Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, released as Need for Speed: Porsche 2000 in Europe and Need for Speed: Porsche in Latin America, and Germany, is a racing video game released in 2000. It is the fifth installment in the Need for Speed series. Unlike other NFS titles, Porsche Unleashed centers on racing Porsche sports cars, with models ranging from 1950 to 2000. Unlike the previous four Need for Speed games, Porsche Unleashed was not released in Japan.
Gameplay
Need for Speed: PorscheUnleashed gives the player the opportunity to race Porsche cars throughout a range of tracks located in Europe. There are two career modes, an evolution mode, where the player starts with Porsche cars made in 1955, and ends with Porsche cars made in 2000, and factory driver mode, where the player goes through a series of events like slalom, stunts, and races, using Porsche cars preselected for each event. The player can customize their cars drawing from an in-depth catalog of different Porsche as well as aftermarket parts. Unlike previous games in the series, there are no pursuit modes. Some factory driver events include police cars, but the police cars only attempt to impede the players car during certain sprint events. The factory driver mode introduces the first storyline in the Need For Speed series. The player's goal is to become a Porsche factory driver by completing a series of events. The game uses pop-up windows, each with an image of an existing Porsche factory team member, and text describing the next event, and also commenting on the player's progress. In some cases, a timed course such as a slalom notes the required time to pass, but also mentions the current team record, where beating the record is optional and the post event pop-up will note if the player set a new record or not. The events involve stunts, like doing two 180 degree spins, slalom courses, delivery, normal sprint and circuit races.
''Need for Speed: Top Speed''
An additional online-only conversion of Porsche Unleashed, dubbed Need for Speed: Top Speed, was released in response to both the release of MacGillivray Freeman's 2002 IMAX film, Top Speed, and the Porsche Cayenne. The game features three existing tracks from Porsche Unleashed and three Porsche vehicles: the 911 Turbo, the 959 and the Cayenne Turbo. Access to Need for Speed: Top Speed was bundled alongside the PC version of .
''40 Jahre 911 Bundle''
The 40 Jahre 911 Bundle was released on November 13, 2003 and was only available in Germany. It was a special 40th anniversary edition for the Porsche 911. The CD box is packed in a unique metal box with the game itself patched to version 3.4. Also included is the official soundtrack of the game, although no additional game features were included.
Reception
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed received mixed to positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Microsoft Windows version 84.36%, the PlayStation version 74.50% and 78/100 and the Game Boy Advance version 59.25% and 62/100 In the UK, Official UK PlayStation Magazine gave the PS version eight out of ten and liked its structure, but said that many of the 70 cars were indistinguishable, and criticised the lifespan. They described the handling as "arcadey", and warned people who didn't like Porsches to "steer well clear". Doug Trueman reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Though there's nothing wrong with it, there's little to separate Porsche Unleashed from the rest of the current pack of competent PC racers." PC Gamer US named Porsche Unleashed the best racing game of 2000. In the United States, Porsche Unleasheds computer version sold 74,795 units by the end of 2000. This accounted for $2.58 million in revenue. Domestic sales rose to 340,000 copies, for revenues of $6.3 million, by August 2006. At the time, this led Edge to declare Porsche Unleashed the country's 52nd-best-selling computer game released since January 2000. In the German market, Porsche Unleashed debuted at #4 on :de:Media Control|Media Control's computer game sales rankings for March 2000. Securing fifth place the following month, it proceeded to remain in the top 20 through June, before dropping to 27th in July and 39th in August. Sales in the region totaled roughly 65,000 units by late 2000, a figure with which Electronic Arts was "not dissatisfied", according to PC Players Udo Hoffman. However, he noted that the title had underperformed compared to its predecessors, and was part of a downturn in computer game sales that year.
