Nascar Heat 2002

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Nascar Heat 2002

After being burned by the horrible game that is Crazy Taxi, I was a little wary about trying out another racing game so soon, however NASCAR Heat 2002 quickly erased any worries about another dismal gaming experience.

NASCAR Heat 2002 features 25 of today’s best Winston Cup drivers, as well as 19 Winston Cup tracks. This game sees the likes of three-time champion Jeff Gordon, defending champion Bobby Labonte, bad boy Tony Stewart, rookie sensation Kevin Harvick, the extremely likeable Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Rusty Wallace, among others. The late great Dale Earnhardt does appear in this game, if only in the Beat The Heat mode. You can race at the famous Daytona, bump and grind at the high banks of Bristol, fight the pack at Talladega, or test your driving skills on the road at Sears Point. Almost all of the tracks are here, however the absence of the Pocono and Indianapolis tracks is disappointing.

The game features five modes of play: Beat the Heat, Race the Pro, Single Race, Championship Season, and Head to Head. Head to Head is the game’s two-player mode, as you and your best racing buddy can go at it with eight other drivers at the track of your choice. Single Race mode is pretty self-explanatory; you choose a driver, choose a track, and you’re off to race. This mode is great for practicing and learning your way around each racetrack. You can run a race of any length (up to 500 laps at some tracks) against 23 other drivers at whatever difficulty setting you choose.

Championship Season is a re-creation of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup season, as you can take your favorite car to the track to try and win the coveted Cup trophy. This mode is pretty standard fare, and it utilizes the real life Winston Cup points system. Race the Pro is a feature that lets you race against one of 11 drivers at their best tracks. The goal? Run five laps at the track faster than the drivers real life best time. Beat the Heat mode. This mode features 36 unique challenges, each of which must be met to unlock the next. This mode would make a great game in and of itself, but its inclusion in NASCAR Heat 2002 adds significantly to the game’s replay value.

As far as actual game play the game is pretty much dead on. There are two physics modes. Normal, which gives you more of an arcade feel. Your car seams to stay on the road despite many encounters with other cars or concrete barriers. They may slow you down, but they wont make your car flip or spin like it will in expert mode. There are also five levels of driver difficulty. Which means anyone can sit down and play on the easiest level and not do too badly, All the way to the pro level, This is great because almost everybody can find a challenging level and hopefully build up to the higher degree of difficulty. The overall AI is pretty good with each driver driving similar to their real life tendencies. If you put the game on Expert, the AI races you much harder in each race, and you actually have to focus your attention on adjusting your racecar. Spending time in the garage making adjustments is critical to succeeding in a race, and Heat 2002 does not neglect this fact. While this may seem a bit daunting to novices and tedious to those who aren’t NASCAR fans, it’s a major selling point for the hardcore fans who understand that NASCAR is more than just driving fast and turning left.

The graphics look really good. Sparks fly when you rub the wall, and lights reflect off the cars during the night races. However I think they could have done a better job with the damage/crumpling effects when you bump the wall or other cars.

The car's engine and tire squealing is the main focus of the sound. No background music, but I suppose that is true to the NASCAR feel of the game. And, although you do hear your pit crew talking to you every now and then, and the crowd cheering when you take the lead there is nothing much else going on here. A commentator or two may help also. A lot of times people complain about commentating in games being boring and annoying at best, but I have to say after playing this game it’s much better than nothing at all. The only other problem with the game: no instant replay. The only time you can re-watch anything is after the race and even then there is no rewind or fast forward so if you want to see the pile up on lap 78 you have to watch lap 1-77 to get to it.

There are prettier racing games out there (EA’s NASCAR offering, Gran Turismo, and Twisted Metal Black) however I have yet to find one as realistic as NASCAR Heat 2002. If you’re a huge NASCAR fan or someone who doesn’t know stock cars from Indy cars you can still get the same enjoyment out of this game.


