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Awesome. The more that I delved into Electronic Arts latest Need For Speed incarnation, NFS: Porsche Unleashed, the more that word just kept popping into my head. In one inspired stroke, EA has managed to transform its long-running driving game franchise into one of the deepest and most entertaining racing titles ever to land on a PC hard drive.
Absorbing gameplay, convincing vehicle physics, and scintillating graphics have been seamlessly dovetailed together with a degree of craftsmanship that rivals the very Porsche automobiles upon which the game is based.
Although previous chapters in the NFS series have always strived to present a wide cross-section of contemporary exoticars, the single marquee theme of NFS: Porsche Unleashed (which offers nothing but Porsches) breaks with this tradition in dramatic fashion. In fact, the game offers no fewer than 80 models from the famed German automaker, dating back to 1950. This sweeping homage to the legacy of Ferdinand Porsche may not find much favor with the Ferrari and Jaguar aficionados in the crowd but, for anyone who appreciates a superbly well-tuned driving game, Porsche Unleashed is about as good as it gets on the PC.
One of the most impressive things about the game is its seemingly endless depth. If Porsches ranging from the 1950 Bathtub 356 to the latest 2000 Boxster and 911 Turbo machines, aren't enough to spin your crank, then Porsche Unleashed's highly entertaining new gameplay structure most assuredly will. In addition to its obligatory collection of single-player Quick Race and Knockout events, the game also features a pair of innovative new career modes that are guaranteed to keep card-carrying speed demons glued to their wheels for weeks.
The appropriately titled Evolution mode allows you to re-live a half-century of Porsche history as you purchase and modify different models from the company's Classic, Golden, and Modern eras. By entering various races and tournaments, you can also earn prize money to finance new vehicle acquisitions and fund valuable parts upgrades. As new car choices become available, so too does the variety of performance items that you can lavish upon your chosen machine. With an inventory of more than 700 parts to choose from, including everything from racing slicks to high flow exhaust systems, even the most advanced of cyber-mechanics will find plenty to keep them busy.
EA has also included full-blown repair and paint shops to further enhance the customization and micro-management possibilities for each car in the game's enormous stable. As in real life, older models can appreciate quite significantly in value but, considering the relative ease with which prize money can be earned here, it's rarely necessary to sell off your classic machines. That said, dedicated players will likely set their sights at owning every single vehicle available in the game.
Equally engaging is Porsche Unleashed's Factory Driver mode. More than 30 individual driving missions are thrown your way as you attempt to rise from the rank of lowly Junior Test Driver to the lofty position of Ace Porsche Factory Driver. Each mission comes with a challenging time limit and can range from basic tasks such as maneuvering between a pre-set pylon course to more advanced exercises like delivering a car to an impatient customer in the dead of the night. Although cops-and-speeders fans might bemoan the lack of any Hot Pursuit mode in Porsche Unleashed, there are nevertheless a number of Factory Driver missions that still demand a solid strategy for avoiding the men in blue.
Multiplayer fans will also find plenty of options to keep their phone lines humming. Apart from Porsche Unleashed's conventional modem, IPX and TCP/IP LAN support, there is also a free dedicated matchmaking service at EARacing.com where up to eight players can shake their German-built moneymakers for online bragging rights. Bonus cars can also be downloaded from EA's website to enlarge your stable beyond its current titanic proportions.
The Need For Speed series has traditionally cranked out some of the best graphics in the business and Porsche Unleashed is certainly no exception. Each of the game's lovingly rendered vehicles feature highly detailed dashboard treatments and fully articulated suspension movements to compliment their flowing body lines (the rear spoiler on the later 911 models even deploys and retracts realistically with varying road speeds).
There are also fourteen new courses in the game nine point-to-point European venues and five closed loop circuits and each is punctuated with some of the most breathtaking scenery you will ever encounter in a driving game. All of the tracks are wide enough to encourage two- or three-abreast racing, and many also feature branching paths and variable weather conditions. Some rich dynamic lighting and shading effects beautifully compliment the Direct3D-enhanced visuals. Although some minor CD-access pauses can occur from time to time, they aren't serious enough to significantly impact gameplay. Damage modeling is also very well represented graphically, but the harmful effects of rough driving on your car's performance are surprisingly minimal.
The one area where Porsche Unleashed has left all of its predecessors in the dust, however, is with its remarkable new physics model. Previous chapters in the series have often failed miserably at communicating the feeling of rubber meeting road, but there is no such deficiency in Porsche Unleashed. Although it may never be confused with a high-fidelity racing title like Grand Prix Legends, the game's new four-point physics are still a quantum leap ahead of its arcade-like older siblings.
Understeer and oversteer effects are well modeled, but more importantly, an almost palpable sensation of mass and momentum has now been infused into each vehicle. Each machine exhibits its own unique driving physics, and the laborious struggle of an underpowered 356 negotiating an uphill bend on its skinny tires and spindly post-war suspension must be experienced to be believed. The high-performance ABS and traction-control equipped models of the modern era are equally well represented.
Despite having logged more time with NFS: Porsche Unleashed in one week than I care to admit, I still haven't even come close to exhausting my passion for this amazing new driving game. It'll probably be quite a while before I ever realize my longtime dream of owning a real Porsche 911 Turbo, but until then I can take comfort in the fact that I've been treated to one of the most satisfying test drives that I could ever have asked for.