NASCAR Heat: Alright, but that's it

I'm a big fan of racing games and the selection of good racing games on mobile devices is very limited. At the end of last year, I found out about a NASCAR game, named NASCAR Heat. It felt very decent to start with, but there are a few things missing or wrong in the game for me to enjoy it 100%. Here are 4 things I dislike about this game.


1. The upgrades are worthless :(

One of the main things I felt disappointed about, is how disappointing the upgrades are. I don't really feel any improvement in the car (Level 0 -> 9/10). For example, I've tested a slow ride against my own ride. Both are limited to 195 MPH on the first Daytona event (No slipstream, no pushing), which seemed awkward with the presence of a level 10 engine in my own ride, compared to the #00 Landon Cassill 2019 ride with level 0 engine. How in earth does that make any sense? What is the value of the upgrades if there isn't any clear benefit of doing it?


2. AI is worked out weird

The AI seems to be worked out in a weird way. The leader breaks away from the pack in a 2-lap Daytona event very frequently, which doesn't make sense at all. On some other tracks, they have no speed at all, which makes it easy (and difficult to complete the missions).

Especially the speeding leader is a bit of a let down. The leading car should not be able to break away that easily, in a way you can never catch up on it.


3. Game relies heavily on gold

Another thing that disturbs me, is how much the game relies on you spending gold. If you are a big fan of a big NASCAR driver, you'll need gold to buy one or more liveries of him/her. It's a shame, as the amount of gold in-game is very limited and you will need to rely on luck getting them. The cars you can buy with in-game currency are limited, but not too hard to buy.

For example, buying a level 10 part will cost you 490 gold coins. To instantly install that bought part, will cost another 1.000 coins. That would mean it would cost you an easy €/$60. In-game currency will put you down an staggering 367.000, with an installation time of 24 hours.


4. What is the purpose of shuffling missions if you get the same ones?

One of my biggest frustrations, is how repetitive missions seem to be. Especially ones combining high and low passes in one race, is somewhat too much. But the biggest frustration I've had, is getting the exact same missions after a shuffle. Some tracks are easier to race on than other tracks, so I'd like different kind of missions on different kind of tracks.

NASCAR Manager

Always dreamed of owning a NASCAR team yourself? Well, NASCAR manager is the solution for that dream. This game is really about helping your driver getting to the finish line first. You can use both your own driver/team combination or a real driver/team combination, with the likings of Earnheardt, Stewart, Johnson, Busch and many others to pick from. Here, a couple of tips to get better results, especially in the beginning.

1. Take your time

It's best to take your time for this game. The thing is, that your energy level has the most incluence on your pace. And even though you still have fuel and tires to take care for, your energy is what you'd like to keep during the race.

2. Set up your car on the demands of the track.

Another good thing to do is to keep your car set up properly for the demands of the track. Each track requires certain charactaristics of the car to be highlighted. That are usual 3 certain things you need to take in consideration.

3. Sponsors

Start using sponsors in your own career as soon as possible. By doing so, you will get loads of money for upgrading your car, teams and new sponsors. I personally would go for sponsors first, as those reward you with decent amount of cash each race. At second I would go for parts, but do all the parts but the Stock ones. Those are just not worth doing in the beginning at all.

4. Use the small challenges with a race

It's a wise choice to take these challenges, like avoid a crash on track or challenge others drivers on track. Although it may be difficult, it gives a great advantage on track and may also help you with the damage control of your car. More damage means more chance of retiring and also slowing you down, although you may not notice that due to the fact you never see lap times whatsoever. 

There you go, 4 tips to get you started as NASCAR manager!! If you have some tips yourself, feel free to share them with others down below in the comments section!!