Classic Games Emulated: Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed

 

Porsche's On The Mind!

Released in 2000, NFS Porsche Unleashed is the next installment in the series. Porsche Unleashed was very different from it's predecessors in that the game focused exclusively on the cars made by Porsche, as hinted by the title. With the previous titles, one could drive in many different high performance vehicles from the various manufactures.

As with the previous game, the vehicles featured in Porsche Unleashed have their unique driving mechanics. If one is a fan of Porsche, than I can imagine that they would enjoy this game. Granted, Porsche Unleashed hasn't aged with time. Also, the game was criticized by many as many of the cars were difficult to control, and the various models featured weren't all that different from appearance with each other in the game.

I decided to revisit this title, as I haven't played it in over a decade. While the previous games had a arcade feel to it, Porsche Unleashed has a much more simulator feel to it. In a lot of ways, this was a throw-back to the first NFS game where emphasis was on simulation over arcade action.

I decided to play the PC port of the game (since I focus primarily on PC gaming). Porsche Unleashed was released on the PlayStation and later the GameBoy Advance. The PC port definitely has a simulation feel to it, and coming from High Stakes, the cars were notoriously difficult to control at first. However, once one gets use to the driving styles of the vehicles in the game, the racing was quite enjoyable.

The Porsche's in this game are very well represented. The graphics were very good for its time. At the same time, this game is something of an anomaly. NFS never revisited the "release a game around a particular brand" formula again.

Porsche Unleashed was very well received in its day, but it didn't sell quite as well as the previous titles. This game could be considered the first flop in the NFS series. I generally enjoyed the game though. However, I can understand where many were put off by focusing on just one manufacture. At the time of release, Gran Turismo 1 & 2 was the defining what racing game were on the consoles. That series was celebrated for the fact that one wasn't constricted to a particular brand and that the player could customize the car in any number of ways to their hearts content.

High Stakes was the closest thing to Gran Turismo on the PC. Their were various autos one could drive, and far more when modding enters the picture. Despite Porsche being a very good brand, players didn't wanted to be constricted to one particular brand. The switch to simulation driving mechanics certainly didn't help matters for those who have grown accustomed to arcade physics.

When I visited this game the first time many moons ago, mods for it were non-existent. I revisited Porsche Unleashed a few years a later, their were more mods available that one could install. However, these mods weren't of interest as they often replaced one Porsche with another one; nothing groundbreaking or of interest.

On one hand, I can expect the following response: "It's a Porsche game. What did you expect!" For those that want to try out various cars from different manufactures using the updated game engine or taking the game to it's modification limit, this was of disappointment, regardless of how one looks at it. For many players, the selling point of High Stakes was that one could mod the cars and add more in. Tracks were modified as well. One was better off sticking to High Stakes if one wanted the freedom of modifying the game to their hearts content. A feeling that spilled over to GTA III once that game became standard.

It wasn't until late 2005/early 2006 when the first non-Porsche cars could be modded into Porsche Unleashed. At this point, I don't know whether the late arrival of non-Porsche cars was due to difficulty of modding them into the game or a general lack of interest in modifying this title. Before 2003, High Stakes was the gold standard when it came to car modding in video games on the PC. After 2003, that gold standard was GTA III and the later games in that series.

As a theory, I feel that the lack of success for Porsche Unleashed was due to lack of modding and focusing on a particular manufacture while other racing games were providing so much more. The switch from arcade to simulation driving was a contributing factor as well. LGR did a great video which served as a major inspiration for this blog post. I highly recommended watching his video about Porsche Unleashed which is linked below.

Their are 5 cars available in the quick race: Porsche 356 A 1600 (1957), Porsche 911 S 2.4 (1972), Porsche 914/4, Porsche 944,  and the Boxster. Their are various other Porsche models that can be unlocked. All of these cars handle differently and some, like the Porsche 356, can be difficult to control. The game also has various tracks that can be unlocked as well. The Monte Carlo track is the only urban track in Porsche Unleashed. Most of the tracks are of scenic locations throughout Western Europe.

 

I absolutely loved the camera angles used in the racing replays. The racing replays is a very cool feature as anyone coming from High Stakes would let you know. Very gripping to say the least. The awesome replay feature from that game carried over into Porsche Unleashed as well. Playing racing replays in a manner is very similar to the racing highlights as often seen on TV or the movies. This feature gave the player the ability and opportunity to create very awesome racing videos that they could then show off with their friends. This trend would continue and has been embraced by those  displaying their skills to a new audience found on social/video sharing sites like YouTube.

I installed the game in my Windows 7 32-bit VM on VMware Player. The game ran without issue and ran well at that too in 3D acceleration mode. Some might encounter compatibility issues that might require the changing the compatibility settings. However, their wasn't' problem in my case. For those who are Porsche fans looking to revisit a racing classic, one should consider this title in the series. If one is looking for a Gran Turismo style racing experience, this game might not be your cup of tea.

Articles Of Interest:

NFSCars - http://www.nfscars.net/

Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed  - https://nfs.fandom.com/wiki/Need_for_Speed:_Porsche_Unleashed