Need for Speed Heat Post-Launch Content Wishlist (Live Service and DLC Packs)
It’s been a month now since the release of Need for Speed Heat, and if you’ve been playing it obsessively these last few weeks like I have, all the “endgame” content has probably caught up to you by now.
So, what’s next for Need for Speed Heat looking forward? Back at Gamescom, Creative Director Riley Cooper confirmed that Heat will see paid DLC in the form of Car Packs and Timesavers only, but also mentioned the game had a liveservice plan in place to continually update the game with new content and features.
Liveservice is an area I’m very intrigued yet also very worried about based on Ghost’s previous efforts. Need for Speed 2015 and Payback had a form of liveservice, in which they supported the game for roughly 6 months and mostly added crucial features missing from launch as well as a few extras/DLC, and I worry this might be the same thing again.
Look at The Crew 2, Forza Horizon 4 and Gran Turismo Sport for example. Each of these games gets new content releases on an almost monthly basis, such as community-requested features, new cars, new cosmetic items, events etc. and I really hope Ghost could pull that off with Heat as well, depending much can be invested development wise while simultaneously working on Need for Speed 2021.
EA themselves seem very dedicated to liveservices, with two of their biggest being Star Wars Battlefront II and Battlefield V from DICE – both of which going incredibly strong even 1-2 years after launch and would be amazing to say the same about NFS Heat in a year from now.
Ghost and the Need for Speed team definitely need to be more efficient communicating with the community with Heat compared to Payback if they plan on following how other developers like DICE and their social teams keep their communities in the loop (which so far seems to be doing pretty well, Kudos to you Max!)
So, with that out of the way, let’s talk about a few things that I’d like to see come to Heat over its lifecycle:
Speedlists (New Event Types, Crew vs Crew)
Speedlists are not at launch of Need for Speed Heat (stark comparison to them being the only thing available at Payback’s launch), however Ghost do plan to bring them back once they manage to “get them right.” What they will be like in Heat remains a mystery, but they NEED rebalancing.
I’d love to see Speedlists fill the Prostreet tournament void that the Speedhunters Showdown could have been in the campaign. Work your way up a ranked ladder either on your own or as a crew, with Speedlist playlists focused ONLY on one type of racing and not mixing it with others.
New event types such as Elimination, Speedtrap and Drag would make some great additions, not just to Speedlists but to the general game too. Dedicated Crew vs Crew tournament events would add so much more purpose to being in a crew too.
Perhaps even make it so to join a Speedlists lobby if you’re already in a session, there could be an area on the map you need to drive to which has been turned into a makeshift car meet with Speedhunter Showdown props and will matchmake from there. Once connected, you’ll have to race to each starting event and the first to arrive will get a bank reward.
Party Modes
Besides Speedlists, Need for Speed needs some fun and casual game modes to enjoy. Modes such as Cops & Robbers are a no-brainer for NFS, but perhaps things like Infected, King of the Hill or even Hide and Seek!
The map has perfect arena locations for game modes like these, for example the Edgewood Valley Mall could be great for a “Demolition Derby” mode where players push each other off. One cool game mode could be Marked Man, where you spawn with Heat Level 5 cops and see who can survive the longest.
A creative twist on some of these modes could be to allow players to use cars you can’t access normally, like traffic cars or cop cars. Hide and Seek could see the Hiders all turn to traffic cars like in a Prop Hunt mode for the Seeker to find, while in Cops & Robbers, one or more players on the cop team could play as the Rhino while the rest are either in Crown Vics, Chargers or Corvettes. Let your creativity run wild, Ghost!
Freeroam Challenges (Challenge Series)
Ever since 2015 this has been one of the biggest requested features from people, so its wishful thinking this may ever materialize, but Heat could be the best fit for it yet. Palm City is filled with tons of unique places to create Burnout Paradise-esque freeburn challenges, eg. Jump off the Edgewood Valley Mall or Stay Above 100MPH for 5 seconds on the Monorail, and I’d love to see them capitalize on this.
In-game challenges like these add a ton of replay value and makes players feel as if they have something to work towards, especially if there’s an incentivizing reward for completing them all. Best example would be Challenge Series from Need for Speed Most Wanted (2005), but perhaps mix it more with Destiny 2’s Triumph in-game achievements system - add a slew of challenges for players to complete either solo or with other players, and once completing them all unlocks an exclusive vehicle.
In-Game Community Events
Recently Need for Speed brought back ‘Build of the Week’, which during the Payback days was used to reveal new cars coming for the game. Now it’s a community event held on social media, where there will be a certain theme for the week which people can enter by designing a wrap based on that theme. But why limit it to just being done through Twitter/Reddit?
Community Events like these should be held in-game too, perhaps with daily login messages saying, “Hey look, this weeks theme is Cyberpunk” and players can then upload their wraps to a filtered section for Build of the Week where other players can vote on their favourites.
