Heat received mixed reviews from critics, who mostly found the game to be an improvement over the 2015 reboot and Payback, but not enough to be a full return-to-form for the franchise.

Need for Speed Heat is a racing game set in an open world environment called Palm City, a fictionalised version of Miami, Florida, and its surrounding areas.

Each heat level also equates to the amount a player's earned rep for a current night session will be multiplied by, should they successfully reach a safehouse or garage.

The player is busted when the driver stops and is close to a PCPD unit for a certain amount of time, is completely immobilised during a pursuit, or has depleted their strength bar.

The game also features a storyline in which the players interact with the city's police force, led by authority figure Lt. Frank Mercer.

[2][3][4] Players can smash neon flamingos hidden within the map, which rewards them with a small amount of money or rep depending on the time of day.

The game does not feature loot boxes; however, time savers, which reveals collectibles on the map, and paid downloadable content was included.

Lt. Frank Mercer (Josh Coxx), leader of the police's High-Speed Task Force, announces his intent to arrest all street racers in the city.

Ana introduces the player to The League, a crew of Palm City's best street racers, which Lucas almost joined until he quit racing after their father suddenly died.

The spectacle raises public suspicion over the task force and Lucas becomes angered at Ana for stealing and damaging their father's car.

Torres leads them to a warehouse that acts as an illegal chop shop, stripping cars seized by the High-Speed Task Force, or preparing them to be shipped out of the city.

The player and Ana attempt to expose Mercer by crashing a Showdown event with some members from the League joining them, leading police and local media to his chop shop, but it turns out to be vacated.

[21] Free content updates added the Aston Martin DB11 Volante[21] and a playable version of the Polestar 1 hero car featured on the game's cover art.

An update in June 2020 enabled cross-platform play between PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, making it the first EA game to have this feature, and the first since Need for Speed: Underground in 2003.

According to EA, the game envisages "an open world of urban speed that resembles Miami" by incorporating Latin pop songs into the soundtrack.

The police could be a little more prominent, and the world – while well stocked – isn't as interesting as Forza Horizon’s, for instance, but NFS Heat is the best iteration since Ghost Games' reboot in 2015".

[29] Richard Wakeling of GameSpot gave the game a 7/10, stating that "With only a select few events, no discernible difference between each car's handling, and a simplistic driving model, Need for Speed Heat does stumble into repetition during its final few hours.