Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Sep 8, 2018

  So far so good. -Graphics? Pretty good, but hasn't changed much compared to Heat 2. -Handling? I use an Xbox 360 controller, the stability and handling of the cars overall has improved. I heard the steering wheel controlls don't work however. If you use a steering wheel for racing games then I would wait until further information from the devs. -New content? Quite a lot actually compared to Heat 2. A new dirt racing series which isn't real like the the XFINITY, Truck, and Cup series'. Multiple new dirt racing tracks, ISM Raceway has been updated with the start/finish line being in it's new location on the track. The details overall on the race tracks has slightly improved too, with the addition of actual people in the stands with the return of a ton of 2D figures, something you would kind of think would be there in the first place when it comes to NASCAR games to give more immersion but I guess its better late than never. -Sound? New sounds, but the quality of them is the same as Heat 2. A nice change but still a little...bland, for the lack of a better work. -Customization? Still not that many different paint schemes in the base game, seems more like they hold back some paint schemes just for the DLC's. And if you look at how many the September DLC has, wow it has a ton. But the base game doesn't have many other than the main look the cars are usually in. In terms of the custom cars, its the same at Heat 2, other than just a few new color patterns for the car and more sponsers replacing the previous ones that were available in Heat 2. -Overall? It's a pretty good NASCAR game, an improvement compared to NASCAR Heat 2. If you aren't a big NASCAR fan then I would wait for a discount. If you are a big NASCAR fan then I do recommend this game for you, it still feels like a NASCAR Heat game but it has quite a few nice changes to it. Tl;dr I know I haven't gone into too much detail but to put it into even more simple terms, it's just like NASCAR Heat 2 except the roster has been updated for the 2018 season across all 3 official NASCAR series', the audio has been changed a little bit, the handling is improved, there's a new completely made-up dirt racing series along with many new dirt tracks, the career mode has been improved, and the pre-racing features has some new bells and whistles. EDIT: After playing the game a little bit more, I focused more on the dirt racing. It's a lot more fun than I expected. Only about 8 tracks or so, wish there was more than that. And I love how the car setups are more simple now, much easier to configure your car. Recommending this now to all NASCAR fans in general, it's a step in the right direction compared to NASCAR Heat 2.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 8, 2018

  Not For Me... I was truley excited for this game when I realised it was soon to launch just a week or two ago. NASCAR games over the past decade really haven't done anything for me, but after watching some youtube videos of what was included in this game, I got a mental image of how much fun this could be. That combined with recently investing a large chunk of cash into a sim racing setup, I thought this could be the game that finally got me back into NASCAR games. Boy was I dissapointed. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a horrible game. I guess I should have just waited a few more days for some more independent reviews on what the game REALLY has to offer. If your into arcahic racing games then this may be your cup of tea, but not me. I enjoy simulation games! This is NOT that. The force feedback is poor at best. When turning and the car is tight, the wheel goes dead. That is in stock cars. I don't even know how to explain it in the dirt cars. This and there's really minimal options for adjusting it. Although I'm sure it will be fixed in a patch, the H-shifter doesn't work at this point in time. The AI is very "stiff". Meaning you pretty much have to intentionally wreck them in order for them to move up a lane. Bump and run really doesn't apply hear. Lastely on the simulation based side of things, I really don't see any way to fine tune the car. I.E. setting the track bar, adjusting tape on the grill, ect. *Sad Face* The User Interface is nothing but annoying/staright up frustrating! The game is clearly built for consoles ported over for computer. There is no mouse you can move around, you just go off buttons/keys. Now this is ever more frustrating when you use a g29, vs. g920, and it's telling you the xBox controlles... I don't have a Y button! Ugh. Now I went straight for Career Mode, but again was left feeling dissapointed. One of the things I was most excited for was owning your own team, and building it up. But that feels like it was just kinda thrown together at the last minute. Maybe it's a stepping stone for future titles but IMO... it's just not complete. I can't remember which title it was (I feel like it was the original NASCAR Heat), but it was 10-15 years ago, where the team management options were incredible. You had to maintain a budget, fix damage after races to the car, you built each car up over time. Reasearching new equipment took weeks. Everything's just instantanious now and it makes no sense. I have a car that's x good, but because I have certain cre members it's now y good. But as soon as the race is over it reverts back to x. I donno... just sloppy. If your gonna implement management do it right. I have read comments of people complaining about the graphics... I didn't think they were that bad. Some of the games I play regularly are worse. In their defense though, it's not what you'd expect from a "AA" game licensed by NASCAR in 2018. The sound however, yeah, it's pretty bad IMO. Engine sounds are poor, and effects don't seem to have smooth transitions. Is surround sound even really a thing? If it is I didn't find it usefully for picking out where competotors are. (Using a 5.1 surround sound system. On to the pros. Although I didn't think I'd be interested in the dirt racing, it's kinda cool. And that's where it ends. I wanted to enjoy this game really bad. And I really gave it a fiar shot. I've got 19 titles on Steam and this is the first I've requested a refund on. Unfortunantly I'm at 2.6 hours so hard to say if they'll approve that or not, but in the end the decsion came down to knowing that I'm just not going to get 56.99 CAD worth of fun or time out of it. As I said earlier, if your into arcade racing games, then this may be for you... but just not me. But if you take the sim/arcade argument out of the equation, there's still other daunting issues, and for those reasons, I would not recommend this game. :(
• gamedeal user

