Need for Speed Heat may be a greatest hits collection of past success stories in an attempt to make up for the past, but it still pushes the pedal to the metal when it comes to being a guilty pleasure of pure racing junk food that’s hot off the engine block.

One thing that Need for Speed Heat does exceptionally well though? Provide a workshop wherein you can apply some fantastic liveries to your vehicle of choice. Which is why I want to create the butt-ugliest car of all time. I can’t do it alone though.

It’s cheesier than a Wisconsin cheddar tour, its coming off of the back of the massively panned Payback game and its going head to head with the current king of arcade racers, Forza Horizon 4. Need for Speed Heat certainly has its work cut out for it and then some. EA and Ghost Games’ semi-regular racing franchise has been in need of a substantial retune for many a year now and with a benchmark so low that it may just be a speed hump thanks to Payback, Heat has nowhere to go but up.

Need for Speed Heat will have its own selection of licensed tunes that cater towards the more chill side of driving while also flipping the coin at night to deliver some pulse-pounding beats.

Hopefully, with the 25th anniversary, the studio would be compelled to deliver something special. Something that could stand out from all the rest. Nope, Chuck Testa.

In the last couple of months, video game publishers have been hammered with controversy over the use of those poop boxes (I am totes mature). Faced with a mounting backlash and a riot from fans after the Battlefront 2 straw that broke the camel’s back in 2017, EA has begun to roll back on using that extra dash for cash within a select few games, with Need for Speed Heat joining the list.

By the sound of things, Need for Speed Heat is mixing a celebration of car culture (FORZA HORIZON 4 SENSES TINGLING!) with its trademark racing against the thin blue line, as players will hit the streets during the day to take part in the official Speedhunters Showdown competition where they can earn some scratch to upgrade their rides and then use those vehicles to take on the law.

The 1980s are calling, the streets are illuminated in neon lights and urge to put the pedal to the metal is real. Here’s the first trailer for Need for Speed Heat.