704 Games released the first official gameplay trailer for NASCAR Heat 2 on Tuesday, touting a deeper career mode, split screen, dirt tracks, trucks, new drivers, and 40-car online multiplayer.
The sequel to the lukewarmly-received NASCAR Heat Evolution, it’ll be interesting to see if the bump in features and the promise of upgraded physics and damage models will sway reviewers.
What may sway consumers – especially NASCAR fans, is technically the game is revenue neutral. Retailing at 49.99, NASCAR Heat 2 comes with a $50-off coupon for a NASCAR event. If you’re going such an event, why not buy the game too, ya know? It’s reminiscent of Madden’s Sunday Ticket promotion a few years back.
While Forza and F1 and Gran Turismo dominate the landscape in terms of ‘sim’ racers on consoles, there’s been a lack of quality stock car racing games. The difference being stock car racing is all about an even playing field – hence a stock car, thus making the race about the best driver. Personally I’m holding out for a Days of Thunder sequel.
Just about everyone that’s been to a Walmart or mall has fond memories of Daytona USA. It was a stock-car racing game without the NASCAR license. It’ll be interesting to see if NASCAR Heat 2 can capture just a bit of that magic.
The developer, Monster Games, has worked on racing games for years and the Donkey Kong Country games of all things. Hopefully their lineage will give us the NASCAR game we’ve been waiting for.
We’ll find out September 12th, when the game rolls out to Xbox One and PS4.
