August Reviews: Racing
	Need for Speed: Porsche Released Overall Rating: 9 Gameplay: 9 Tilt: 9 Sound: 9 Graphics: 9 Value: 9

Review:  I was fascinated by both the gameplay and the graphics. The nicely rendered cars are very close to looking like the real thing, only the door handles and front radiators are textures. The tracks were rendered even better than the cars, which gives the game an immersive feeling. There is a German patrolman yelling at you from his booth at Autobahn, waterfalls with mist, and more.

The game plays as good as it looks. The driving is always a very intense, at-the-edge-of-control type of racing. Hit a turn at too high a speed, and the car will slide out. Turn too hard, and the car, characteristic of Porsche rear-mounted engines, will spin out of control. The Porsche is a car to be handled carefully. Too much in any area will make you lose control. The AI cars give you some fierce competition, although in some heated races some AI cars may wipe out. In multiplayer it is even better. The people on the Porsche server are mostly friendly and very good at the game, so expect to have some good races there.

The game also has two totally new additions: Evolution and Factory Driver. Evolution takes you through Porsche's rich history, from the classic 356 to the 550 A, to the 911 Turbo, to the Moby Dick racer, and finally to the incredible, Lamborghini-eating Porsche GT1 racer. There are also extra cars for download at the Need for Speed official site. So far, there is the GT2 racer available for download (a very fast car).

The other mode, Factory Driver, has you as a Porsche test driver, making deliveries, testing cars, breaking 0-60 records, and so forth. It is very fun because you never know what cool car you get to drive next.

All in all, Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed is quite an experience. The shadow of Hot Pursuit MIA will be forgotten as the new modes more than make up for it.
 

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