Need for Speed: Heat’s Black Market content is a tiny blast
Need for Speed: Heat’s Black Market update arrived this week, breathing new life into EA’s latest racing game; new cars, new tracks and more.
Weird fact about me, at some point Need for Speed: Heat became my default video game. A new game will come out, I will tear through it and then go right back into Need for Speed: Heat.
Another weird fact, I’m not really a car guy or a race guy. I can’t tell you what car company is what. I don’t know what a chassis is or does. I don’t care. But something about Need for Speed: Heat‘s open world and wide variety of things I can do is my nighttime equivalent of my morning coffee. It’s just calming and I love it.
A few days ago, EA dropped a major update for Need for Speed: Heat. It ended up introducing the”Black Market” add-on.
Now, I know our own Elliot Gatica did an excellent article on it already but my experience was decidedly different. He’s not wrong in his opinion and I’m definitely not bashing it; I see his side. I just want to show a different look because I had a different experience.
When you get into the Black Market stuff, you’re going to find right out the gate that you’ve been presented with two new “quest lines”. One is a free one and one costs $4.99. I had to look it up because I’m such a Need for Speed: Heat dork that when I found out there was new DLC I…kinda just snagged it. That’s a problem for another article.
Both quest lines involve the two cars. The free Aston Martin DB11 Volante ‘19 is super classy looking and is one of those modern electric razor shaped cars that would give you a clean shave.
The $4.99 McLaren F1 ‘93, if we’re being real, looks like the kind of car my six-year-old would draw if I told him to design “something fast”. It looks like a car the people were driving in the movie version of The Lorax, especially with the fact that you sit in the middle in front of a massive curved window like a goof.
In addition to these cars, they also add some neat new features and a ton of new races. I’m so familiar with a lot of the existing races that it was almost jarring at first to take a left where I normally take a right. I know that sounds silly but the new tracks are laid out phenomenally to where they are just as fun to watch other people race these as it is to play.
Many are set up where there’s almost a set piece for each race. Maybe a spectacular jump or a sudden moment where you have to slam on your breaks and weave through stuff. It was really fun and refreshing.
Another thing the update adds is quest lines for the cars. Using the new cars and completing quest missions unlocks free customization options for the new vehicles. It’s all cosmetic and doesn’t effect the performance so it never felt like I HAD to do it. But if I wanted to show off the insane spoilers or, in the case of the Volante (which quickly became my favorite), you can even unlock a light up grill on the front of the car.
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For most people this content is “meh.” For a customization junkie like myself, it was amazing. Well, except for the new character customization options. I’m sorry but you can add a million more clothing items to the character creator and they’d all still look like they’re mad about not getting a refund for the Fyre Festival.
It was really nice to see something new added into a Need for Speed game. Honestly, I didn’t expect anything to come out for this, especially with the developer dissolving like the not so good feeling Peter Parker.
Need for Speed games don’t normally get a ton of DLC content. Having new content, free and otherwise, was really nice and a great addition to what, in my opinion, is a really great game.