Lego 2K Drive was a complete surprise to me when I first heard about it. I’d never imagined Lego to join Forza Horizon’s arcade racing mechanics with a huge open world with the variety of customisation that only these tiny bricks can offer.
After a couple of hours playing Lego 2K Drive I was awestruck by how quickly these ideas took long to come together. Lego 2K Drive is a highly useful and varied arcade racer which shakes things up by giving players multiple ways to play and different locations to experience. It’s extremely fun and fast and enjoyable, making it an ideal racer for older and younger players alike.
It’s a Feeling, the the need to… Rapid Bricks
If you’ve had the pleasure of playing an open-world racer you’ll be able to understand the concept of Lego 2K Drive fairly quickly. It offers the possibility of playing in four distinct modes, including the most popular which is a story mode. Players play as the newly-discovered rookie in the hope of taking on a variety of original competitors in a series of races to claim the highly sought-after Sky Cup Trophy. It’s not difficult however I do appreciate those interspersed stop motion cut scenes, which appear to be reminiscent of the Lego films. Thankfully, the humor from these films also comes across, with some fun characters assist you towards the victory.
Players can then take part in various races and competitions across four distinct hub worlds that will see your novice moving between large races against competitors and more tinier challenges to get up to compete in your next challenge. Races are enjoyable due to the addition of traditional powers-ups you can use against adversaries, but I loved the less challenging challenges outside in the wild especially in the beginning. It is necessary to complete some of them in order to gain access to the next challenge however, I quickly was able to defend the four generators from a tiny robot attack, since I had to fend them off and stop them from planting their explosives next to each generator. The challenges are often repeated which makes it seem slightly repetitive toward the close. But, the challenge is smooth and well-paced generally speaking even though most of the challenges are in the main races, as opposed to the smaller ones. The open world is intriguing and diverse, however it’s important to note that Bricklandia is divided into four separate themed worlds. Because of this, they’re not as big in comparison to the Forza Horizon’s open worlds, yet they’re full of opportunities for games and other activities to earn canisters of cash and additional items.
You can also get a glimpse from the narrative and participate through the Cup Series, a dedicated game designed specifically to racing enthusiasts who are looking for the Grand Prix experience. It has back-to-back track options, which is the ideal way to run races with speed and where winnings contribute to the total amount of points in the series. Beyond that it is possible to create and participate in single races and play the game’s challenges via the Mini-Game mode. It’s important to note the fact that Lego 2KDrive is also stunning throughout. The vibrancy of a variety of colors combined with the frenetic nature of smashing bricks into pieces as you smash them into cars is always an experience to behold. It is played at an even pace and rarely encounters any major glitches or framerate drops.
The Way Around Brickville
The game’s gameplay is equally impressive. The driving experience is incredibly smooth and fluid, and the diverse terrains offer players numerous possibilities to travel and experience every area. Whether on-road or off-road players are able to have three vehicles. These will vary on the fly, based on the terrain that you’re driving on. Although road vehicles tend to be the most efficient but there’s something very satisfying about reversing off of an main road, when my car transforms into an incredibly rugged four-wheel drive, with propeller in on the front, and the next thing I know, I’m driving straight off of an incline into the water while my vehicle transforms into the form of a speedboat in purple. The process of moving across and off certain terrains at a rapid pace can be a bit uncomfortable as your vehicle tries to choose between two options, however the auto choice can be turned off to allow vehicles to be manually transformed.
Drifting is also an enjoyable experience however it takes some getting used to, as you’ll have to hold the brake and accelerator buttons simultaneously and force you to steer in the skid. This can take away some of the weight on the cars and makes them feel more robust than they should be. When you’ve mastered your controls you’ll notice yourself accelerating and drifting throughout races, and ultimately essential to winning, particularly in to the finish.
In addition to it’s racing Lego players will also be delighted to know that customization here is also a huge plus. You’ll have the ability to unlock an array of components and complete vehicles and characters by beating opponents or completing tasks, getting to alter the vehicle you wish to color each piece with the colour you want. There are a myriad of options but building cars using several parts can seem a bit fragile at times, since certain parts require a few tries to join. I was tempted to rely on pre-built models of which there’s plenty of options to pick from. It’s a shame that these designs can’t be shared with the world, since players are bound to make some incredible designs. It’s the same time when Lego 2K Drive decides to introduce microtransactions. They’re not essential to the game’s success in any way however, there are plenty. It’s quite annoying that some models are not able to be accessed through these paywalls since it’s evident that the game is content to provide you with so much to begin with regardless of whether it comes up short of the cooler or more popular models it thinks that people will be willing to shell out for.
Final Thoughts
In the end, Lego 2K Drive is a very useful and diverse racer that brings together solid driving mechanics with the capability to create the car of your dreams. The story mode gives you the most comprehensive experience with its own unique humor and top-quality cutscenes in stop-motion. While the different environments can appear a bit tiny at times, they’re packed with plenty of races and challenges to finish. I’d like to see what other games players come up with in the near future, and I’m certain the younger and older crowds will enjoy all that Lego 2K Drive offers.
