Lego 2K Drive

by William Thompson
reviewed on PC
Welcome to Bricklandia
As a kid, I always enjoyed Lego. Putting the pieces together like a 3D jigsaw puzzle had a relaxing effect as the set started to take shape. And even as an adult, Lego has that same effect. There is also something cathartic about pulling the set apart again. Lego 2K Drive allows players to have that same cathartic experience virtually, as they smash through Bricklandia in their favourite vehicles in an attempt to become the holder of the Sky Trophy, the ultimate prize in the Lego racing.
Lego 2K Drive is part kart-style racing game, part open-world driving game and part RPG where players level up their vehicles rather than their character. Guided by experienced racer, Clutch Racington, players take on a series of opponents in races across various landscapes in Bricklandia, as well as perform a variety of other challenges that will help boost players skill and XP.
Players have three vehicles available to them at all times, a standard road car, an off-road vehicle, and a watercraft. As players drive across the terrain, the vehicle they drive will adapt to the conditions, switching between the three. This does enable gamers to use different tactics when racing or completing missions.
Smashing
If you have ever played kart style racing games such as Mario Kart or Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, the gameplay in the racing phases will feel familiar. As players race through a course, they will pick up boosts to speed away from opponents, or weapons to fire at whoever is in their way. Like other kart-style games, the racing tracks vary, but in difference to those other games in the genre, players will take on varying opponents, each who are tougher to beat.
Although the story mode progresses as you defeat each opponent in the kart style racing games, there is enough variation in the other mission types to keep players entertained for hours. Upon discovering new challenges, players could be required to collect items from several locations and deliver them to a friend, they may be required to drive over a certain number of objects - such as mushrooms - within a timeframe, or even perform outlandish jumps. One of my favourite tasks was having to push an egg from a plateau into a frying pan some distance away, guiding it delicately to the desired location.
These missions are similar to side quests of a standard RPG, with each of the completed missions granting cash prizes, chequered flags and XP. As players collect XP they will eventually level up, enabling them to compete in the kart races against higher level opponents. Lego 2K Drive gives players an idea of how skilled (in terms of which level) they need to be in order to take on various opponents, but the game does a great job of allowing players to explore and compete at their own leisure.
The gameplay is reasonably simple, although it did take me a little bit to get used to the default controls. Accelerating and braking is controlled by the left and right triggers, and although this does make some sense, I have become accustomed to the front buttons controlling these aspects in other racing games. As well as driving through the courses, the game often accentuates drifting around the bends. There is a certain sense of enjoyment as you pull off the perfectly timed drift around a bend and in doing so move ahead of your challengers.
Backyard Lego
The art team has done an amazing job of placing the Lego lands within real-life scenarios. This gives Lego 2K Drive the feeling of playing with Lego in your backyard as a kid, with real-life (albeit in a cartoon style) objects that litter the locations. As mentioned earlier, one mission had me pushing an egg into a frying fan, and both items were scaled in size to the Lego bricks - so that the egg was basically the same size as the Lego vehicle. This miniature world - similarly to Hot Wheels Unleashed, as well as the classic Lego game humour - Big Butte County, anyone - gives the game a fun atmosphere - one that the whole family can enjoy. Indeed, some of the cut-scenes had me chuckling with their Lego Movie style visuals and humour.
Each of the distinct, almost fully destructible environments have a colourful design, but that does not compare to the outlandish vehicles that players can create when they step inside the garage. Players could almost spend as much time designing their ultimate rides as they do actually driving them around the landscapes. Putting pieces together is a relatively simple process, but I found at times that moving pieces into the right spot could be problematic. The pieces can be painted in any colour you want as well, so the customisation is virtually endless.
Everything just clicks together nicely
Lego 2K Drive provides an entertaining setting that will have older players reminiscing about playing with Lego in their backyards, whilst giving younger gamers a chance to experience the same thing in a virtual world. The almost fully destructible Lego environments allow players to drive unimpeded for the most part, cruising around Bricklandia at their own leisure, completing whichever quest they want. The ability to customise your rides in the garage adds to the fun aspect with gamers able to create their own outlandish vehicles. And with the ability to play in split screen co-op, Lego 2K Drive is the perfect opportunity for families to sit on the couch together smashing through Lego towns on their way to winning the Sky Trophy.
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7.8
fun score
Pros
Simple mechanics, plenty of mission types, classic Lego humour
Cons
Default controls can take some getting used to