Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed

The Good
Make no mistake, this game is a masterpiece. The graphics and sounds are simply stunning. The sceneary and the cars look perfect, as real as you're going to get on a PC these days. The handling of the cars is excellent, and each car is subtley different form the next. The controls are stunning, and with a decent wheel (force-feedback preferably) this game drives better than anything else out there. For the first time in a driving game, you really feel that you're behind the wheel of a fast car.

The game has two modes. The test driver mode gives you a chance to test drive a variety of Porche's on your way to becoming chief test driver, and there are some brilliant missions to undertake, like "deliver this car to the docks in 3 minutes, and don't damage it!", or the truly excellent "take this guy out for a drive and scare the crap out of him!"

The main game is very well thought, racing Porches through the ages. You start in 1950 (the classic era) with a few bucks in your pocket. Buy yourself an old 356, and enter the first race. Do well in that race and you'll earn money which you can use to repair and upgrade your car. As you progress you can buy other cars to drive in the later races. At the end of an age, you get the chance to win a special edition Porsche. For example, at the end of the classic era, you get several laps of Monaco in a 550 Spyder - win the race and you win the car.

The Bad
There's not much wrong with this game. It does need a pretty beefy PC to play. On my 500MHz system if I use the wheel, I have to turn off the rear-view mirror or it just gets way too jerky. Racing with the keyboard is OK, but the wheel is just so damn good.

The Bottom Line
Personally, I don't like Porsches. When I first heard of this game I grumbled and complained about it as only a Yorkshireman can. But I put aside my prejudices, and have not looked back. If you don't have this game, get it. If you don't have a wheel, get one. Put to two together, and you have perfection. Trust me.

This is without doubt, the finest arcade racer there is, bar none. It's not a simulation, so I don't have to compare it with Geoff Crammond's games, and I'm glad about that. I'd be afraid it might win.

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.

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.