Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed
- Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (2000 on PlayStation)
- Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed (2004 on Game Boy Advance)
Description official descriptions
Need for Speed is back with more! Drive over 80 different Porsches, from the first 356 Ferdinand to the 2000 911 Turbo over multiple tracks. Some tracks have alternate paths. Others are rally tracks where you go from one end of the track to the other instead of doing circuit racing.
Two completely different single-player modes available. First, there's factory driver, which have you join Porsche as a test driver. As you complete different challenges, which can vary from doing specific manoeuvres in pre-alloted time to racing fellow drivers, you will make your way up to Ace Test Driver. Second, there's Evolution, which is the "career mode", you start with enough money to buy one 356, and start racing. As you win races, time will pass, new cars will become available, or you can peruse the used car market. Buy/repair/sell cars, win races, buy enhancement parts for your car, and make your way to the end of the modern era...
You can also play online via EARacing.com, where you can pick customized cars in your Evolution stable or choose stock cars and race up to 7 other cars simultaneously.
The graphics have been enhanced and the physics model changed to reflect a true 4-point system, and you can feel the difference between the different vehicles.
Spellings
- 极品飞车:保时捷之旅 - Simplified Chinese spelling
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Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Windows version)
181 People (165 developers, 16 thanks) · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 88% (based on 30 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 86 ratings with 7 reviews)
The Good
The vehicle amount is quite big, 80 cars without downloadable cars, but there are more when you got to the official website at the time of release. I enjoyed the track layout and missions add to the replay value. The music was very usual for EA, mix of funky songs in between but then it drops from good to absolutely terrible, that I got stretched like wire when I hear a bad song here. Thankfully you can manage the playlist in the option menu The tracks are based around Europe, France and Germany. There are also five circuits around Monte Carlo (though all five circuits are in night). Each track has its own time of day too, but it is static. There are details here and there which range from rain to animated people. For example in Normandie you can see a old woman sitting on a chair, and a man cleanning the junk on the floor. Engines sound well, horns sound like they should, background noises like rain, animals etc. There are extras like slides, videos and showcases for each car.
The Bad
Tracks are very limited, lack of custom tournaments, driver models are limited, and have about four models each. Some Factory Driver missions are nearly hard to beat. The AI seems to have catchup but it annoys me alot. Sometimes the vehicles spin out of control, so you lose the pack very often and you will keep an eye for the damage meter.
The Bottom Line
It is the best of the series, it is simulation like but looks arcadey. Get it in any way you can and enjoy it. Trust me.
Windows · by BlaringCoder (169) · 2015
Porsche, The poor man's Ferrari
The Good
I must say that when I started playing this game I thought I'd be over it in about an hour. But I got so hooked I went out and bought a Playstation style control.
The game has so much depth that after playing every night for a week I was only just over half way through it.
The graphics are great, they give a really good arcade feel but still look detailed enough to make you notice new things next to the track every time you race. The level of detail on each car is to the extreme. Every part of the car is noted, from the leather interior to the air intakes in front of the front and rear wheels.
For someone who isn't really into Porsche I would say that the addictive factor for this game is massive.
The Bad
180 reverse. If I am ever asked to do this again I will scream. As much as I love the game this one almost had me give up. Not to give everything away, but when you are asked to do a 180 in to reverse into 180 you will know what I mean.
I found the police car AI to be a let down. I don't really understand why they are there in career mode. The cops should try to pull you over or not be in the game at all. The spoil tactics used by the cops would have been less of a pain if the cops didn't have cars with about 100 more horses then yours.
The handling of some cars left me feeling about confused. If a Porsche is so high performance then how can you lose the back end doing 250KM round a long right hand sweeper? But as I've never driven that fast or a Porsche I can't compare the attempt at "realism".
Where's the Ferrari?
The Bottom Line
Best arcade game I've ever played.
Windows · by greenmangroup (12) · 2004
The most realistic game in the Need For Speed series
The Good
Naturally, what led me to buy the game were the screenshots on the box, but it turns out the gameplay was very enjoyable too. There are two special modes, Evolution and Factory Driver, that allow the player to grow and be rewarded. A lot more games are picking up on this now to extend gameplay past the regular arcade mode.
In fact, the driving in NFSPU is more simulation than arcade compared to the previous NFS games. Some will scoff at that, but I enjoyed it. It made the Porsche driving experience more realistic, especially feeling the immense driving difference between a 356 and a 959. Old cars wobble and powerslide, and new cars growl with power. Each car is very customizable with engine/body parts and colors/decals.
The scenery on each of the ten or so tracks is nice, ranging from twisty forest paths to city speedways to snow-capped mountains. The driving controls make a fair amount of sense, and the gauge display is very customizable depending on how much or little you want on-screen.
The Bad
When you first play the evolution mode, it's a great challenge, but after a few plays, you realize you can just buy and sell used cars for profit, and keep racing races you easily run, to earn money, and it starts becoming trivial. Some of the factory driver missions take a huge amount of practice, and it can be frustrating trying to do the same spin over and over until the game decides you did it right.
The menus cannot be controlled with the arrow keys, and so you're caught shifting between mouse and keyboard when you pause the game mid-race.
There are a whole ton of 356 and 911 models in the game, but some are entirely missing from the game, like the 928, 924, and 968. Some of the missing cars are downloadable from the EA web/ftp site, but you can't drive them in factory or evolution mode.
The Bottom Line
Porsche fans will naturally eat this game up, as it covers 50 years of Porsche history in pictures, videos, and of course in the game itself. Even though it's in the Need For Speed series, and the newer cars can get quite fast, the game is more about driving than speed, and learning to appreciate the handling of each car... even the cheap little 914. Even after four years, you can still find this game new in the $10 bargain bins, which is a testament to its long-lasting playability and enjoyment.
Windows · by Andy Voss (1861) · 2006
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
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Incomplete credits? | Mtik333 (29531) | Nov 8, 2020 |
Trivia
Awards
- PC Gamer Magazine
- April 2005 - ranked # 28 in the 50 Best Games of All Time list* PC Player
- (issue 01/2001) - named as "Best Racing Game in 2000".
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Related Sites +
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IGCD Internet Game Cars Database
Game page on IGCD, a database that tries to archive vehicles found in video games.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by MAT.
Additional contributors: PCGamer77, SchumiFan, Steve Hall, Zovni, Kasey Chang, Unicorn Lynx, tarmo888, Alaka, dartg55, Victor Vance.
Game added May 3, 2000. Last modified March 31, 2024.