Of course, Community Events don’t have to be restricted to wrap designs, perhaps even collaborative challenges where as a community you need to rack up over 1 Billion REP in a week which will unlock exclusive vanity items for completing.
Limited-Time Content (Abandoned Cars)
I loved the weekly Abandoned Cars in Payback, and always saw them as Ghost’s first experiment testing out liveservice content. Limited Time content like this brings people back, and I’d love to see it expanded upon over Heat’s lifecycle perhaps with limited time vanity items like license plate backings or unique game modes as well.
With customizable characters in the game, theres plenty of opportunities to add vanity items based around the time of year (eg. Christmas themed clothes), or just random items like a cop outfit. Abandoned Cars in Heat could be new cars, legacy cars or even the AI cars you see in races that have been designed by CROWNED and JvyPennant.
Map Updates
Map Expansions have been something long requested by the community but depending how long Ghost plan to support Heat for, I don’t see a proper map expansion happening. However, things have changed ever since liveservice games like Fortnite and Apex Legends started to update areas of their maps as opposed to creating new ones, and this could be a great idea to implement in a racing game to make the world feel more alive and fresher.
Certain areas of the map that are under construction could be built or areas could be changed entirely, opening up all new areas and events for people to do.
Photo Mode Updates
Ghost’s photo mode has remained extremely barebones and unchanged since 2015 which is a huge let down and needs an overhaul. The Focal Distance and DOF effects are terribly bad and need improving, leaving an artifacting/jaggy effect around cars and objects which honestly makes the game look worse in photo mode.
Additions such as these would go a long way in improving the overall photo mode experience:
Improved processing effects
Day of Time and Weather toggles
Motion blur
Advanced Camera options (Aperture, Shutter Speed etc.)
Dirt and scratches toggles
Ability to freeze time during online lobbies (and remove nametags)
DLC Car Packs
Since the reveal of Toyota coming back to Forza Horizon 4 a few weeks ago (with more vehicles from Lexus and Scion set to follow), it begs the question if Toyota will make their return to Need for Speed in the future.
If Toyota do return to Need for Speed, it opens up a wealth of new and returning cars to Need for Speed, such as the brand-new Toyota GR Supra, Toyota A80 Supra, Toyota AE86, Toyota GT86 and more, not to mention Lexus and all their cars.
While we have no clue of what to expect from Heat’s car packs, here’s a few cars I’d personally love to see come to the game:
Audi RS6 Avant
Audi TT
Audi R8 ‘10
Bugatti Chiron
Bugatti Divo
Bugatti Veyron
Chevrolet Corvette C8 ‘20
Chevrolet Chevelle SS ‘70
Dodge Challenger ‘70
Ford GT ‘05
Ford Mustang RTR
Hennessey Chevrolet Camaro Exorcist ZL1
Hennessey Venom
Koenigsegg Agera
Koenigsegg Jesko
Lamborghini Gallardo
Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series
Mazda 3 MPS
Mazda RX8
McLaren F1
McLaren Senna
Mitsubishi Eclipse
Nissan Skyline R33
Nissan Silvia S14
Subaru 22-B
Tesla Roadster ‘20
Toyotas (New Supra, A80 Supra, AE86, MR2, Lexus LFA, Lexus IS300/Toyota Altezza, Lexus RCF, Lexus LC500)
Prestige System (More Rep Levels)
Once hitting Level 50 in Need for Speed Heat, earning REP becomes pretty redundant at night. One solution to this would be creating a Prestige system where once you hit Level 50, you could prestige similar to Most Wanted 2012’s Concours mode and gain access to special milestones, exclusive vanity items etc. as you work your way up the next set of REP levels.
Alternatively, up the REP level to something crazy like 500 where every 5 levels or so you unlock exclusive items or cars similar to The Crew 2. At least give us something to do with the REP we earn at night time after hitting level 50!
New Game+
Once beating Need for Speed Heat’s story, there’s no way to replay it again. A NG+ mode would be a fun way to replay the game with 400+ cars, perhaps rewarding with much higher bank rewards and more challenging AI and event scores (though not as challenging as 2015’s Prestige mode please!)
Cross Play
Cross play has become a big thing over the last year and no doubt will get bigger with next gen consoles on the horizon. Several games support cross-play with the most notable being Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Fortnite, and now that PlayStation’s cross platform program is now available for all developers (part of the reason most games don’t support cross play), it would be awesome to be able to play with friends on PS4, Xbox One and PC. This would also be great for sharing wraps too, as it would mean console players could download designs from PC and vise versa, not restricting wraps per platform.
Realistically, certain features and ideas on this list are pretty optimistic and some are far more likely than others, but its always fun to come up with cool ideas which could potentially become a reality. There’s probably a ton we forgot too, so feel free to share yours in the comments what YOU would like to see added!
If you missed it, be sure to check out both our Need for Speed Heat Review and All Collectibles Location Guide! For all of our Need for Speed Heat coverage, check out our dedicated Need for Speed Heat section in the Games tab, and be sure to stay tuned for all the latest Need for Speed Heat news!