweet has since been deleted from the backlash that ensued, particularly because when one looked up the list of current active media series that have Toyota/Lexus vehicles in them, four of them (''VideoGame/InitialDArcadeStage'', ''[[VideoGame/WanganMidnight Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune]]'', the recent update for ''[[VideoGame/{{Forza}} Forza Horizon 4]]'', and the upcoming ''[[Film/FastAndFurious9 Fast & Furious]]'' film) [[{{Irony}} involve illegal street racing]], which ran counter to what was asserted in the tweet, that Toyota "does not want to be associated with street racing". Recently, prior to a ''Forza Horizon 4'' update, Toyota only allows Japanese game developers to feature the said manufacturer's cars, much as how Porsche did when Electronic Arts started their exclusive license from 2000 to 2016.[[/note]]
** "Toyota Supra" [[note]]Toyota have refused to have their brand and vehicles in non-Japanese-published racing games from early 2017 to late 2019. With ''Heat'''s announcement of its car lineup, many have claimed the BMW Z4 [=M40i=] as a substitute to the 2020 Toyota GR Supra, since both of the cars share the same engine and chassis platform. In conclusion, the Z4 in game is dubbed the [[FanNickname "Toyota Supra"]] by various [=YouTubers=], as popularized by racing game fans such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPWWb1DU57Y BlackPanthaa]].[[/note]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Lieutenant Frank Mercer, the main antagonist of the game seems to somewhat treat street racers like a FantasyForbiddingFather from the trailers and cutscenes.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Lieutenant Frank Mercer, the main antagonist of the game seems to somewhat treat street racers like a FantasyForbiddingFather from the trailers and cutscenes. He might even be a metaphor to Electronic Arts themselves, since the company is known for extreme corner-cutting.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Lieutenant Frank Mercer, the main antagonist of the game seems to somewhat treat street racers like a FantasyForbiddingFather from the trailers and cutscenes. He might even be a metaphor to EA as well.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Lieutenant Frank Mercer, the main antagonist of the game seems to somewhat treat his police force and they way they deal with street racers in a similar way to a FantasyForbiddingFather from the trailers and cutscenes.

** The Speed Cards and {{loot box}}es which received criticism from critics and fans alike are officially scrapped, meaning you can finally purchase performance parts (and vanity items) using in-game cash, just like in the 2015 reboot. Though the '''only''' microtransaction aspect left (excluding Black Market car pack [=DLCs=]) is the "Keys to the Map" DLC, which reveals all the activities and collectibles scattered around Palm City.[[note]] Given that there are several guides online that have the locations of these collectibles and activities, this DLC is kind of pointless if you happen to have a phone and Google/[=YouTube=] at your side. [[/note]]

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: Majority of ''Heat'' players spend more time on bright daylight over the nighttime, for myriad of reasons. In particular, Bank money earned during the daytime can be used to buy vehicle parts, while the Rep points earned during nighttime can be used solely as ExperiencePoints; once you hit a Rep level of 50, the only reason to keep racing in the night is to [[ItemFarming farm Ultimate parts via]] [[ThatOneLevel High Heat Races]].

** The iconic [[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted BMW M3 GTR]] that appeared in many ''Need for Speed'' games, surprisingly becomes part of the main plot since ''Carbon''.

* GameBreaker: The Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 '73 once again retains its status as the fastest car '''period''' in the series for the third game in a row, since the 2015 reboot. It retains [[MasterOfAll all of the characteristics]] that made it an OP in the first place, but was also '''buffed''' in ''Heat'' in addition to this. The only cars that can genuinely challenge it are the [=F40=], [[BribingYourWayToVictory McLaren F1]], 488 Pista, FXX K Evoluzione, Huayra BC, and 2017 Ford GT. However, not only is the RSR cheaper than any of the other cars mentioned, [[note]] it doesn't even cost 100 000 bank to obtain[[/note]] [[DiscOneNuke it is also unlocked earlier]] [[note]] as early as Rep Level 16 [[/note]], making it very easily obtained for its power level.

* SpoiledByTheFormat: The game had been announced with customizable player character, and yet, the prologue has you play as [[DecoyProtagonist Joe with his Polestar 1]].

** With the Wrap Editor having endless potential in terms of wraps, some have gone out of their way to recreate the most iconic paint jobs either within the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' series itself (e.g., Razor's Ford Mustang GT, Cross' Corvette, Kenji's RX-7, etc.), some from ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' ([[Film/TwoFastTwoFurious Bryan's Skyline]], [[Film/TheFastAndTheFuriousTokyoDrift Han's Veilside RX-7]], [[Film/TheFastAndTheFurious2001 Brian's Supra]], etc.)... and then there's ''[[https://youtu.be/DAWQf7KO7ks these]]''.