  Sep 8, 2018

  I want to start off by saying I have been on iRacing for the past 5 or 6 years and am a huge fan of it. That being said, I've been waiting for a NASCAR game that gives a good offline experience. I played all the ETX games, Heat Evolution, and Heat 2. This game is overall much improved from all of those. I want to address some things that people have posted negative things about: From my experience the game runs fairly well considering I'm on a pretty outdated computer and the game is very playable. I have a Thrustmaster TMX Forcefeedback wheel as well as the TH8RS shifter and both worked perfectly from the beginning with no setup (aside from adjusting sensitivity and FFB). The physics aren't that bad dispite what a lot of people are saying. The dirt cars especially have decent physics. Bottom line: This game is fun if you accept it for what it is. The AI is vastly improved and will race you very hard. The graphics aren't the best but they shouldn't defer you from buying this game. The only issue that I absolutely agree with is the sounds. There is no way that a game should have such terrible sounds after 3 iterations. However, again, this shouldn't stop you from buying this game. It is a lot of fun, and in my opinion it is by far the best game since EA quit making them. Enjoy it for what it is and dont compare it to a sim and you will have a good experience.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 9, 2018

  Excellent Game! I loved NASCAR Heat 2, and Heat 3 is better in every way. Note: I'm playing with a controller, the Logitech F310. 1. The AI are tougher, no doubt! They will dive bomb you if you leave that bottom open! Hard in Qualifying. (I play at Legend/105 Difficulty). 2. Graphics have slightly increased in quality. The sky is pretty. Better lighting. Better particle effects. 3. Physics are different from Heat 2 so you may have to practice on some tracks. You have better control driving through grass, and the apron is less punishing, but it's still slippery. 4. The new, Dirt Series is really fun, and very challenging when you start off in Career. Also new dirt physics. Practice! 5. In Career, you can be a Driver or an Owner/Driver. I recommend becoming an Owner/Driver after your 1st Season (which is after your Intro Season). It's very hard to impress other teams for new contracts while driving a crappy, 3-Star Team, so become an Owner/Driver as soon as possible, or prepare for many last place finishes. Unlike Heat 2, the money you earn after every race has actual use. As an Owner/Driver, you can buy employees, train them (in Engine, Aero, and Suspension), and buy better equipment (tiers on Engine, Aero, and Suspension). Once your equipment is at 90 Rating, you will be competitive. I went from finishing last every race, to running Top 5 to Top 10 by the end of the season - - and with a handful of wins! And yes, you CAN do Burnouts after each win! 6. Friends and Rivals are back with the new Compliment/Sorry and Insult feature. Drivers will message you about your driving on the track, and you can compliment them, apologize, or insult them and be rivals (Similar to NASCAR 2005: Chase For The Cup). This is kind of broken, since you can ram everyone out of your way and apologize to all of them. Drivers can be your Friend and give you space on the track, or be your Rival, get in your way, bump and bang into you. 7. There is Online mutliplayer too in this game, but I haven't been able to play much of it. On console, there are many, MANY, more players online. Hopefully the online community lasts longer in Heat 3 than in Heat 2 on PC. Watch out for rammers, dive bombers, and griefers (when the Cautions are disabled). Most people race you clean and will race you how you race them. Great game! Recommend to any NASCAR fan. Go Ryan Blaney!
• gamedeal user

