Old School - Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed

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JohnBM01

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Some Gran Turismo fans would love to race Ferraris, Porsches, and Lamborghinis in Gran Turismo games. The lack thereof in the game series make some not feel affected, or pee in their diapers and whine depending upon how you see things. So what do you do when you can't have these companies in Gran Turismo? Play a game that has them and get off GT's back. That's what EA was thinking back in 2000. Since many people weren't satified with Ruf in GT2, why not a game with Porsches and nothing but? That's what this game is all about. Now before I review the game, I'm not going to say this is the greatest classic game because Porsches are in the game. So don't get your hopes up. Now, let me get to it.

OTHER INFORMATION:
NFS: Porsche Unleashed gives you a great amount of Porsches to race with. I think the box said there's over 80 Porsches (I have the NFS collection with NFS2:SE, NFS3, NFS:HS, NFS:PU, and NFS2:HP) including a few racing versions. Tracks range from open roads, city streets, and (maybe) a few race circuits. You race nothing but Porsches. You race against nothing but Porsches. You purchase nothing but Porsches. You know what you're getting in an NFS game. You get nice pictures of Porsches ranging from car photos to print media. It is completely authentic. If you love Porsche, this is your big ticket. Most of my experience came from playing as a Porsche Test Driver. I've done some quick races as well as play Evolution mode. A nice touch is that when you go to select a car, you can click on the front hood, doors, convertible top, even the engine compartment to access parts of the car and see them in good detail. Most of the cars are mid or rear engined.

PROS:
incredibly-detailed Porsches from outside to interior; actually some nice handling on the Porsches. Cars don't seem to be completely arcadish; I don't know about you, but there's some nice music; nice variety of race courses

CONS:
while the interiors are detailed very well, the driver's arms and hands look real jerky when turning the wheel; Novice mode can be almost too easy, same as for some of the Test Driver missions.

INDIFFERENT:
Most Porsche fans won't find the 917, 962, or the Le Mans winning Porsche from 1997. The 911 GT1 is in the game, I don't think it's in racing livery, though. I even raced against that thing in a mismatch. I had a 911 from 1995, up against a 1998 911 GT1. You be the judge.

FINAL VERDICT:
I haven't played TOO much. But after a few days playing, this game is actually pretty good. For people looking for a nice history of Porsche with street and racing cars, this isn't your game, which is slightly disappointing. But if you want to play an NFS-style game without having to dodge the police too much, this may be your game. (Final Verdict: 8.50/10.00)
 
Thanks for the review John, my mate wanted to get this game, i guess i'll tell him to give it try. He wasn't too keen after playing Porsche Challenge on the PS1 some years back lol but a lot of things have changed since then :D.
 
This is an excellent game, probably the best one released since the original Need for Speed. BTW I am referring to the PC version.
 
Not that it really matters 5 years later, but I figure I should say that the thing with the jerky animations described in the OP is a result of the game having problems running on modern computers. Same reason that the textures are all blurry and the interior dials aren't as detailed as the ones on the HUD.

There is actually a fan patch that fixes all of those problems.
 
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