Age of History II vs Need for Speed Heat
Age of History II is an open-world sandbox game from Łukasz Jakowski (2018) while Need for Speed Heat is an open-world racing game from EA Gothenburg (2019).
Quick answer: Age of History II rates higher, 7.9 to 7.4 on the GamingPickz Score, and Age of History II is the cheaper at $5.99.
What each one is
Age of History II is filed under Open-World and Sandbox. In contrast, Need for Speed Heat under Open-World and Racing.
Age of History II is a grand strategy wargame that is simple to learn yet hard to master.Your objective is to use military tactics and cunning diplomacy to either unify the world, or conquer it.Will the world bleed out or bow before you? The choice is yours..
Hustle by day and risk it all at night in Need for Speed™ Heat Deluxe Edition, a white-knuckle street racer, where the lines of the law fade as the sun starts to set.
Story, characters and reception
No Wikipedia detail on file.
Plot
The player (male player voiced by Andrew Lawrence , female player voiced by Jamie Gray Hyder ) arrives in Palm City for the SpeedHunters Showdown, a citywide exhibition that draws in racers who compete in sanctioned races throughout the day, and illegal street races at night. Lt. Frank Mercer (Josh Coxx), leader of the police's High-Speed Task Force, announces his intent to arrest all street racers in the city. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Need for Speed Heat received generally positive reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . Critics welcomed the overhauled progression system (compared to the predecessor Payback where one of the methods to gain upgrades for a car was to purchase loot boxes ) and the option to choose between day and night for increased race variety, but criticized the short story and lack of innovation compared to previous titles. Luke Reily… (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Age of History II | Need for Speed Heat | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.9/10 | 7.4/10 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (90%, 49,963) | Very Positive (84%, 153,208) |
| Critic aggregate | No aggregate | 72/100 |
| Price | $5.99 | $69.99 |
| Install size | 0.37 GB | 50 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | playable |
| Released | 2018 | 2019 |
| Developer | Łukasz Jakowski | EA Gothenburg |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Age of History II vs Need for Speed Heat, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Age of History IIOpen-world sandbox gameNeed for Speed HeatOpen-world racing gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Age of History IIStrategy, Historical, WarNeed for Speed HeatRacing, Open World, DrivingThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Age of History II ✓Score 7.9 · 90% on SteamNeed for Speed HeatScore 7.4 · 84% on Steam · 72 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Age of History II49,963 reviews · 0.37 GBNeed for Speed Heat153,208 reviews · 2 add-ons · 50 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Age of History II ✓$5.99Need for Speed Heat$69.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Age of History IIPlayableNeed for Speed HeatPlayableValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Age of History II takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueAge of History II and Need for Speed Heat on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Age of History II (GamingPickz Score 7.9)
- The cheaper right now: Age of History II ($5.99)
- Lighter on storage: Age of History II (0.37 GB)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: Need for Speed Heat (153,208 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
MultiplayerSingleplayerOpen World
Where they differ
StrategyHistoricalWarGrand StrategyTurn-Based StrategyPolitical Sim
RacingDrivingActionCo-opAdventureCombat Racing
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Age of History II is relaxed, easy to pick up. Need for Speed Heat is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Age of History II | Need for Speed Heat | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | Hardware Accelerated Graphics with dedicated | AMD: Radeon 7970/Radeon R9 280x |
| Minimum CPU | 1.8 GHz Single Core | FX-6350 |
| Minimum RAM | 1 GB | 8 GB |
| Install size | 0.37 GB | 50 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Age of History II · Need for Speed Heat.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Age of History II and 1 for Need for Speed Heat. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Age of History II and Need for Speed Heat in scope?
Age of History II has drawn 49,963 Steam reviews and installs in 0.37 GB. Need for Speed Heat has drawn 153,208 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 50 GB.
Is Age of History II or Need for Speed Heat better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Age of History II rates higher (7.9 to 7.4). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Age of History II or Need for Speed Heat?
Age of History II is cheaper right now at $5.99, against $69.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Age of History II or Need for Speed Heat?
Age of History II rates higher, 7.9 to 7.4 on the GamingPickz Score, and Age of History II is the cheaper at $5.99. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.