  Sep 13, 2018

  I've bought all 3 iterations... Summary: Crap. The physics model is one of THE worst I've ever seen. Who made the concious decision to make the AI almost impossible to move all the while making your car get loose by simply being tapped? He should be fired. NASCAR needs to actually care about the games imitating their product on the track. Next year: - Make a more realistic driving model, similar to how Codemasters does it. I don't need super realism, but I do need a game to actually make sense. - Paint booth... Stop ripping off customers with your DLC. The cosmetics of this game is the last thing I'm going to pay for when the graphics aren't even AAA. - Career mode is better but please allow the ability to skip a race. It's either you compete in all races or none (not okay). Game has improved in a lot of ways, but it fails in so many others.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 19, 2018

  Loving the game and the new dirt modifieds.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 3, 2018

  As an iRacing member, I will begin this review by saying that I've had quite a bit of fun racing in this game, more fun than I was expecting. I do use a wheel/pedals/H-shifter and that certainly adds to the experience. This is NOT a simracer, so if that's what you're seeking you will not be satisfied with this game. The dirt racing is excellent and very fun, and the asphalt racing physics are what's to be expected from an arcade racer. The physics rest somewhere near the middle between sim physics and arcade physics, slightly more on the arcadey side. I can't compare to the last few NASCAR games as I haven't played them. Graphics are decent but certainly not up to today's capabilities. Sound effects are meh. The soundtrack, however, is pretty good. As far as AI goes, I've been playing on "Hard" difficulty, and the AI are extremely competetive and fun to race against. I can only imagine that AI is nearly unbeatable in "Legendary" difficulty. Besides dirt racing, the biggest feature in this game is the team ownership aspect of career mode. While it somewhat satisfied my desire for such a feature (it was my primary reason for buying this game), it still leaves plenty to be desired. Many might remember the team owner mode from EA's NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup (I think), which I thought was phenomenal and was the reason I longed for a return of owner mode. This game has many of the same features as NASCAR 05, but the depth and execution is mediocre at best. There's no research tree, no waiting periods, and very limited strategy. As long as you have the money, you can buy and perform shop upgrades immediately. The most strategic aspect is owning a variety of chassis for the different track types, and hiring and utilizing your team members. Each team member has a skill level for each of three car components; engine, aerodynamics, and suspension. You can assign up to 3 team members to work on one car each week (1 for each component of the car), or you can spread all of your employees around and work on multiple cars each week (I currently have 5 employees, and 3 work on one car every week while the other two work on the other cars). Working on the cars improves the rating of your cars for one race (it returns to the base rating after you use that car in a race), and the improvement is based on the skill of your employees. The strategy comes in when you need to decide which employees will work on which type of cars. You use a speedway car most often, so you need employees to constantly work on it to keep it competetive, but you also need to plan ahead and start preparing your short track and superspeedway cars to be competetive as well. Employees can be "trained" to increase the amount of improvement they do to the car's rating, but that costs money and gets increasingly expensive. This strategic aspect mentioned above is my favorite aspect about team owner mode. Everything else leaves a lot to be desired. As of the time of this review, you, as a team owner, can't even choose which manufacturer body style or paint scheme you want to use. You can change the colors of your car, but not the designs. And you only get like 4 or 5 different car numbers to choose from. Customization is definitely limited in owner mode. It also only takes like $3000 to get a huge shop and establish your team. A "humble beginnings" approach is more of the feel I was hoping for, where your team starts in a shed or something and you can eventually buy larger shops to accomodate more cars and bigger and better equipment. One can only hope this will serve as the basis for owner mode in future titles, and if so, it is a decent start to build off of. I have yet to try any mode other than career mode and quick race, so I will not be reviewing them. As far as bugs/glitches go, I haven't encountered too many. The game seems pretty polished and functional. I've only encountered a couple of physics glitches in dirt racing; one where the nose of my car dipped below the surface of the track and hit something, causing my car to front flip onto it's roof (it happened to an AI car one time as well), and the other is some of the AI cars get up on two wheels way too easily, some flipping over, some all by themselves. The only other bug I noticed is one the names floating over one of the cars in the dirt series during the race did not match the name of that car's driver in the results. The other issue I've noticed is that while using a wheel, it is not easy to keep a car going straight. I've tried tweaking all of the wheel settings, dead zones, FFB, etc, but it still is a little squirrelly. If I take my hands off the wheel in a straightaway, the car will start to subtly swerve from side to side and gradually get worse until the car nearly spins out. I'm not sure if there's a little bit of an auto-steer going on, but I have all of the assists set to off, and the wheel automatically counter-steers when the swerving is going on. Overall, I personally don't feel like this game is worth a full $50. I do recommend it, however, to those who aren't seeking a true simracer experience, but if you're on the fence about buying this game, my recommendation comes with a "wait-for-a-sale" suggestion.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 10, 2018

