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Ever expanding expansion universe... Yes, it’s an expansion, but a bloomin’ good one. In this universe of ever expanding expansions, some go missing, some just aren’t needed, some are blearily overlooked, some are just self effusing bloaters and some, like Heat; Heavy Rain, are Goldilocks perfection.
Firstly, Heat: Pedal to the Metal, a glorious card driven racing game, that feels like a racing game! Not a hare and tortoise maths puzzle (classic game that it still is). I won’t bore you with a Heat core box overview here, instead go read a review (might even write one myself) and make sure you have your ‘Juan Manuel Fangio’ underpants on.
As you’re reading this, it’s a given you have already oiled yourself up with the heartpounding gloriousness of the core game.
Have you ever seen the heavy rain...
Someone told me long ago, there's a calm before the storm, I know it’s been comin’ for sometime... I wanna know have you ever seen the heavy rain?
Under the hood of the slim ‘they’ll never know you’ve got it’ box of Heat: Heavy Rain, there is a smooth running injection system to boost your already throbbing core box engine.
There are two new tracks. Japan – flooded after a cataclysmic downpour, with tricky puddles of water laying on the track. Mexico – with it’s tight, head banging, chicanery and blistering straights of pure sun-drenched adrenaline(ry).
An extra player, Orange(ry) indeed, stand out from the crowd, unless you’re at a Netherlands International home game. Whip out your player board, car, gearstick, associated player cards and tell matron to be on standby. The Orange flash, ahhhhhhhhhhh, saviour of the racingverse.
Extra cheese please aka cards by the dozen, well, by the 45, to be sure.
5 extra Stress cards
15 extra heat cards
7 sponsorship cards
12 advanced upgrade cards, a new revolutionary air intake system.
4 event cards (1964 season)
2 track cards
1 partridge in a.....no scrap that.
All this is overviewed by a wafer-thin mintesque rule book.
What’s new pussycat....the mechanics(ery)??
In the blue corner - Flooded Spaces. These are inscrutable little puddles of water that only appear on the Japan racetrack. 3 flooded corners with Noah on watch for any flounderers. Basically it’s a mechanic that if you start in a flooded section, it costs you an extra Heat to change down gears. 1 for 1 gear and 2 for 2. Doesn’t sound too foreboding? As they’re all at corners it does make it harder, more strenuous, to slow down, thematically accurate, you can almost feel your soggy socks.
In the red corner – Chicanes, or chicanery, as I like to call it. Hey, Fangio, stop it with your tom-chicanery over there, and put your pants back on. Chicanes can be found on both tracks. 1 in Japan, but 2 fiery little demonios in Mexico. Basically they have to be treated with respect and caution, timing is the secret. They can be traversed in one almighty rush of foot flooring glory, but.... ..stick to the speed limit! Any acceleration over the permitted limit will mean you get penalised twice, tread carefully Fangio. Normally going through a 2 speed limit corner at a speed of 4 will cost you 2 heat, but going through the two corners of the chicane will get your wrist slapped twice. 4 heat burning through your engine, that’s why they call you Mr Fahrenheit.
In another coloured corner – Aggressive Legends. The AI legends can be more aggressive on some parts of the 2 new tracks and clear two corners in the same round. This can only be done if starting their turn on a space on the track with a chevron above the legends diamond. This makes them tougher opponents on these new tracks. There is a rule for this to be used on the Great Britain track too.
In the final coloured corner – Super cool symbol. This is a teardrop shaped symbol on the new upgrade cards and sponsorship cards that you shuffle in with your respective existing cards. This ‘Super Cool’ thing man, allows you to remove heat from your discard pile instead of your hand. Sounds trivial but, man, so useful. Takes hand management to level 11.
And in the 5th corner (?!) – Championship System. Not really a mechanic (like a bloke who changes tyres), just 4 new event cards for a 1964 season.
Enough of this tom-cornery....
What would Sergio say....the good, the bad and the ugly...
Normally I would list good points and then bad points, usually contradicting myself in some strange Freudian apocalypse. This deserves each part of the expansion being addressed for it’s good points (lobster dinner with Jayne Mansfield) and bad points (picking boll weevils from biscuits).
FLOODED SPACES
Great, but why only in Japan? It’s a good robust mechanic, brilliant, well done, but more is more. For being touted as ‘heavy rain’, there is very little about. Surely it should be on both new tracks and even more simply been track overlays, which you could use on any/or specific tracks. Great Britain needs about a jiggerbillion of them.
For me, a bit lobster, a bit weevil. Maybe it will be expanded on in the future.
CHICANES(ERY)
Lovely little rule/mechanic, makes you look, makes you stare....Fangio .... Definite Lobster.
AGGRESSIVE LEGENDS
Nice touch to make the legends just a little bit harder to beat. Spot on. Lobster.
THE CARDS 100%
Jayne Mansfield, pucker up, here I come. Any deck building/management game can only welcome more cards. These ones are pure whizz-bangers. They are the added vavavavooooom. They are your pair of Fangio underpants.
Beg, steal, borrow......
Is Heat: Heavy Rain essential? If you’ve only scratched the surface of the core game, then it’s more of an extra warm cosy blanket. If you’ve banged the living daylights out it, then it’s right up your strada.
I would recommend buying it, I already have, it’s the first expansion in what will be many, no doubt. The price is fair too. So put your Fangios on, channel your inner James Hunt and burn up the track baby.
I only want to see you driving in the heavy rain. Heavy rain, heavy rain. I only want to see you driving in the Heat: Heavy Rain Expansion.....
Carry on Gaming
Paddywhack.