	Steamer Trunk \| home NCAA Final Four 2002 \| Grand Theft Auto \| EA NHL 2002 \| Dave Mirra BMX \| Nascar Heat 2002 \| Crazy Taxi \| Madden 2002 \| NCAA Football 2002 \| Madden 2001 \| Triple Play \| Knockout Kings \| NBA Live 2001 \| ESPN Hockey Night \| NCAA Final Four Nascar Heat 2002 After being burned by the horrible game that is Crazy Taxi, I was a little wary about trying out another racing game so soon, however NASCAR Heat 2002 quickly erased any worries about another dismal gaming experience. NASCAR Heat 2002 features 25 of today’s best Winston Cup drivers, as well as 19 Winston Cup tracks. This game sees the likes of three-time champion Jeff Gordon, defending champion Bobby Labonte, bad boy Tony Stewart, rookie sensation Kevin Harvick, the extremely likeable Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Rusty Wallace, among others. The late great Dale Earnhardt does appear in this game, if only in the Beat The Heat mode. You can race at the famous Daytona, bump and grind at the high banks of Bristol, fight the pack at Talladega, or test your driving skills on the road at Sears Point. Almost all of the tracks are here, however the absence of the Pocono and Indianapolis tracks is disappointing. The game features five modes of play: Beat the Heat, Race the Pro, Single Race, Championship Season, and Head to Head. Head to Head is the game’s two-player mode, as you and your best racing buddy can go at it with eight other drivers at the track of your choice. Single Race mode is pretty self-explanatory; you choose a driver, choose a track, and you’re off to race. This mode is great for practicing and learning your way around each racetrack. You can run a race of any length (up to 500 laps at some tracks) against 23 other drivers at whatever difficulty setting you choose. Championship Season is a re-creation of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup season, as you can take your favorite car to the track to try and win the coveted Cup trophy. This mode is pretty standard fare, and it utilizes the real life Winston Cup points system. Race the Pro is a feature that lets you race against one of 11 drivers at their best tracks. The goal? Run five laps at the track faster than the drivers real life best time. Beat the Heat mode. This mode features 36 unique challenges, each of which must be met to unlock the next. This mode would make a great game in and of itself, but its inclusion in NASCAR Heat 2002 adds significantly to the game’s replay value. As far as actual game play the game is pretty much dead on. There are two physics modes. Normal, which gives you more of an arcade feel. Your car seams to stay on the road despite many encounters with other cars or concrete barriers. They may slow you down, but they wont make your car flip or spin like it will in expert mode. There are also five levels of driver difficulty. Which means anyone can sit down and play on the easiest level and not do too badly, All the way to the pro level, This is great because almost everybody can find a challenging level and hopefully build up to the higher degree of difficulty. The overall AI is pretty good with each driver driving similar to their real life tendencies. If you put the game on Expert, the AI races you much harder in each race, and you actually have to focus your attention on adjusting your racecar. Spending time in the garage making adjustments is critical to succeeding in a race, and Heat 2002 does not neglect this fact. While this may seem a bit daunting to novices and tedious to those who aren’t NASCAR fans, it’s a major selling point for the hardcore fans who understand that NASCAR is more than just driving fast and turning left. The graphics look really good. Sparks fly when you rub the wall, and lights reflect off the cars during the night races. However I think they could have done a better job with the damage/crumpling effects when you bump the wall or other cars. The car's engine and tire squealing is the main focus of the sound. No background music, but I suppose that is true to the NASCAR feel of the game. And, although you do hear your pit crew talking to you every now and then, and the crowd cheering when you take the lead there is nothing much else going on here. A commentator or two may help also. A lot of times people complain about commentating in games being boring and annoying at best, but I have to say after playing this game it’s much better than nothing at all. The only other problem with the game: no instant replay. The only time you can re-watch anything is after the race and even then there is no rewind or fast forward so if you want to see the pile up on lap 78 you have to watch lap 1-77 to get to it. There are prettier racing games out there (EA’s NASCAR offering, Gran Turismo, and Twisted Metal Black) however I have yet to find one as realistic as NASCAR Heat 2002. If you’re a huge NASCAR fan or someone who doesn’t know stock cars from Indy cars you can still get the same enjoyment out of this game.