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Need for Speed Heat is quite notorious for its vigilant and persistent police force. Compared to older Need for Speed games with cops, the ones in Palm City are faster and more furious. This can lead to a lot of frustrating escape sequences, especially during high Heat levels or when the cops suddenly butt in during high-stakes night races. That's why players will do well to arm themselves with the knowledge on how to cheese these cops.

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While losing the cops in Need for Speed Heat is more challenging this time around, it's not a nigh-impossible feat. There are some sound and tried-and-tested tactics that let players escape from messing with the police AI, leading to some rather easy slips. Players who are tired of getting t-boned or busted by cop cars might want to test out these tactics in Palm City.

Jump Ramps Repeatedly

nfs heat ramp

The most effective option for evading and escaping cops in Need for Speed Heat is to find a ramp and take advantage of it repeatedly. That means jumping once and then boosting past it is not enough especially if there are cops waiting at the other end of the ramp.

What players want to do in scenarios like these is to collect all the cop cars behind them by circling around. Then, when all the cars are tailing them, that's the perfect moment to initiate the ramp jump. The cop cars won't be able to make the jump and will even crash themselves, leading to increased style points.

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In the event that some cops managed to spawn again near the other end of the ramp, then players can rinse and repeat this tactic until all the cops have crashed. Sure enough, it's better for players to familiarize themselves with ramps all over Palm City and to memorize their locations.

Find Tunnels To Avoid Helicopters

nfs heat helicopter

Helicopters are a whole other problem in police chases for Need for Speed Heat. The ramp tactic doesn't always work against them. Because after jumping a ramp and crashing all land pursuers, the players will have to stay still for the helicopters to give up (an exploit). If players move a few feet, then the helicopters might re-activate.

In such cases, this is where the tunnels come in handy. Helicopters won't be able to pursue players in these tunnels. Thankfully, there are plenty of tunnels both in and out of the urban area in Palm City. There's a big orange tunnel that runs underneath the city. For some short but accessible tunnels, players can even head to the racing stadium to hide from the helicopters.

Jump On Top Of Shipping Containers

nfs heat shipping containers

Another method when cheating both the cop cars and the helicopters would be an exploit that takes advantage of their poor AI like the ramp trick. If players can find an accessible shipping container and somehow manage to jump on top of them, then the cops and the helicopters will eventually give up — provided the players stay still.

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For a good location of these shipping containers, players can check Port Murphy which is located south of the map. There's a cluster of shipping containers due southeast of Port Murphy where players can jump onto. After a successful landing, the players need only stay still. The cop cars might circle around but their AI won't allow them to jump or see the players on top of the shipping container.

Once the cop cars are gone, then the helicopters will soon disappear as well.

Go Off-Road

nfs heat off road

Another purpose for off-road gear and off-road vehicles is for an easy evasion of police forces outside of the urban area. There are plenty of fields, hills, and uneven areas outside of the urbanized area in Palm City. The roads there are also uneven and lack uniformity, allowing players to take detours and shortcuts during chases.

If their car is modified well for such terrain, they might even be able to outrun the cops. If not, then at least it allows players to suddenly change to cleaner or less busy roads where they can cut the number of their pursuers. In some areas, such as crop fields and dark areas with high foliage, players can stay hidden — as long as a helicopter isn't chasing them.

Avoid Ramming Them

nfs heat police chase

It might be tempting to play joust with the cop cars but more often than not, this will end in tragedy. Players will have to remember that their cars are always heavier and better equipped for ramming maneuvers. So any ramming attempt by the players will usually result in a lopsided trade of car health. If the player's speed is fast enough, the ramming attempt might even total their whole car, leading to a sad bust.

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It's better to just avoid any kind of collision with these cop cars. Even just "trading paint" with them can result in some unfair registration of damage numbers to the player's vehicle. So on top of avoiding ramming them, players will also have to avoid cop cars brushing into theirs in order to keep their cars safe.

Last-Minute Sharp Turns

nfs heat tailgating

One good tactic in losing the cops in Need for Speed Heat that's not an exploit is to out-corner them. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book ever since the days of Most Wanted. All players have to do is find a nice car with superb handling for the deed. While they're being chased by cop cars, they also have to keep the cops just a few feet near them; this could mean slowing down a bit.

Once players find a good, sharp corner they can wait until the last moment to turn into the said corner by using the handbrake and turning. They'll then have to boost themselves with nitrous to make up for the lost speed. If players perform this daring turn closely enough, then all the cops tailgating them will overshoot past the corner and miss the turn or even crash into a pileup.

Outrun Them

nfs heat tunnel

It's not the most reliable method of losing the cops, but it can be one of the easiest. This won't require any sharp turns or city-street maneuvering. Players only need to memorize where the longest straight roads are located in Palm City. They also need a car that can go well past 200 MPH (322 KMH). Because it seems that most cop cars can't go past that top speed.

Exotics are thus champions in this category. Once players find that long and straight road, then they can simply punch in the nitrous and drive their exotic as if they were on the Autobahn in Germany. Any cop car chasing them will be left in the dust once they go past 200 MPH. Problems with this tactic do arise when the game decides to spawn cop cars ahead, but that's where the other methods come into play.

Need for Speed Heat is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

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