(Damage/"Health bar") We need to have a talk.

[Jacobba55]

We need to have a little chat.

Now, having just watched the visually impressive gameplay trailer for NFS Heat, I went back over to look for hidden things, additional details etc. And to my surprise, lo and behold a damage meter! Hidden in plain sight as part of the UI, going unnoticed by most.

I'm not sure how you feel, but I don't think a health system is the right direction for NFS. It simply takes away from the game, instead of adding. It contributes to the brutality of PCPD at night, sure, but who's to say your precious personal character will still be breathing, let alone able to drive competently after having been busted? I don't want to ruin this or hate Heat before it even releases, but there are definitely consequences to a flawed system like this. Look at Rivals, I loved it, but it was constantly slammed for the hyper-aggressive nature of cops.

So, what's so bad about a health system then?

Well, if you happen to be low on "health" crashing in to random traffic would easily lead to a pathetic failure and losing whatever you had risked supposedly. Add this to cheap busts or spike strips destroying your car instead of tyres and it will quickly become frustrating as opposed to challenging when taking on the PCPD.

Another note to mention, is the issue regarding multiplayer. If you incorporate a damage system, the game opens up to EXTREME trolling. People WILL be deliberately wrecking each other, ruining a perfectly good pursuit, or accidentally getting in the way...

Please Ghost Games, @BenWalke and anyone else willing to help or whoever agrees, do what you can to stop this if it's not too late or at least hear me out? I'm really sorry if this is unreasonable, but I implore you to think twice about this system!

[GUCCIxADIDAS]

[Jacobba55]

@GUCCIxADIDAS

But having seen the gameplay trailer we can see just how easy it is for you to lose roughly 2/3 of it just for hitting a spike strip,who knows how much you'll take from a kamikaze FVPD style cop, or even the Killswitch? I'm worried that Heat will get the same negative feedback as Rivals for a system where the cops only attempt to destroy your car without any thought as to whether they can detain a suspect intact. No difficulty setting can truly fix a finite meter, wouldn't it be better to have consistent aggression to move away from passive-aggressive behaviour of the FVPD?

Now, it's a very good point that it should be tried first, HOWEVER the reason I have taken action now is because if it's a major flaw after the game has released, it would be almost impossible to revert seeing as it seems to be a core mechanism in the game engine. What I'm saying is that if those who really don't want it don't act now, it will stay after release, no matter the pleas or patches received later. Even if it was the most hated system in gaming, it would already be rooted too far into the game's code and the devs would probably just outright refuse to get rid of it, to add insult to injury. I guess everyone's fine with a health bar system then, even though Rivals practically had a bomb dropped on it for things like this...

[GUCCIxADIDAS]

[Jacobba55]

@GUCCIxADIDAS

Who doesn't love an effective system that works? And battling cops for hours makes it a true endurance trial! So what your saying is that cops can't even "bust" you anymore, they have to wreck your car? If that was actually true that's just outrageous, at least the RCPD could arrest you normally as well...

I refuse to believe this is too far gone, and I'm actually annoyed now because I realise that they hid this mechanic from us until a gameplay trailer. Reminiscent of the "Suprise Mechanics" we all know and love. Repair shop spamming will surely return from Rivals, they also appeared in the last 4 NFS games (3 of which didn't have a health system). Maybe we can make it go somewhere.

[GUCCIxADIDAS]

[Jacobba55]

@GUCCIxADIDAS

Right... 

I do however agree that the re-inflating tyres are just strange, a stupid feature to return in Payback from Rivals.

I do wonder if it is possible though. The devs have hidden a lot from us, especially with Payback! Have you ever seen the Pursuit Cooldown Mission 4.6.6 that essentially proves freeroam cops were possible (as well as the helicopter searching?) As well as that, other examples include the cut Ford Explorer police SUV, hidden Crown Vic customisation, removing the timer and checkpoints on Bait Crates. It makes me wonder about the difference between what the developers are willing to change, and what the developers are capable of changing...

[Harawana]

This could be a cheaty way for them to control the difficulty curve without having to develop the pursuit structures or the fact that the maps layout is such that the difficulty would be impossible to tailor based off of the cops actual abilities as we see in something like 2010s HP or 2005s MW. Either way I would assume that we wont be seeing the return of the massive hours long pursuits of old, stacking up massive bounty rap sheets.

[Jacobba55]

@Harawana

It certainly sounds like that. With a finite limit to how much you can push your car, you won't be "burning any limits." The only thing you'll be burning is your time, in-game cash, and your car after it's disabled by a kamikaze Charger.

Thanks for the contributions.

[BVBgamer88]

@Jacobba55 I agree its ridicilius, it is turning into a burnout police chase. I Remember that Need For Speed High Stakes had a damagemodel,but even there you dident had a healthbar over the car. And the police actually had too pull you over, too make a arrest and the spikestrips only damaged the tires. I think EA\Ghost should make it so the spikestrips only blow the tires, but honestly they are making a big mistake. With this damage thing, inonline that will lead too Wreckfest carnage. Plus that we cant play as a cop that is a no buy for my part.