  I wanna say go and get it, but i just can't recommand this one. It's fun for a bit but once you start playing it for a while it just becomes so boring. career mode is better then nascar heat 2 but once you have a team and maxed out you will kill the other drivers on track. Online is still a hot mess. It actually got worse then heat 2. The netcode is god awful in this title. Heat 2 had a bit but it was rare. This game its like every other hit. This game isn't horrible but god it is so boring and honestly if you can go out and buy nascar 15 or the older titles.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 26, 2018

  Not recommended for a few reasons: 1) Why in the third game of the series are the career stats still abysmal? This is game where the big focus is on career mode yet the biggest part of a career, the stats, is a bare bones joke. No seasons by season breakdown, nothing. You would think after last years game when it released with NO stats and they had to patch it in in an update they would've learned their lesson. I mean really, how hard is it? Nascar Thunder 2002 for PS2 had detailed stats. 2) Again, AI has no clue you're on the track. Be prepared to be t-boned, spun out, ran into the grass, ran into the wall, all the above. The AI will drive where they want to drive regardless of whats in their way. Oh, and if you think they'll spin out from hitting you too, think again. You'll be the only one spinning out while they continue on driving on the train track rails that they're seemlingly on. 3) Why in the world do i have to exit out to the main menu to change simple settings? Some of these settings should be able to be changed by simply pressing pause in-game, or at the very least in the pre-race menu. Why you have back ALL the way out, quit race, leave carrer menu, and go all the way to main menu to change anything is beyond ridiculous. Now for some small, yet annoying things. - No track map option? Why? Again Nascar 98 for PS1 had this. - Barebones presentation. For the third game in the series you would think they would be doing something by now. No prerace commentary, no post-race commentary. Very minimal basic post race celebration. What is there is just sad for a 2018 game considering what we had in games of 15+ years ago. Not a horrible game, but can't recommend it when some of the things wrong with it are inexcusable.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 20, 2018

  No one plays this anymore, lobbys are empty. The devs support the ps4 and xbox version of the game with updates every month. The pc version has been forgotten, it has not been updated since October. Do not buy, I gave these developers another chance and they blew it. Here is 704Games response to my complaint, I apologize that we have been unable to allow some features on Steam. This is not intentional, there is just legal and technical issues that prevent all features from carrying over to the Steam platform. We’ll continue to work to allow more options for Steam but at this time I don’t have any additional information. Sorry I couldn’t be more help at this time.