Need for Speed Heat Leaves Loot Boxes in The Dust

After the surprise announcement of Need for Speed Heat, another surprise came in the form of the follow up of there not being any loot boxes.

Yes, that wasn’t a typo. An EA game won’t feature any loot boxes. EA community manager Ben Walke answered fans on the Need for Speed subreddit on what to expect. Then, while listing the titles features, it was confirmed this entry won’t have “surprise mechanics”.

Surprise mechanics is what EA called loot boxes this year when they had to defend it against politicians. The past two entries in the series have turned off fans with grindy microtransactions or an always-online system. Ben Walke let potential buyers know what to expect saying,

“Coming into the reveal one of the things we agreed we would detail is the monetization options, no loot boxes, car packs, etc. No scapegoat here. Later this year we’ll introduce a time-save pack, which will show all collectibles on the map.”

There are also plans to have “post-launch paid DLC in the form of car packs”, but what cars or how many packs there will be hasn’t been released yet.

Need for Speed Heat is All About Location

Location is everything, especially in a race. Being a couple of inches in front of your opponent can be difference taking home a win or an L. This game takes place in Palm City, a fictional recreation of Miami, featuring a new type of story mode.

The return to an open world format makes me wonder how many Florida Man sightings there will be. If there isn’t a woman pulling a gator out her pants, I’m going to be disappointed. My home state has too many crazy happenings (a casual Monday for us) for a videogame not to capitalize on.

This fall is starting to look stacked with sequels with Borderlands 3, Gears 5 and more. Need for Speed Heat burns some rubber on a street near you on Nov. 8th for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

What’s the best racer out right now? What is your favorite Need for Speed game? Leave your comments!

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