''NASCAR Heat Evolution'' is a

racing video game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic rac ...

developed by

Monster Games Monster Games, Inc. is an American independent video game developer in Northfield, Minnesota, United States that specializes in racing games and ports in action, platforms and action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often ab ...

and published by Dusenberry Martin Racing. The game was released in North America on September 13, 2016 for the PlayStation 4,

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

and Microsoft Windows. It is the follow-up to the 2015 release of '' NASCAR '15 Victory Edition'' and the first developed by Monster Games since '' NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona'' was released in 2002.

Gameplay

The game features all 23 tracks from the

2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 68th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 45th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited, the Can-Am D ...

schedule, as well as drivers from several teams like Childress, Ganassi, Gibbs, Hendrick, Petty, Penske, Roush and Stewart-Haas. A November update added the drivers of the 2016 NASCAR Next class, such as

Todd Gilliland Todd J. Gilliland (born May 15, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 38 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports. He is the son of NASCAR driver and team owner D ...

Ty Majeski Tyler B. Majeski (born August 18, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver who mainly competes in late model racing. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport R ...

Harrison Burton Harrison Brian Burton (born October 9, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing. Racing career Early years Burton's rac ...

and others, though those drivers are only available in quick race mode. ''NASCAR Heat Evolution'' also includes a dynamic AI and Speed Rating system that matches the players skill level. Several different modes are built in the game, including a quick race mode, career mode, and a challenge mode. In the challenge mode, players attempt to match or exceed current

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

records.

Development

In 2015, Dusenberry Martin Racing, then known as DMi Games, acquired the NASCAR license from

Eutechnyx Eutechnyx Limited (formerly Zeppelin Games Limited, until 1994, and Merit Studios (Europe) Limited, until 1997) is a British video game developer based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Since 1997, the company has focused on racing games. They ...

in a deal lasting through 2020. The company's President Ed Martin formerly worked for

Papyrus Design Group Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a d ...

Hasbro Interactive Hasbro Interactive was an American video game production and publishing subsidiary of Hasbro, the large game and toy company. Several of its studios were closed in early 2001 and most of its properties were sold to Infogrames (now Atari SA) whi ...

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

and Eutechnyx, who developed the '' NASCAR Racing'', '' NASCAR Heat'', EA Sports ''NASCAR'' and '' NASCAR The Game'' series, respectively. CEO Tom Dusenberry was the founder and president of Hasbro Interactive.

Drivers

On May 20, DMR officially announced the game at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing includin ...

, partnering with Monster Games, who had developed ''NASCAR Heat'' and ''NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona''. Monster President and ''Evolution'' lead developer Richard Garcia was a former member of the ''Heat'' design team. Drivers

Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Ser ...

Ryan Blaney Ryan Michael Blaney (born December 31, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske. He is the son of former NASCAR driver Dave Blane ...

Brad Keselowski Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...

Matt Tifft Matthew Kenneth Tifft (born June 26, 1996) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, and current team owner. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 36 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports unt ...

, and Ben Kennedy were hired by DMR to help develop the game. The game is the first NASCAR game to be released on eighth generation consoles, with releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. To determine the cover driver, the highest-placing

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

driver in the

Sprint All-Star Race The NASCAR All-Star Race, formerly known as The Winston from 1985 to 2003, the Nextel All-Star Challenge from 2004 to 2007, the Sprint All-Star Race from 2008 to 2016, and the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race from 2017 to 2019, is an annual NAS ...

was selected; the eligible drivers were

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...

Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. ...

Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...

Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He drives the No. 8 car in the Superstar Racing Experience. (SRX) Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and won track cha ...

, and

Martin Truex Jr. Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...

Edwards won the cover driver competition with a fourth-place finish. A sequel to the game, released fall 2017, was released on September 12. The move came as DMR rebranded as 704Games.

Reception

The game received lackluster reviews from critics, who lamented the game's inability to keep users interested and the lack of improvement in online lobbies.

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

gave the game a 5.8 out of 10, citing a "worthless" career mode. FanSided gave the game a four out of 10, saying that it "came in dead last".

References

External links

* {{Monster Games 2016 video games NASCAR video games PlayStation 4 games Xbox One games Windows games Multiplayer and single-player video games Racing video games Video games developed in the United States Monster Games games