Lego 2K Drive review - One of the best racers ever built

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Lego 2K Drive whitethorn not virtually reinvent the instrumentality but it does physique upon it. Equal parts breathtaking racer and extended gathering title, this unfastened satellite driving crippled tin easy beryllium considered 1 not conscionable lone 1 of the best Lego games, but 1 of the best racing games arsenic a whole. With wide inspiration from the likes of Forza Horizon 5 arsenic good arsenic Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, the sum of its parts travel unneurotic to beryllium the champion caller kart racer successful years. 

Set crossed the expansive Bricklandia, you play arsenic the adjacent large happening successful the Lego racing scene. Guided by Clutch Racington (yes, seriously), you thrust crossed the roads, hills and adjacent rivers, gathering and beating caller rivals, and gathering each mode of vehicles successful pursuit of first-place glory. It’s a elemental premise, but 1 that’s done justness by Lego’s emblematic irreverence, with a wry presumption that mostly follows successful the aftermath of the popular Lego Movie duology from a fig of years ago.  

Lego 2K Drive terms and merchandise date 

• What is it? An open-world racing crippled based connected the Lego franchise  
• Release date: 19 May, 2023   
• What tin I play it on? PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One 

Now you spot me 

Lego 2K Drive’s astir breathtaking portion is however mechanically coagulated plowing done the game’s biomes feels. Whether you’re going off-road successful the rocky expanses of Big Butte County, cruising down the cascading lakes of Hauntsborough, oregon rushing done the bustling streets of Prospecto Valley, however you get astir is dissimilar immoderate different racing crippled of its type. That’s due to the fact that vehicles tin alteration to suit their environment. With the property of LB / L1 connected your controller, your mode of transport becomes 1 of 3 antithetic machines based connected street, off-road, and water. 

That’s due to the fact that your Lego racer has a loadout of each three. Whilst cruising and drifting connected slick metropolis streets, a finely tuned show car is going to grip best, but could conflict erstwhile taking things disconnected the beaten track. What seems similar a neat gimmick astatine archetypal rapidly becomes portion of the cardinal gameplay loop if you privation to really get anyplace successful this crippled some metaphorically and physically. 

Also equipped with the quality to jump, boost, quick-turn and drift, the manual translation of your vehicles adds a caller magnitude to exploration and racing. These transformations crook what would person different been a beauteous modular kart racer into thing genuinely its own. One 2nd you’ll beryllium taking a crisp crook connected Vessel Run oregon Cat Scratch Freeway, looking similar you’re astir to plummet disconnected course, earlier a cautiously timed leap and alteration to an offroad conveyance tin assistance you regain momentum. Another infinitesimal could spot a frantic vessel contention connected the raging rapids of Swampus power up a cogwheel by strategically ramping disconnected rocks for added tallness to boost from arsenic you soar supra your water-bound rivals. 

It's a rewarding halfway loop that satisfies careless of whether you’re competing successful 1 of the elaborate races, oregon conscionable driving astir and sidesplitting time. The grade of the conveyance transformations combined with open-world traversal is thing I haven’t experienced with the likes of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, oregon adjacent Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed’s track-to-track format. Races are consistently entertaining, with acceptable pieces happening each astir you arsenic you and 7 different integrative motorists collide arsenic displaced Lego bricks alert everywhere.

As expected from an open-world racing game, there’s a tonne of things to bash successful these chiseled biome areas different than race, though immoderate are intelligibly much thought retired than others. The open-world acquisition is segmented by a leveling system. You summation acquisition points and currency arsenic you implicit tasks which tin scope from quests to minigames that popular up arsenic and when. Quests are mostly abbreviated but saccharine and tin scope from retrieving mislaid dolphins adjacent a waterfall to seeing however galore sick jumps you tin marque connected a quad motorcycle successful 60 seconds. Unfortunately, the minigames don’t connection the aforesaid novelty and get aged beauteous quickly. There are 2 archetypes that you’ll play through: escort and defense. While good astatine first, these missions rapidly overstay their welcome, offering repetitive gameplay that fails to capitalize connected Lego 2K Drive’s different breathtaking systems.

Build it up 

Lego 2K Drive isn’t conscionable a racer; it’s a builder. The Garage is wherever you tin physique caller street, off-road, oregon h2o vehicles, arsenic good arsenic customize existing ones. It’s an incredibly robust and elaborate strategy giving you escaped rein to conception conscionable astir immoderate conveyance you want. Once you prime your basal chassis, you’ll past beryllium introduced to a blisteringly immense room of Lego bricks with which you tin plan your thrust of choice.

There’s an full catalog of elaborate tutorials which locomotion you done however to conception lovely-looking cars and boats successful an acquisition manual format. Much similar with LittleBigPlanet Karting oregon Modnation Racers earlier it, These tools are an awesome addition, but not a diagnostic that I recovered myself going retired of my mode for. Tweaking existing vehicles was thing that I recovered much enjoyable, similar giving my hard-won McLaren Solus GT a caller splash of overgarment and immoderate much-needed stat adjustments. 

What I’m overmuch little keen connected is Unkie’s Emporium which serves arsenic an in-game storefront to walk each your Lego Brickbux. It comes down to the information that you gain a comparatively tiny magnitude of wealth aft each contention won oregon quest completed, meaning that it’s going to instrumentality you a batch of grinding if you’re pining for a caller vehicle, racer, oregon accessory for your ride. In my clip with Lego 2K Drive, I was hardly capable to scrounge up 4,000 Brickbux, which paled successful examination to the terms tags of the Beach Runner, Go Kart, oregon Zombie Smasher Roadster which each onshore betwixt 10,000 - 14,000 units of the virtual currency. 

Those are immoderate of the cheapest pre-built sets, too. Some bundles tin tally arsenic precocious arsenic 22,400 Brickbux, and galore designs are locked down the Drive Pass, which is akin to however free-to-play games similar Fortnite bash business. For a crippled that’s basal variation costs $69.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.95, it stings to spot the afloat suite of customization options hidden down paywalls. 

Catch maine if you can 

What I was pleasantly amazed by is conscionable however challenging the races themselves would go arsenic the run progressed. Similar to however the Mario Kart bid measures velocity and strength from 50cc and up, Lego 2K Drive uses a Class strategy of C, B, and A to find the velocity and trouble of a fixed race. 

As you commencement to emergence done the ranks, you’ll rapidly spot your chap Lego racers utilizing shortcuts, utilizing power-ups effectively, and undercutting you connected choky turns. The force A.I. is awesome and truly makes you enactment for those wins. It’s a monolithic betterment connected the tourney setups from the likes of Mario Kart 8, and each the amended for it.

Microtransactions aside, Lego 2K Drive is the champion happening to hap to the kart racing genre successful good implicit a decade. No substance however galore races I’ve won, oregon the demolition I’ve caused, I find myself everlastingly drawn backmost to the choky mechanics and wholesome setting. If you’ve been looking for thing antithetic to your modular racing sim oregon arcade title, oregon for a crippled to usage 1 of the best racing wheels connected past you’ll find it here.   

• Lego 2K Drive is the spiritual successor to 1 of the champion kart racers ever made