How to escape OP Cops in NFS Heat by letting go of your starter car

Attachment is vain.

This last week has been incredibly frustrating. Work is going well, wifey seems happy, the dogs are healthy, and yet somehow, the universe is crashing down.

Before you reconsider reading this article, let me begrudgingly admit that my level of emotional investment in video games is embarrassingly high for a semi-functional 32-year-old.

In other words, these damned cops in NFS heat. &*$@ them.

I conjecture that my PS4 controller distinctly remembers being unwillingly slammed into the couch at full force, every time the cops busted 100,000+ night runs with my starter Nissan 180SX.

Rage quit this bitch

Flashing lights and sirens gave me first-world panic attacks. There were some races, that I restarted unwittingly — a couple of times, which lead to the Heat level rising from 0 till the tip of the 2 in the same run.

And I’d better find a safe house as soon as that happened. Because post heat level 3, I’d either quit the game instantly or watch the heat level rise till 4 or 5 and getting smashed to kingdom come by a bunch of punk cops.

This was my gaming schedule for over a week. Despite watching numerous YT videos about escaping cops by (1) jumping ramps, (2) killing the engine and (3) sliding into open water (don’t do water, it’s a shitty tip), I’d fail gloriously every time.

Until one day, I decided to do day races, build my bank up to $250,000+ and buy a Lambo Huracan. The world became more forgiving, in a blink. I could outrun Heat 2 cops on straight roads, take smart turns and lose Heat 3 pigs, and jump ramps to leave Heat 4 police eating road dirt.

Don’t buy a Huracan though, you can’t drift on corners or bank worth shit in that ride. Your best bet in the game is to buy a Porsche 911 Carerra RSR, and keep modding it till the game breaks.

The fuzz will still be tough, but the air is fizzled out of them once your trade-in your starter for a much faster car (not something intuitive as you can keep beefing your starter as well). Tips that work:

1. Take smart turns just before a cop car overtakes you, to create that small distance that’ll take you far
2. Hit the nitrous after turns to boost out of corners (juicing that NOS on straight roads isn’t worth much against heat level 4,5 cars)
3. Avoid the hills like Herpes. Cops are insanely good at cornering and recovering after you lose them, and they’re doubly efficient at that in the hills. Make a run for the bays close to water where you can run them in circles.
4. Go slower to avoid crashes. Hitting a passenger vehicle will immediately get the cops to recover in a chase, to your chagrin. If you’re hitting out-of-control speeds of 250+, step off the gas to realign your vision, and avoid triggering inconsistent crash physics of NFS Heat.
5. Buy damage reduction and repair kit upgrades as soon as you can. They’re your best friends in a chase.

And remember this written word when you start closing 500k - 1 Mil rep banks, seething with adrenalin while skirting multiple cop-Porsche’s, dodging hulking rhino units, and losing a pesky chopper in your wake.

Then get up and take a well-deserved victory lap in your living room while you reflect on your achievements in a video game that matters to no one but you.

Try being a functioning adult with responsibilities for once, and contemplating a Need For getting a Life.